Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers proclaimed June as “Invasive Species Action Month.” The campaign is designed to encourage Wisconsinites to help prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species that harm Wisconsin’s native wildlife, wetlands, forests, prairies, lakes and rivers. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-invasive-species
A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researcher says hundreds of homes in southeast Wisconsin could end up in Lake Michigan. Now, there is an effort to protect it. Read the full story by WITI-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-shoreline-protection
A Wisconsin judge agreed to keep on hold his ruling from April that prevented state regulators from requiring businesses and others responsible for pollution by PFAS chemicals to investigate and clean up the contamination. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-pfas
Shore erosion is a natural process for lakes, but one that was made worse during high water levels. Shoreline erosion risks damaging both infrastructure and fish and wildlife habitat. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-erosion
Presque Isle State Park in Pennsylvania will receive federal funding to replenish sand on peninsula beaches this summer. Although the money is coming a little later this year, that should have minimal effect on swimming in Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-presque-isle
By Diana Kruzman, Grist
This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.
Joe Mosyjowski has watched a decade-long boom in oil and gas drilling unfold in the region surrounding his 50-acre farm in northeast Ohio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ohio-residents-radioactive-oil-gas-waste-roads/
Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) passed resolutions supporting USGS science programs and short-sea shipping, and approved an Action Plan for a Resilient Great Lakes Basin at its 2022 semiannual meeting, held in Green Bay, Wisconsin, this week.
“The Great Lakes Commission is thrilled to be meeting in Green Bay to work on critical issues for the lakes, including climate resiliency and providing clean and safe drinking water for our communities,” said GLC Chair Todd L. Ambs, of Wisconsin. “We are grateful to our commissioners, observers, and friends for joining our first in-person meeting since 2019.”
During the meeting, the GLC heard remarks from Governor Tony Evers, Wisconsin Senator André Jacque, and Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich and were joined by expert panels on reducing nutrient runoff in Great Lakes watersheds, ensuring infrastructure investments are accessible to disadvantaged and small communities, protecting Great Lakes shorelines, and integrating regional research efforts. Commissioners and guests also discussed conservation opportunities in the 2023 Farm Bill and work on a draft regional blueprint for water infrastructure to be released later this year. Commissioners and guests also visited several area farms to learn about conservation practices that help improve water quality and support the needs of farmers contributing to the region’s food supply.
The Commission also took action to establish an ad-hoc committee exploring opportunities for the Great Lakes Circle Tour and approved a request from the Council of the Great Lakes Region to serve as an official observer to the GLC.
The GLC will next meet for its annual meeting, October 11-13, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Todd L. Ambs, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (retired), is a binational government agency established in 1955 to protect the Great Lakes and the economies and ecosystems they support. Its membership includes leaders from the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. The GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes and brings the region together to work on issues that no single community, state, province, or nation can tackle alone. Learn more at www.glc.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/news/glc-sam-greenbay-061022
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/ncei-archive-growth-and-change
A northern Wisconsin logger faces possible time behind bars on charges he illegally cut timber in an environmentally sensitive part of the 1.5 million-acre Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. A federal grand jury in Madison has indicted 40-year-old Jerod Hecimovich on charges of stealing, injuring, cutting and removing live oak timber from an 88-acre parcel of national forestland in Bayfield County.
The post Logger could go to prison for illegally cutting trees in Wisconsin national forest first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/06/10/logger-could-go-to-prison-for-illegally-cutting-trees-in-wisconsin-national-forest/
Some important amphibian species are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, than other species, according to a recent study.
Region 3: Great Lakes
http://www.usgs.gov/news/state-news-release/toxicity-forever-chemicals-varies-among-amphibian-species
By Diana Kruzman, Grist
This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.
Northeastern Minnesota’s Iron Range has been a major mining hub since the 1860s. Nestled among thick forests and many of the state’s famed “10,000 lakes,” open-pit mines there produce low-grade iron ore that’s shipped to steel mills around the country.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/minnesota-polymet-mine-renewable-energy-tribes/
By Michael Phillis and John Flesher, Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — After a record-setting Midwestern rainstorm that damaged thousands of homes and businesses, Stefanie Johnson’s farmhouse in Blandinsville, Illinois, didn’t have safe drinking water for nearly two months.
Flood water poured into her well, turning the water a muddy brown and forcing Johnson, her husband and their two young children to use store-bought supplies.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-climate-driven-flooding-contamination-risks/
A third-grader from Northern Lights Elementary School searches his net for macroinvertebrates. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Schoolchildren from Northern Lights Elementary in Superior enjoyed the benefits of nature as their classroom last week on Wisconsin Point. The third graders and their teachers are part of the Rivers2Lake Education Program offered by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve).
