The Village of Somers in Kenosha County, Wisconsin submitted an application for a water diversion to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources last month as part of compliance with the Great Lakes Compact. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210309-water-draw
A series of informal, interactive science presentations on Great Lakes issues will return in spring 2021 with new topics and speakers.
Wisconsin Sea Grant’s “Lake Talks” series highlights topics related to Lake Michigan or, more widely, the Great Lakes basin. Spring talks will be offered through Zoom in light of the ongoing pandemic.
The spring series kicks off on Thursday, March 18 at 7 p.m. with “What cartoon zebra mussels taught me about invasive species communication.” (Register now for this Zoom webinar.)
Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Tim Campbell. (Photo: Wisconsin Sea Grant)
The speaker is Tim Campbell, Wisconsin Sea Grant aquatic invasive species outreach specialist. Campbell will discuss how metaphors—such as aquatic invasive species as “hitchhikers” or “invaders”—affect how people perceive the issues, and how certain metaphors pose ethical issues or may not lead to productive engagement.
As Campbell explained, “People use many different message frames and metaphors when talking about invasive species, and we know that metaphor use can affect how people understand complex issues. We wanted to better understand how these communication strategies impact actions people might take in regards to invasive species.”
Because preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) depends significantly on public cooperation, communicating with the public in an effective way is highly important. Learn what Campbell and his fellow researchers discovered through work that was funded by Wisconsin Sea Grant. The research focused on communication about zebra mussels.
The Lake Talks series will continue with talks in April, May and June. Those future talks will address PFAS (contaminants in our waters often referred to as “forever chemicals”), tourism in the Great Lakes and rip current safety.
The image and tagline here are an example of “militaristic” message framing about invasive species. (Artwork: Brooke Alexander)
All sessions will last one hour on Zoom and include time for audience Q&A. For connection information for future talks, visit the Lake Talks page of the Wisconsin Sea Grant website, or follow Wisconsin Sea Grant on Facebook or Twitter as event dates draw closer. You can register for Tim Campbell’s talk now.
For questions about this series, contact Wisconsin Sea Grant science communicator Jennifer Smith.
The post “Lake Talks” series returns for spring 2021 with presentation on invasive species communication first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/lake-talks-series-returns-for-spring-2021-with-presentation-on-invasive-species-communication/
As climate change complicates Lake Erie’s algae problem, scientists say farmers must do far more to reduce phosphorus runoff. But will enough farmers change their ways without a government mandate?
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/farmers-pollution-lake-erie-regulations/
University trustee supported public engagement with sustainability science and policy.
The post Fate of the Earth loses friend of the Earth first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/03/09/fate-of-the-earth-loses-friend-of-the-earth/
Thanks to a spongy M&M-like technology, contaminated soil in the Detroit River downstream of the MacArthur Bridge has been contained.
The post Massive filter keeps Detroit River contaminants in place first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/03/09/massive-filter-keeps-detroit-river-contaminants-in-place/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202102
Dozens of bird watchers flocked to the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge to take advantage of the “bonus” Wildlife Drive opening this past weekend. The drive drew a steady stream of vehicles from the public throughout the daylight hours catching glimpses of migrating ducks and the lush natural wetlands off the western coast of Lake Erie. According to researchers, vehicle traffic has actually been found to be less intrusive to wildlife populations than people outside of their vehicles. Read the full story by Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-bird-watching-refuge
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Payments for dead wolves. Unlimited hunting of the animals. Shooting wolves from the air.
