Michigan Radio takes a look at the effects invasive species are having on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230927-invasive-species
Led by the Bay Mills Indian Community, more than 60 tribal nations from Indian Country have weighed in on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s lawsuit to move the Line 5 oil pipeline from the heart of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Native News Online.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230927-tribal-support
Four bottles with messages inside are floating somewhere in Lake Michigan, waiting for someone to find them and win a stay in the White Shoal Lighthouse. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230927-lighthouse-stay
This summer marked the arrival of three new cruise lines that added Cleveland, Ohio, to their list of stops. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230927-cleveland
Great Lakes tribes that cherish the Straits of Mackinac say Line 5 is a ‘ticking time bomb’ for the Great Lakes, which contain a fifth of the Earth’s surface fresh water, and risks destroying their relationship with land and water. Read the full story by The Guardian.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230927-line-5
Isle Royale, a National Park that sits in Lake Superior, is considering plans to open the park to more visitors. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230927-isle-royale
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/participating-oceans-2023-gulf-coast
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer released the MI Healthy Climate Plan last year.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/michigan-legislature-tackles-ambitious-climate-legislation/
By Todd Richmond, Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Great Lakes’ frigid fresh water used to keep shipwrecks so well preserved that divers could see dishes in the cupboards. Downed planes that spent decades underwater were left so pristine they could practically fly again when archaeologists finally discovered them.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/ap-historians-race-to-find-great-lakes-shipwrecks-before-quagga-mussels-destroy-the-sites/
Properly cleaning up your yard in the fall will help keep our local waters clean too! Read these tips. Post this sheet in your garage near your rakes. Working together to keep leaves out of the storm drain and out of local waters will help keep green on the land and out of the water.
KEEP YOUR LEAVES ON YOUR PROPERTY
A great way to make sure leaves do not end up in local waters is to keep them on our property!
Mulch leaves in place by making several passes over the leaves with a mulching mower. This will keep leaves on your lawn and provide it with nutrients it needs for healthy grass next spring.
Collect mulched leaves and spread them in garden beds or under shrubs. Leaves provide valuable protection for plants through the winter and also provide nutrients for spring growth.
Composting is a way to recycle residential “greens” (grass clippings, landscape pruning’s, plant residues, etc.) and turn them into a rich soil, know as compost – a valuable resource for your garden or houseplant.
Cold Composting requires little maintenance but can take up to 2 years to complete. To create a cold compost: pile and mix non-woody yard wastes and let them sit.
Hot Composting requires regular maintenance such as turning and watering, but can create compost in typically 1-3 months time. To create a hot compost pile: mix equal amounts of high nitrogen “greens” and high-carbon “browns” (dry and woody materials such as dead leaves) with 10% bulky materials such as wood chips. The mix should remain moist but not wet and should be turned often.
-More information on composting can be found on our site and on the internet.
If you decide to collect your leaves for removal from your yard, follow your community leave collection policies and schedules. Put a tarp over leaf piles between pick-up times to prevent them from blowing away. Remove leaves and debris from street gutters and storm sewer inlet grates. Whenever possible, leaf piles should be placed on the terrace and not in the streets.
Some municipalities allow leaves to be burned on-site. Check with your local municipality on the local regulations for leaf burning. A permit may be required.
Northeast Wisconsin Stormwater Consortium (NEWSC) P.O. Box 1861 Appleton, WI 54912 l 920.851.4336
RenewOurWaters.org
Stormwater is rain or snowmelt and water from things people do, like washing the car or watering the lawn. As water makes its way to the storm drain it picks up pollutants like oil from car leaks and bacteria from pet waste. When we choose products carefully and dispose of products properly, we can greatly reduce the amount of pollution that enters our local waters through runoff.
Untreated runoff is the biggest threat to our nation’s water quality, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Let’s make the small, important changes that will reduce that threat and improve water quality and our lives!
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The post Leave Your Leaves On Land appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/09/26/leaveyourleavesonland/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=leaveyourleavesonland
Fox-Wolf is pleased to announce Jim Wickersham as our new Winnebago Waterways Director. Jim started in this role the last week of September, but he has had a connection to this region and to our waters for his whole life.