Brandi with the Reserve helps two students identify their finds. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
The program, which is designed to connect students to the Lake Superior Watershed, is a decade old and has been funded in part by Wisconsin Sea Grant for half of its life. The classrooms were split into four learning groups, which covered topics like trees as habitat and dune ecology, and activities like tree planting and searching for macroinvertebrates (larval insects, snails, crayfish, clams, etc.). The outing was a culmination of the program, which runs year-round. Shawn Stewart and Jasmine Haroldson, both Northern Lights teachers, led one of the learning groups, employing confidence and skills they honed through the year of mentoring associated with Rivers2Lake.
I stationed myself at the macroinvertebrate sampling station along the shores of Allouez Bay. As the students arrived, Brandi, a Rivers2Lake mentor, reminded them about the tiny creatures they would be searching for in the bay sediment. The students were outfitted in waders and provided with small nets on long poles for their sampling. After a demonstration, where Brandi dragged her net through the sediment, the students made their own discoveries.
Much conversation and enthusiasm ensued. One group found a mayfly larva. Another child thought they caught a young fish. They compared findings to when they looked for macroinvertebrates in a creek near their school, previously. When it came time to leave for the next station, none of the children wanted to come back on land.
I would say that their connection to their watershed was a success!
For information about the Reserve’s work with Rivers2Lake teachers, please see this previous story.
A student from Northern Lights Elementary School searches for macroinvertebrates in Allouez Bay. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/rivers2lake-program-sparks-curiosity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rivers2lake-program-sparks-curiosity
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1263FA393184.SpecialWeatherStatement.1263FA399520WI.GRBSPSGRB.a9389031462ea879fc3417c8f647758c
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1263FA38DA68.SpecialWeatherStatement.1263FA396E10WI.GRBSPSGRB.b0fd96919d77e5ba96321014284e101d
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) was reinstated earlier this year and reimburses farmers for following proper conservation practices. To be eligible for the program, land must have a cropping history, or planting history, of four out of six years between 2012-17 and have been owned at least one year prior to applying.
The post Conservation program partnership targets farms in three Michigan watersheds first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/06/09/conservation-program-partnership-targets-farms-in-three-michigan-watersheds/
One of the latest updates in Enbridge’s ongoing Line 5 court cases is a report from Neil Earnest, president of an energy consultancy firm, filed by Enbridge.
In the report, Earnest estimates that in the event of a Line 5 shutdown, gas, jet fuel and diesel prices would increase by half a cent per gallon in Michigan and Wisconsin, and 5 cents per gallon in Ontario.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/line-5-shutdown-gas-prices-half-cent-increase/
One by one, netted fish arrived onto the boat: smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, common carp, gizzard shad, longnose gar.
They lay on their sides, briefly stunned by the electricity that was coursing from rods on the boat’s bow and then scooped on board the 21-foot vessel on a cloudy spring day on Lake Erie.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/african-scientists-great-lakes-international-exchange/
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Legislation criticized by opponents as a vehicle for-profit water companies to take over municipal water authorities in Pennsylvania by imposing expensive regulations on them passed the Republican-controlled state Senate on Tuesday.
Opponents also warned that the bill will precipitate ratepayer increases when water authorities must meet the new regulations or after they are forced to sell out to for-profit water companies.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-pennsylvania-senate-bill-rates/
The Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois Departments of Natural Resources recently concluded a multi-year law enforcement investigation into the poaching and over-harvesting of hundreds of vulnerable spawning lake whitefish from the Menominee River. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-poaching
Visitors to the Lake Michigan shoreline in southeast Wisconsin have been welcomed over the past week by the unmistakable scent of dead fish as hundreds of dead alewife wash up on shore. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-alewife
The Lapeer Conservation District in eastern Michigan received a grant through the Great Lakes Aquatic Invasive Species Landing Blitz, a weeklong outreach event held throughout the Great Lakes basin to raise awareness about preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species. Read the full story by The County Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-landing-blitz
Mayflies are beginning to hatch and emerge from the depths of Lake Erie, with swarms so dense they were detected on weather radar over the lake. Read the full story by WOIO-TV – Cleveland, OH
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-mayflies
The significant fluctuations in Lake Michigan’s water levels are causing shoreline damage and erosion to Chicago beaches. Listen to the full story by WTTW – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-chicago-beaches
The U.S. Army Corps is shoring up eroded beaches this summer along Lake Michigan using dredged sand from harbor mouths. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-dredged-sand
A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign focused on how high lake levels influence the bidirectional flow of the Chicago Area Waterway System and its connection to the Mississippi River basin. Read the full story by The Center Square.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-study
Enbridge and the Canadian government are trying to circumvent Tribal rights and avoid a mandated shutdown by the State of Michigan by calling upon a 1977 pipeline treaty. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-line-5
Environment Career Days at Monroe Middle School in southeast Michigan provided students an opportunity to collect and analyze water samples on Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-career-days
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed a bill into law that will require life rings to be placed along the state’s Lake Michigan shoreline to prevent drownings. Read the full story by the Lake & Mchenry County Scanner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-life-rings
By Scott Bauer, Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday agreed to keep on hold his ruling from April that prevented state regulators from requiring businesses and others responsible for pollution by PFAS chemicals to investigate and clean up the contamination.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren said because of the importance and impact of his ruling, it made sense to keep it on hold while the state Department of Natural Resources appeals.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-wisconsin-judge-pfas-hold/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202205
Public transit agencies in Michigan are facing post-pandemic ridership and staffing shortages. The Michigan Public Transit Association launched ad campaigns in February to address those needs and has seen many great responses, especially on social media, but the association's members still face hardships, and no one knows if they’ll get all of their riders back.