Wolf hunting policies in some states are taking an aggressive turn, as Republican lawmakers and conservative hunting groups push to curb their numbers and propose tactics shunned by many wildlife managers.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/ap-us-states-wolf-kills-pushed-by-republicans/
The new campground is named as a nod to the many shipwrecks along that stretch of the Lake Superior shore. The campsite will have 46 sites with electric service, and a modern shower and bathroom facility, and includes a parking lot and access to numerous hiking and biking trails. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-campground
Michigan’s Indigenous people cite concerns over Canadian oil company Enbridge’s impending Line 5 pipeline tunnel project in the Mackinac Straits, due to potential uptick in rates of sexual violence and sex trafficking that has been documented following pipeline projects. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-line-5-tribes
The United States Coast Guard will begin ice-breaking operations on the lower St. Marys River on Tuesday ahead of the opening of the Soo Locks on March 24th. Read the full story by SooToday.com
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-ice-breaking-shipping-season
The public has the opportunity to give its ideas on the final design concept for improvements at Lake Superior’s Eagle Harbor State Harbor, a designated state harbor of refuge, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in Keweenaw County. Read to the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-michigan-harbor-plan
Wolf hunting policies in some states are taking an aggressive turn, as Republican lawmakers and conservative hunting groups push to curb their numbers and propose tactics shunned by many wildlife managers. In Wisconsin, just weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration lifted protections for wolves in the Great Lakes region, hunters using hounds and trappers blew past the state’s harvest goal and killed almost twice as many as planned. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-wolf-hunt
A Michigan fisheries order restored previous fishing restrictions such as net fishing depths of 150 feet in lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior, harvest of whitefish in Lake Erie, and restoration of the previous fishing season. Read the full story by Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-michigan-fish
A batch of aquarium products known as “moss balls” were contaminated with invasive zebra mussels before they were distributed to pet stores across the country. Read the full story by WPXI-TV – Pittsburgh, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-invasive-zebra-mussels-moss
Thirty years ago this week, the Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota ruptured, spilling 1.7 million gallons of crude oil onto a frozen river near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. If the river had not been frozen, the oil could have contaminated drinking water. Protests have been ongoing to stop construction rerouting a section of the Line 3 pipeline which could impact Indigenous communities and local waterways. View the full story by PBS NewsHour.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-minnesota-line-3
Research shows that in some lakes invasive zebra mussels appeared to have a serious negative effect on walleyes because of increased water clarity. In other lakes, they seem to have had little or no effect on walleye populations and size structure. Read the full story by Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-invasive-mussels
Plastic pollution at the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area on Lake Erie demonstrates the problem of marine debris in the Great Lakes. Image credit: NOAA
The statistics are daunting: 93% of water bottled in the Great Lakes region contains microplastics. 85% of trash found on Great Lakes beaches is plastic. 21.8 million pounds of plastics enter the Great Lakes each year.
Strolling through her Milwaukee community, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Social Science Outreach Specialist Deidre Peroff said the plastic problem is obvious. “I live a five-minute walk from Lake Michigan. I’ve seen a lot of plastic trash out there and participated in some of the cleanups in the past or even on my own – just walking along, bringing a bag to put trash in.”
She worked with Leah Holloway from Milwaukee Riverkeeper, a science-based advocacy nonprofit, to develop a plastic project proposal since Peroff was aware of Riverkeeper’s involvement in a Milwaukee initiative to reduce plastics, called Plastic-Free MKE. The goal of the proposal is to reduce the amount of plastics that enter Lake Michigan. In 2020, the team was awarded two years of funding through the National Sea Grant-Marine Debris Special Projects Competition for “Plastic-Free MKE: Assessment and Education to Support Lake-Friendly Schools.”
Peroff described the project. “We came up with the idea to do education, focusing on a student-led, civic action project where students would do an audit of their schools or their classrooms and figure out how much plastic they are using, and then assess the inventory and figure out if it’s a problem or whether they are using more than that thought – and then come up with an action plan of how they could mitigate their impact on marine debris pollution.”
Belle Pappalardo is working with fifth-graders in Milwaukee to educate them about plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Submitted photo.
The COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning for schoolchildren necessitated project modifications, turning the focus from the children’s classrooms to their own homes. To help, the team hired Belle Pappalardo, a professional master’s degree student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences. She is working with a fifth-grade class at the Clement J. Zablocki Community School in Milwaukee and their teacher, Diallo Tyler. Pappalardo researched existing marine debris toolkits, education programs and curricula. Now, she’s developing her own curriculum about the importance of fresh water and the issue of microplastics for the class, meeting with them every other Friday in a virtual session.
“The end goal is to do a plastic audit with them,” Pappalardo said. “They will do it at home. Then I’ll help them develop a student-led action plan to implement something for their school and develop a plastic pollution toolkit to take to teachers, the principal and their parents.”
Pappalardo graduates this May and hopes to find an outreach job where she can work with students and provide scientific information to the public.
Next year, Peroff hopes to hire another intern who will broaden the project’s scale and, COVID-willing, be able to work with the students for a longer time and in person.
“We’ve needed to be flexible and patient to get this project going because of many pandemic-related challenges, but we’re happy to be working with students now, even virtually. Because plastic is such a huge contributor to pollution in Wisconsin’s lakes and rivers, we figured anything we can do now to get children thinking about this issue will be a step in the right direction. The students seem to be enjoying learning about their watershed and how they can impact water quality,” Peroff said.
The post Plastic-free program targets Milwaukee first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/plastic-free-program-targets-milwaukee/
Fish and Wildlife Service News
Fish and Wildlife Service News
http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=%0Amissouri-population-of-eastern-hellbender-listed-as-endangered%0A&_ID=36857
The former luxury mansion of a Detroit automaker is the site of an attempt to recreate the scarce natural shoreline along Lake St. Clair.