“My first fishing pole was a cane pole,” he said of his time fishing along the Little Wolf River with his neighbor, ‘Grandpa’ Roger. Jim grew up in Appleton and Freedom, eventually attending UW-Oshkosh to earn his bachelor’s degree in marketing and business administration.
Fox-Wolf is pleased to announce Jim Wickersham as our new Winnebago Waterways Director. Jim started in this role the last week of September, but he has had a connection to this region and to our waters for his whole life.
“My first fishing pole was a cane pole,” he said of his time fishing along the Little Wolf River with his neighbor, ‘Grandpa’ Roger. Jim grew up in Appleton and Freedom, eventually attending UW-Oshkosh to earn his bachelor’s degree in marketing and business administration.
Jim started his career in private business, then made a shift to work for the Chamber of Commerce. In those roles, Jim had a chance to hone his skills at bringing people together. “I connect people to other people, ideas, causes, and information,” he said.
The Winnebago Waterways program will benefit tremendously from this skill. Jim will be working with a variety of stakeholders, from property owners and recreational boaters to businesses and government officials.
Although his work experience comes from a different setting, Jim sees this transition as a natural next step. He knows what a critical role water has played in the history and culture of this community. “We don’t have mountains; we have water. People come here for the lakes. It’s part of our life and our economy.”
Jim is hard at work, learning the history of Fox-Wolf and meeting our many regional partners. He is looking forward to moving ahead with a variety of water recovery projects. When he’s not doing that, there’s a decent chance you might find him out on the watershed with his family, hiking or camping or backpacking.
Welcome Jim!
The post Jim Wickersham, new Winnebago Waterways Director appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/09/26/jim-wickersham/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jim-wickersham
For the second year, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance has partnered with 1000 Islands Environmental Center for their Focus on the Fox event. Focus on 
the Fox is a family-friendly event that celebrates World Rivers Day and the Fox River. Activities offered during the event include guided crayfish and critter hunting, guided nature hikes along the Fox River, fishing instructions for children with the KHS Fishing Team, Fox Lock demonstrations – Lock #3 with shuttle available, paper making, photo scavenger hunt, viewing of “The Power of the River” documentary, and river cleanup with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
Fox-Wolf’s Trash Free Waters program began recruiting cleanup volunteers for the event back in July and we were excited
to see that registration filled during the week prior to the event. Amcor employees made up a majority of the group, along with a Boy Scout troup and other conservation-minded volunteers.
During the cleanup from 10 a.m. to noon, volunteers worked hard cleaning up trash and debris from sites within 1000 Islands and nearby locations in downtown Kaukauna. In total, volunteers removed 27 bags of trash, 1,034 
cigarette butts, 130 plastic bags, and 53 straws. After weighing up all of the trash, the total was 134 pounds of trash and debris! Other interesting finds include: a tire with rim, orange cone, metal trash can lid, fireworks, baseball, tarp, and a container with two hard-boiled eggs from Costco. Check out the infographic!
All of us at Fox-Wolf appreciate the continued partnership with 1000 Islands Environmental Center in Kaukauna. To learn more about 1000 Islands, visit https://1000islandsenvironmentalcenter.org/
For more information, please contact:
Kelly Reyer
Trash Free Waters Program Coordinator
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
kelly@fwwa.org
920-915-1502
Support Trash Free Waters
Join the Trash Free Waters Email List
The post Volunteers Remove Over 100 Pounds of Trash During Focus on the Fox Event in Kaukauna appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/09/26/onhs-students-improve-water-quality-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=onhs-students-improve-water-quality-2
David Grandmaison, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, poles through a wild rice bed in the St. Louis River. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
A co-worker and I were invited to attend a day of Manoomin (Wild Rice) Camp on the St. Louis River in Duluth, Minnesota. The camp flier said, “Join us in a guided paddle to the wild rice restoration sites and welcome manoomin back to Gichi Gami Ziibi (the St. Louis River). Try your hand at harvesting and experience each step in the finishing process (drying, parching, jigging and winnowing).”
That sounded good to us, so with wild rice harvesting permits in hand, we met in the Fond du Lac neighborhood of Duluth near the Wisconsin border. The event was hosted by the 1854 Treaty Authority, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and The Nature Conservancy in an area that had been seeded with wild rice three or four years previously.
We were met by Marne Kaeske, cultural preservation specialist with the 1854 Treaty Authority, Martha Minchak and David Grandmaison, St. Louis River wild rice and habitat restoration coordinator with the WDNR. After a sage smudging ceremony and a chance to offer tobacco to the river as the Ojibwe do, they gave us a brief orientation to where the rice bed was located and how to harvest it.
“The rice needs us and we need the rice,” said Minchak, a retired Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wildlife manager. “In places where it’s not harvested anymore, it’s disappeared. Kind of like sweet grass, it needs to be pulled up and picked. Rice needs to be harvested to reseed itself. We’re here to celebrate that today.”
The St. Louis River. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Under a blue sky and calm winds, my co-worker (who shall remain nameless for reasons that will become clear soon) and I clambered into our canoe with our life jackets, a pair of rice knocking sticks and long pole. We paddled toward the wild rice bed where Grandmaison was stationed in a motorboat and kayak to aid us ricers. We spotted a gleaming white pair of trumpeter swans and we watched as a small kettle of hawks circled overhead.
We must have not done our opening ceremonies correctly, because things did not go as planned. I was in the bow of the canoe and my job was to use the rice knockers to coax the rice seeds off the plants. My co-worker was in the stern to pole us through the rice bed. That all went fine, for a while.
Marie uses rice knockers to harvest wild rice in the St. Louis River. Image credit: Sharon Moen, Wisconsin Sea Grant
The soft swishing sounds of the aluminum canoe pushing through the thick rice stand combined with the gentle patter of rice seeds falling into it as I gently bent the rice with one knocker and used the other to tap the plants was soothing. The rice stand had already been visited by other groups earlier in the week. That, combined with a heavy rain the day before, made for a sparse harvest. Still, oblong seeds with long grassy tails slowly filled the bottom of our canoe. Some of the seeds were purple, others were tan. A small sora rail flushed several times as we passed. This secretive water bird needs marshes and rice beds as nesting habitat.
My co-worker began poling us through the shallow rice bed sitting down at first. Then she stood for the task, which is how it is traditionally done. As the manoomin continued accumulating in our canoe, the push pole got stuck in the soft muck and she lost her balance.
Into the chilly river we went, rice and all!
Our shouts of surprise and splashes as we struggled to stand in the deep muck alerted Grandmaison to our plight. He paddled over in his kayak and tied a rope onto our swamped canoe. My co-worker and I waded through the waist-deep water, holding onto the canoe through the wild rice beds until we reached shore, which was about 100 yards away.
The swamped ricing canoe. Image credit: David Grandmaison, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
There, we were able to tip the canoe over and empty most of the water (and any wild rice that remained). We took it all in good stride, however, laughing at our plight and commenting about what a good story this would make. I thought up the title of this blog post on the spot. There’s nothing like a real-life experience to provide creative inspiration!
Our misadventure was also probably good for the rice bed. Wild rice is an annual plant and as Minchak mentioned, it needs to be seeded every year to prosper. We just dumped a whole lot of seeds back into the river for next year. Maybe that’s what the wild rice gods wanted us to do?
We were worried about our cell phones and other electronic devices that spent a short time in the water. But our phones, at least, seemed functional.
Cold and wet, my co-worker and I decided we’d had enough ricing for the day. We paddled back to the landing and emptied the remaining water from the canoe, pulling it on land and turning it over.
From the time we overturned in the rice bed to the time we reached the landing we’d been wet for two hours. We headed home for warm, dry clothes. We would miss the rice processing demonstration and a wild rice-themed meal. We were disappointed to cut the experience short.
However, I happened to have a special lunch awaiting me at home: wild rice soup. I swear, I did not plan that. I just worked out that way.
My co-worker and I certainly got “immersed” in the process of harvesting wild rice. The experience was memorable and was not one we could have had only a few years ago, before efforts to restore rice took off in the estuary.
But if we ever do it again, I’m going to volunteer to be the poler.