The post Ford House collaborates to restore Lake St. Clair shoreline first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/03/08/ford-house-collaborates-to-restore-lake-st-clair-shoreline/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
In this edition: Environmentalists in Wisconsin sue EPA over regulation rollback favoring coal plants, bankruptcy plan for Ohio nuclear power company upheld by appeals court, Prairie Island tribe prepares for massive investment in renewable energy, and Ford Motors to invest millions for electric vehicle construction in southeast Michigan
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Indiana:
When the 2021 legislative session began, more than 75 bills related to the environment had been filed in Indiana’s General Assembly.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/energy-news-indiana-bills-ontario-hike-line-5-oversight-panel/
When Chris Wilson speared a 63-inch, 61-pound sturgeon, it was only moments after he lugged the fish out of his shanty before a small crowd appeared. Some trotted over from nearby shanties and one man rode up on an ATV – he wasn’t fishing but simply spending the morning checking out the season.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/sturgeon-spearing-conservation-efforts-fish/
In anticipation of large-scale community growth, the Village of Somers, Wisconsin, submitted a request to divert 1.2 million gallons of water per day from Lake Michigan. Because the village is partially located within the Great Lakes Basin, sign-off is only required from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and not the governors of all states bordering the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Urban Milwaukee.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-diversion
The EPA voluntarily requested to review if discharges from the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine in northern Minnesota “may affect” the downstream Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. If the EPA finds PolyMet discharges would affect the Fond du Lac Band’s water, the band could object to PolyMet’s water permit and require the Army Corps to hold a hearing on the band’s objection. Read the full story by Pine Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-polymet-review
Canada’s natural resources minister vowed to fight Michigan’s efforts to close the Line 5 oil pipeline using every available diplomatic and legal tool, calling the continued operation of Line 5 “non-negotiable”. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-line5
A new study highlights investment opportunities for green infrastructure within Great Lakes cities that can support climate adaption and boost economic and employment opportunities. Read the full story by DBusiness.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-gi-investments
President Joe Biden may be the key to settling the dispute over a Canadian-owned pipeline in Michigan, according to experts who study Canada-U.S. relations. Canada is actively exploring all options to stop the closure of Line 5, including invoking a 1977 treaty regarding oil transport between the U.S. and Canada. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-line5-diplomacy
When the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency approved the final permit for the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline project, environmental activists chained themselves to trees near the construction site, hoping to delay or even halt the project. It was the latest altercation in a more than century-long struggle that has come to define Minnesota’s very nature. Read the full story by Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-mn-activism
Satellites detected volcanic plumes and sulfur dioxide clouds drifting over Lake Michigan this week from a recent eruption of Mt. Aetna in Italy. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-volcanic-plume
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is seeking volunteers to visit wetlands around the state this spring to help the agency survey frog and toad populations. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-frog-study
A new understanding of how genes affect which fish can see deep in Lake Superior could help scientists seeking to support fish habitat restoration projects in the lake. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-fish-vision
Those in West Michigan affected by PFAS contamination in their drinking water are encouraged to participate in a state study that seeks to learn more about the impact the PFAS contamination on residents’ health. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210305-pfas-study
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — The city of La Crosse filed a lawsuit Thursday against a host of chemical manufacturers that produced firefighting foam linked to groundwater contamination around the city’s airport.
Tests have revealed at least 40 wells around the airport on French Island are contaminated with man-made chemicals known as PFAS.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/ap-la-crosse-sues-foam-makers-pfas-pollution/
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia and three other municipalities in Pennsylvania sued the state Wednesday over what they say was a covert abuse of legislative power to block local bans or taxes on plastic bags that retailers give out to customers and, they say, end up as pollution and litter.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/ap-pennsylvania-court-plastic-bag-bans/
A new understanding of how genes affect which fish can see deep in Lake Superior could help scientists understand how to preserve them.