Marie’s clothes drying out at home. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/wild-ricing-in-the-st-louis-river-estuary-an-immersive-experience/
Waves of Change is a new series all about highlighting the diverse faces involved in the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes region.
The first guest in our inaugural episode of Waves of Change is Justin Onwenu, an organizer with extensive experience in environmental organizing, specifically protecting the water and air quality for people living in and around Detroit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/waves-of-change-community-organizer-justin-onwenu/
Original Story: Water Action Volunteers
On August 19th, 2023, water lovers of all ages gathered for a one-day statewide aquatic invasive species (AIS) scavenger hunt as a part of the 10th annual AIS Snapshot Day. This event is coordinated by UW Extension in partnership with River Alliance, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), and 
Extension Lakes. Volunteers met at different local rendezvous sites across the state to learn how to identify AIS such as Eurasian watermilfoil, purple loosestrife, and New Zealand mudsnails, and then searched for them in the field at pre-
selected locations. Initially focused on rivers and streams, Snapshot Day has expanded to include lakes and wetlands. Findings from Snapshot Day are uploaded to the statewide water quality database, SWIMS, where they can be used to track the spread of invasive species and develop management plans.
Every year, Snapshot Day provides a vast amount of AIS data to the WDNR to assist in management decisions, and this year was no exception! 145 participants gathered across 22 meeting locations and monitored 131 sites across 102 different waterbodies in Wisconsin. 48 of those waterbodies had no AIS detected. At 83 sites, volunteers located 15 different AIS species, including purple loosestrife, curly-leaf pondweed, Asian clams/freshwater golden clams (Corbicula), and faucet snails.
Snapshot Day’s community-based science approach maximizes the number of sites being checked across the state, and the free event allows volunteers to learn about their local waters and how to keep them healthy. As one volunteer stated, “I enjoyed the hands on learning approach. It was helpful to have well informed guides and samples of the invasive species to get a close look at. Once we had a good understanding of what to look for, it was fun to go out and collect samples of what we were finding.”
We would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all of the volunteers, partner organizations, and site leaders who made this event possible.
And don’t forget to follow Snapshot Day on Facebook for future updates! https://www.facebook.com/aissnapshotday
Photo Credit: Chris Acy (Fox-Wolf), Emily Heald (Water Action Volunteers)
Questions? Comments? Contact Chris Acy, the AIS Coordinator covering Brown, Outagamie, Fond du Lac, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties at (920) 460-3674 or chris@fwwa.org!
Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Winnebago Waterways Program on our Winnebago Waterways Facebook page or @WinnWaterways on X! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.
Check out the Keepers of the Fox Program at https://fwwa.org/watershed-recovery/lower-fox-recovery/
Winnebago Waterways and Keepers of the Fox are Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance programs. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization working to protect and restore water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.
Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread. Maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options to an invasive species.
The post AIS Snapshot Day 2023; 115 volunteers Search 102 Different Waterbodies appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/09/25/ais-snapshot-day-2023-115-volunteers-search-102-different-waterbodies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ais-snapshot-day-2023-115-volunteers-search-102-different-waterbodies
Original Story: J&R Aquatic Animal Rescue
Eight animals were turned in at an exotic pet surrender event at the Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve in Brown County on Sunday September 24th. Included in the surrenders were fish and two yellow bellied sliders!
Area organizations were on hand accepting fish, invertebrates, reptiles, pet birds, small mammals, and plants — no questions asked.
In some areas, there are no rehoming options for exotic animals such as fish, birds, and reptiles. Some pet owners that are unable to care for their pet may think that releasing the animal is the right thing to do, however, releasing a pet is harmful for the animal 
and the environment. Pet Surrender events are now being held across Wisconsin help provide an avenue to pet owners to rehome pets without harming the pet or the environment.
There are multiple places that are currently tackling issues from illegally released domestic and exotic animals. The most well known example are the Burmese pythons that have had an enormous impact on the Everglades in Florida. However, multiple cases of released pets causing problems in our waters occur every year including an alligator found in Long Lake in Summer 2022! Released pets can easily become nuisance or invasive species if they start a breeding population.
The Pet Surrender event brought together a collection of area rehoming partners that provide responsible alternatives to release for exotic pet owners who are no longer able to care for their pets. J&R Aquatic Animal Rescue (JRAAR) hosted the October 30th event with help from several other area organizations including Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance and University of Wisconsin Sea Grant/Water Resources Institutes.
Want to learn more about the Pet Surrender Network? Visit the J&R Aquatic Animal Rescue website at www.jraar.org.
Photo Credit: Chris Acy (Fox-Wolf), Marissa Kososki (J&R Aquatic Animal Rescue)
Questions? Comments? Contact Chris Acy, the AIS Coordinator covering Brown, Outagamie, Fond du Lac, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties at (920) 460-3674 or chris@fwwa.org!
Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Winnebago Waterways Program on our Winnebago Waterways Facebook page or @WinnWaterways on X! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.
Check out the Keepers of the Fox Program at https://fwwa.org/watershed-recovery/lower-fox-recovery/
Winnebago Waterways and Keepers of the Fox are Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance programs. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization working to protect and restore water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.
Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread. Maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options to an invasive species.
The post Pet Rehoming Event in Green Bay Sees Eight Exotic Pets appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/09/25/pet-rehoming-event-in-green-bay-sees-eight-exotic-pets/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pet-rehoming-event-in-green-bay-sees-eight-exotic-pets
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/success-stories-regional-climate-center-program
The Great Lakes’ frigid fresh water used to keep shipwrecks well preserved. Now, an invasive mussel is destroying shipwrecks, forcing archeologists and amateur historians into a race against time to find as many sites as they can. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-shipwrecks-quagga-mussels
Only about 15 percent of the cumulative lake floor in the Great Lakes has ever been mapped in significant detail. Hoping to fix that is the project Lakebed 2030, an ambitious effort to map the totality of the Great Lakes by the end of the decade. Read the full story by The Leelanau Ticker.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-mapping-project
More than 9 million fish from state hatcheries have been added to the Great Lakes and inland waters across Michigan so far this year as part of the state’s annual stocking program. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-michigan-fish-stocking
t has been claimed there are 10,000 wrecks in the Great Lakes. Those in the Lower Georgian Bay represent an interesting glimpse into Ontario’s rich marine heritage. Read the full story by Barrie Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-hope-island-wrecks
Planners are in the early stages of an 18-month, $1.4 million project to plan a sustainable, climate-resilient future for Lakewood, Ohio’s coast. The plan will involve working with building owners to find a long-term erosion control measure. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-lakewood-ohio-erosion
Five flamingos have been spotted on Lake Michigan in Port Washington, Wisconsin, just north of Milwaukee. Audubon Florida speculates the birds were flying between Cuba and the Yucatan and got diverted by Hurricane Idalia. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-flamingos
The historic Great Lakes car ferry, S.S. Badger will receive a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration. The contribution will go towards an ongoing feasibility analysis to convert the coal-fired steamship into a zero-emission ferry vessel. Read the full story by Trains.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-s-s-badger
The Goodtime I, based in Sandusky, Ohio, was stalled between Kelley’s Island and Marblehead due to an engine problem. The vessel was eventually towed back to shore. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-goodtime-ferry
Business groups and environmental groups filed amicus briefs in a case the Michigan Supreme Court will settle regarding manure spreading on farm fields. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-manure-spreading
Since the early 2000s, Black River, a nearly 15-mile waterway in Alcona County, Michigan that flows into Lake Huron, has had an issue where sand moves and builds up at the mouth that lets water into Lake Huron. Solutions to fix the problem vary. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230925-black-river
Nikolas Shepard (in red) and the Potawatomi youth drum group provided honor songs for the Wequiock Creek ceremony. Image credit: University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
By Margaret Ellis – Yotsi’nahkwa’talihahte (Wild Rose), Oneida Nation
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay First Nations Graduate Assistant, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Wisconsin Sea Grant and UWGB Center for Biodiversity hosted the third annual tobacco blessing at Wequiock Creek. Wequiock Creek is one of several natural areas managed by UWGB and is a tributary to the Bay of Green Bay. I was honored to have organized and facilitated this year’s tobacco blessing and couldn’t have done it without the previous Graduate Assistant Stephanie Dodge initiating and laying the groundwork for the event.