The post Fish vision genes could inform Great Lakes restoration first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/03/05/fish-vision-genes-could-inform-great-lakes-restoration/
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin announced the reintroduction of the Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act Wednesday, which would expand Coast Guard icebreaking efforts across the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WKOW- TV – Madison, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-icebreaking
Lake Ontario’s water levels are nearly 2 feet lower than they were this time last year. It has Great Lakes officials optimistic shoreline communities will avoid any major flood damage this year. Read and listen to the full story by WBFO – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-ontario
As one of the few Great Lakes wetlands remaining in the state, the Arcadia Marsh Preserve in Arcadia, Michigan provides visitors with a glimpse into the region’s rich ecological history. Read the full story by Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-arcadia-marsh
Satellite observations show that more than half of seasonal freshwater level changes on Earth happen in human-managed reservoirs, underscoring the profound impact humanity has on the global water cycle. Read the full story by the Science Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-human-control
Environmental experts in the Georgian Bay area say the warming of Lake Huron can have significant effects on the weather, environment and wildlife. Read the full story by Collingwood Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-georgian-bay
A report from the Pennenvironment Research and Policy Center looked at 53 Pennsylvania Waterways, including Lake Erie, Edinboro Lake, Elk Creek and Millcreek. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-pennsylvania-plastics
We can use human ingenuity to solve the climate crisis. But doing so will force us to redefine what we think of as nature. Read the full story by Wired Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-climate-lessons
The first flood outlook issued by the Northeast River Forecast Center highlights Western New York as having above normal river flood risk through mid-March.. Read the full story by WGRZ – TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-new-york-flooding
The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council is asking Gov. Tim Walz to temporarily stop the ongoing construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. Read the full story by The Circle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-line-3
After receiving over $20 million in grant funding, the city is working to bring it back better than ever. The city recently revealed the first renditions of the repairs and upgrades they plan to make, including adding streams, ponds, trees, and environmentally friendly walkways. Read the full story by WWTV/WWUP-TV Cadillac-Sault Ste. Marie, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210304-carbide-dock
Former University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute researcher, and now a post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division in Duluth, Minnesota, Ryan Lepak has been awarded the 2021 Raymond L. Lindeman Award from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO). It is the leading professional organization for researchers and educators in the field of aquatic science.
“I am thrilled that our team was selected for this prestigious award. It represents work that would not have been possible without strong monitoring efforts like those at the Great Lakes Fish Monitoring and Surveillance Program at the EPA,” Lepak said. “Across the board, at UW-Madison’s Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program, the U.S. Geological Survey Mercury Research Lab and the Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Laboratory at EPA, this work exemplifies the innovative and multidisciplinary approaches requisite to creating impactful science. I am honored to tell this story alongside these colleagues.”
Each year, ASLO recognizes a young scientist for leading an outstanding peer-reviewed, English-language paper in the aquatic sciences. Lepak’s paper, on which he was the lead author, is “Mercury source changes and food web shifts alter contamination signatures of predatory fish from Lake Michigan,” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the United States of America.
Lepak and a team of researchers used a novel combination of mercury, nitrogen and carbon isotope analysis, which he termed “fingerprinting,” on archived samples of lake trout from 1978 to 2012. From the same period, Lepak also examined archived samples of sediment taken from the lakebed to compare trends of mercury sources to sediments and fish.
The study years included a time when the Great Lakes were spared higher amounts of added mercury, in part because hospitals and municipalities stopped burning waste. That decline could have been expected to lessen mercury levels in fish. Yet, there had not been an obvious decrease in the mercury concentrations of sport fish.
The culprits behind this are invasive zebra and quagga mussels that exploded in Lake Michigan and now are estimated to number in the trillions. The mussels have caused significant shifts in lake trout feeding habits, forcing the fish to consume food that provides less energy while being more enriched in mercury.
In a statement released today by the organization, ASLO President Roxane Maranger said, “It is our pleasure to award Dr. Lepak the Lindeman early-career award for this outstanding paper. His work will certainly have far-reaching implications for assessing the combined influence of changes in contaminant source and concentrations as well as food web alterations in the study of mercury and other contaminants in aquatic ecosystems. We look forward with excitement to Dr. Lepak’s continued contributions to aquatic science!”
The Lindeman Award will be presented to Lepak at the 2021 ASLO Aquatic Sciences virtual meeting in June.
Collaborators to the study published in PNAS include the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office; U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Minnesota Science Museum; St. Croix Watershed Research Station; and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry.
The study was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; U.S. Geological Survey National Institutes for Water Resources, University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute; and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation through the University of Wisconsin Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education.
The post Wisconsin mercury researcher captures prestigious ASLO prize first appeared on WRI.
News Release – WRI
https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-mercury-researcher-captures-prestigious-aslo-prize/
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/grb/Northeast_Wisconsin_Spring_Flood_Outlook
Federal lawmakers consider easing restrictions.
The post Providers call for expansion of telehealth services beyond COVID-19 first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/03/04/providers-call-for-expansion-of-telehealth-services-beyond-covid-19/
By Alessandra Jerolleman, Eos
This story originally appeared in Eos and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
In the United States, 2020 will be remembered not just for a global pandemic but also for a series of back-to-back and record-breaking disasters that affected much of the country, including many rural communities.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/building-resilience-rural-america/
The Huron River is a life force for the Michigan communities in its watershed. Throughout the years, it is women who have been a driving force in improving its quality. Read the full story by WEMU – Ypsilanti, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210303-woman