Dodge, another UWGB First Nations education doctoral student, knew that bringing the Indigenous voice back to the area and ensuring we do that with prayer was essential to the restoration efforts at Wequiock. “Wequiock Creek Natural Area shares a long history of shared land, water, and resources with multiple First Nations,” Dodge said. “Along the shorelines of the Bay and traveling into the Fox River has long been the location of settlements and trade routes for Indigenous people.”
Margaret Ellis introduces the various youth groups present for the blessing. Image credit: University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
The Ho-Chunk and Menominee Nations both hold ancestral land claims deriving from their creation stories that take place along the banks of Green Bay. Menominee Nation’s creation story takes place on the Menominee River near the mouth of the bay and the Ho-Chunk Nation honors the Red Banks area as their creation story location. For many Nations, their creation or origin stories hold a lot of knowledge and practices that still guide how they live their lives and practice their cultures today. These areas are not just points of interest but rather living, breathing connections to their places of origin.
Potawatomi settled in the area after migration and later through forced removal. The Oneida Nation migrated with the Stockbridge and Brothertown Nations to the area and purchased land from the Menominee Nation in the early 1800s. As you can imagine, the area holds great meaning, historical knowledge and relevance to all the Nations mentioned.
This year’s tobacco blessing was attended by individuals representing the various invested parties in the Wequiock area including Northeast Land Trust, UWGB First Nations Education Department, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Potawatomi members, Oneida Nation members, Menominee Nation members, Ho-chunk Nation members, and others interested and committed to the restoration of a vital tributary to the Bay of Green Bay.
Kanataloloks Zacarias-Skenandore (purple), Oneida Nation Elementary School Earth Song instructor, and Charlie Doxtater (red), Oneida Nation High School earth song instructor with Oneida Nation High School students/singers who provided friendship songs for the event. Image credit: University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
The highlight of the event was the youth groups from three nations: Oneida Nation High School youth singers, Potawatomi youth drum group and Menominee High School Science class students. The Menominee students helped with a site dig earlier that month with Dave Overstreet as a part of a project to recognize the lands as ancestral homelands to the Menominee Nation. The Oneida Nation High School provided earth songs and the Potawatomi youth drum group provided honor songs – a beautiful way to honor the area as well as demonstrate the beauty and uniqueness of each culture.
After the event, there was great feedback about the overall feeling and message that the blessing provided.
“It was quite a moving experience. As I delve deeper into the history of the lands that surround the Green Bay Estuary. I continue to learn,” said Collette LaRue, a Conservation Photographer and UWGB affiliate.
Dan Meinhardt, associate professor of Human Biology and curator, Richter Museum of Natural History at UWGB, has been attending since its inception. “I am honored to have attended all three blessing events. Hearing from First Nations people with special connections to the land, especially in the songs and music of the youth, is always so moving and inspiring. The blessings have become a real highlight for me.”
The tobacco blessing is a great opportunity to reconnect people with each other, with the land, the history of the area and the rich culture it represents. Bringing people together in prayer and community provides a sense of belonging and authenticity that supports any restoration efforts being done at Wequicok Creek Natural Area.
The post Annual Wequiock Creek tobacco blessing first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/annual-wequiock-creek-tobacco-blessing/
This article was republished here with permission from Planet Detroit.
By Nina Ignaczak, Planet Detroit
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign bills requiring doctors to test children for lead exposure at one and two years old following the Michigan Legislature’s Tuesday approval of the two-bill package.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/michigan-toddlers-to-receive-universal-lead-testing-under-new-legislation/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives and works in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her two books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” will be released in May, 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/nibi-chronicles-the-art-of-ojibwe-linoleum/
Aquaculture Outreach and Extension Specialist Dong-Fang Deng discovered her love for fish in the long, winding gut of a grass carp.
“I didn’t think I was going to do any animal research,” said Deng, but a fish dissection at the lab she worked at while an undergraduate sparked her interest. The fishes she examined—the grass carp, tilapia and Japanese eel—all had differently sized intestinal tracts, with the grass carp having the longest. Talking with her professor about the diets of each fish, Deng had a realization: A “different gut [is] related to different food.”
Aquaculture Outreach and Extension Specialist Dong-Fang Deng discusses fish nutrition in her lab at the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences. Photo credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
Unlike tilapia or Japanese eel, grass carp are herbivores, and a long gut allows them to break down and absorb nutrients from plants. Deng credits her professor for encouraging her curiosity.
“I really appreciate that my professor worked with me,” she said.
Deng’s curiosity propelled her into a career in animal nutrition. In addition to her Sea Grant appointment, which began in February 2023, Deng is also a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, where she researches and develops fish feed for the aquaculture, or fish farming, industry.
“We want to make the right diet for the right fish, that’s our general goal,” said Deng.
Formulating fish food, however, is no simple task. Different fish have different nutritional needs, and what works for one fish may not work for another. Take, for example, the yellow perch. Unable to tolerate the high-fat diets of rainbow trout and salmon, yellow perch will accumulate excess fat in their liver, which affects their metabolism. “If the liver isn’t functioning right, they can’t grow very well,” said Deng. “We need to figure out how to optimize the feed.”
Another consideration is the cost and availability of food. Aquaculture researchers have been investigating alternative ingredients, like black soldier flies and fungi protein, to replace more expensive fish meal. Plant-based ingredients in aquaculture feed are also common. Said Deng, “Plant ingredients like corn and soy have been in research for decades.”
Deng formulates feed for fish raised in aquaculture systems, such as these fingerling lake sturgeon. Photo credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
Deng is currently experimenting with a new plant ingredient, alfalfa, which is a common forage crop for livestock like cows. She is researching whether the protein-rich plant could replace fish meal protein in the diet of rainbow trout.
While cheap, abundant ingredients are desirable, dietary changes shouldn’t negatively impact fish health, whether those fish are raised for food or for stocking purposes.
For example, Deng is working with Mole Lake Fisheries to develop a dry feed to replace the live minnows fed to walleye raised in outdoor ponds. Minnows are expensive, and while dry feed may be cheaper, walleye must be strong enough to be stocked in local lakes.
Deng must consider how the new diet impacts their long-term survival. “Can they run well in the lake?” asked Deng. “Can they survive? [Can they] still get used to catching live food?”
Working with fish farmers to develop a new feed or adopt a new technology is part of Deng’s work as an outreach specialist, but she also spends much of her time working with students—from high school to graduate-level. Some students seek out her lab because they love to fish; others just want to build their research skills. Deng then collaborates with students to tailor lab work to their interests or career goals. One undergraduate, Deng recalled, wanted to pursue dentistry, so she got creative.
“I asked him to look at different teeth of the fish to see the evolution of different food habits,” said Deng.
Deng holds up two yellow perch for two students who work in her lab. Photo credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
She has also worked with students interested in environmental law, public policy and communications and stresses that students don’t need to major in biology to work in her lab. “My goal is to open the window and the door to anyone who likes to learn,” she said.
And that includes the public. Deng offers educational tours of her lab to schools and community groups where participants learn more about aquaculture and get the opportunity to see tanks of juvenile sturgeon or eyelash-sized yellow perch. It’s a popular event, one that has inspired students to pursue working in her lab.
“You have to let the public learn what we are doing,” said Deng. “If you always close the door, then why are we here?”
Those interested in scheduling a tour of Deng’s lab should reach out to dengd@uwm.edu. Deng will also have open lab exhibitions at Harbor Fest in Milwaukee on Sunday, September 24, 2023.
The post New Wisconsin Sea Grant aquaculture outreach specialist formulates “right food for the right fish” first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/new-wisconsin-sea-grant-aquaculture-outreach-specialist-formulates-right-food-for-the-right-fish/
Lake Erie’s harmful algal bloom has been shrinking for about one or two weeks, but scientists don’t know yet when it will disappear. Last year’s bloom behaved differently from blooms in previous years, so that makes it harder to predict when the bloom will go away. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-algal-bloom-shrink
Revive Environmental, created by Battelle in Ohio, teamed up with Heritage-Crystal Clean, based in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, area, to launch the PFAS Annihilator that destroys toxic PFAS chemicals. Once the process is complete, the PFAS-free water is sent to a local Publicly Owned Treatment Works facility, where it’s processed into drinking water. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-pfas-annihilator
The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded $5 million to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor to establish the Global Center for Understanding Climate Change Impacts on Transboundary Waters, which will be based at the university’s School for Environment and Sustainability. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-climate-center
A birchbark canoe well over 100 years old has a new home in Kanien’kehá:ka territory south of Montreal, Québec, after spending decades in storage in Québec and Minnesota. While it’s currently on display in the Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center, the canoe will eventually be housed in a new museum. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-canoe-returned
StreamGo, a Hamilton, Ontario, company, has developed a process that not only removes PFAS, but also deconstructs the chemicals so they’re no longer harmful to the environment and humans. StreamGo has turned to the Buffalo Sewer Authority to help prove it has developed a system that can be applied to wastewater heavily contaminated with PFAS. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-pfas-removal
U.S. EPA Great Lakes Office director Chris Korleski recently spoke at the Areas of Concern (AOC) conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to emphasize the importance of partnerships in AOC remediation. The conference theme this year was “accelerate,” referring to President Biden’s February 2022 initiative to quicken the pace of AOC remediation by infusing an additional $1 billion over five years. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-remediation-goals
Steel production rose by 16,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Steel mills in Indiana’s Great Lakes region made 571,000 tons of metal in the week that ended September 16, up from 555,000 tons the previous week. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-steel-production
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is actively investigating a new PFAS site in Courtland Township, where state officials have not pinpointed the source of the contamination. EGLE has identified several wells with PFAS levels ranging from 50 to 110 parts per trillion (ppt), significantly higher than the regulation levels of 8 to 16 ppt. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-pfas-detection
The input will be used for the creation of a city waterfront access master plan that will recommend potential access points along the stretch of Lake Ontario from Lakeshore Road West to Read Road. City-owned properties along the lake are being looked at for the study, including parks, beaches, trails and other spaces. Read the full story by the St. Catharines Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-waterfront-access
Members of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have netted lake trout in Lake Superior for the first time in more than 160 years. Band members and others say the event marks another chapter in the ongoing success story of Lake Superior’s lake trout resurgence. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230922-trout-resurgence
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
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Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126660EC94DC.SpecialWeatherStatement.126660ED0A0CWI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
The EPA’s Chris Korleski gets excited when speaking about cleaning up the Great Lakes region’s decades-old, contaminated sediment sites like the Detroit River.
He talks about the “tremendous effort” that’s been rekindled in the past two years under the Biden administration. And how “motivated” the people who work to advance the cleanup are and the value of the partnerships that facilitate restoration.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/great-lakes-epa-office-reaffirms-2030-cleanup-goal-for-detroit-river-other-contaminated-sites/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126660DDD12C.SpecialWeatherStatement.126660DE3720WI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126660DD2A60.SpecialWeatherStatement.126660DDE900WI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
Illinois has ended the statewide testing of fish from Illinois lakes and rivers for organochlorine pesticides such as DDT. State officials say the levels of the pesticides found through testing have diminished to near zero over the past 50 years, allowing the state to discontinue testing for those chemicals. Read the full story by The Telegraph.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-illinois-fish-testing
Mackinac Island, Michigan, is getting grant funding to build a new wastewater treatment plant as part of $81.2 million in state funding from the MI Clean Water Plan which helps communities upgrade water-focused infrastructure and protect health and the environment. Read the full story by the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-mackinac-wastewater
The city of Cleveland, Ohio, wants to create a tax-increment financing district across much of downtown to help pay for waterfront development plans along the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie. The projects would include improving public access to the riverfront in the form of parks and other amenities, bulkhead improvements on the river, and other public infrastructure upgrades. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-cleveland-waterfront
Researchers from the Shedd Aquarium, Purdue University, and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant are tracking the movements of 80 individual fish in the Chicago River system using acoustic telemetry. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-fish-tracking