The post Ridership, staffing challenges face local bus systems first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/06/08/ridership-staffing-challenges-face-local-bus-systems/
By Michael Hill, Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York lawmakers have passed a milestone environmental measure designed to tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining operations that burn fossil fuels.
Both supporters and opponents say that the closely watched bill, approved early Friday by the state Senate, is the first of its kind in the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-landmark-bill-limit-cryptomining/
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) — At least 15 people who attended a public affairs conference last week on Michigan’s Mackinac Island have tested positive for COVID-19, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The gathering is put on each year by a business group, the Detroit Regional Chamber, and attracts more than 1,000 public officials, journalists and others who discuss a variety of political and policy issues.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-covid-michigan-event/
By Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network
This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.
Ohio cities are using new data mapping tools to identify and respond to disparities in energy burdens, climate risks, and pollution impacts.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/mapping-tools-ohio-environmental-justice/
By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter
Citizens Energy Group announced it would begin a multi-year program to replace thousands of lead service lines owned by its customers.
The company said it received an order from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission granting it permission to launch a five-year, $22.7 million effort to replace customer-owned lead service lines at about 2,500 homes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/citizens-energy-lead-service-line-program/
Starting this year, hunters in Michigan will have to report their deer harvest online. Wildlife officials presented the plan to the state Natural Resources Commission and said online reporting will provide more accurate information about what kinds of deer are being taken and provide it more quickly.
The post Deer kill count moves online first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/06/07/deer-kill-count-moves-online/
By Michael Casey, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Brenda Hampton first came across the toxic industrial compound PFAS after finding it was part of the cocktail of contaminants that tainted the drinking water in her North Alabama community.
Hampton, who believes the contaminated water contributed to kidney problems she and other residents suffer, soon learned the chemicals were found in another source that hit close to home — fast food wrappers, boxes and plates.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-pressure-growing-remove-pfas-wrappers/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/harmful-algal-blooms-lake-erie/
The population of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes could increase significantly in the next year or two due to pandemic delayed mitigation, and it’s currently unclear how quickly the population can be culled back. Read the full story by WJET – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-lamprey
As Chicago battles erosion intensified by climate change on its 26 miles of public lakefront, officials are scrambling to find more money for repairs, scientists are tracking the disappearing sand and environmental groups are seeking ways to protect the fragile resource. Read the full story by The Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-chicago-shoreline
Pictured Rocks National Shoreline officials say they are struggling to keep up with the crowds of visitors that flock to the picturesque shoreline in Michigan’s upper peninsula which was the country’s first designated national lakeshore in 1966. Last year, more than 1.3 million people visited the park which is seasonally staffed for around 400,000-500,000 visitors. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-pictured-rocks
In the closing round of the 2022 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, all three finalists offered ideas for dealing with threats to water supply. Innovation in water is one of Wisconsin’s most vital resources for many reasons and offers hope in the years ahead as pressures mount on the supply and quality of fresh water in Wisconsin and beyond. Read the full story by Madison.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-wisconsin-innovation
Flooding on the Minnesota-Ontario border is a disaster of historic proportions and causing millions of dollars in damages. Measurements of the flooding have topped those of the record 1950 flood that have been measured among other lakes and rivers in the watershed and increasing concern about leached mine pollutants. Read the full story by StarTribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-flooding-mines
According to the results from a Minnesota Walleye population survey, the walleye population in the St. Louis River Estuary is strong and growing. Read the full story by The Bedmidji Pioneer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-walleye
Anglers and people using the St. Marys Rapids in Sault Ste. Marie, ON are advised that the area will see the highest flow since 2019 after June 6. The compensating works gate movements are scheduled for June 6 and will increase the flow to approximately 720 cubic meters per second, or 25.4 thousand cubic feet per second. Read the full story by SooToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-lake-flows
Four years ago, fisheries management biologist Heather Hettinger began stocking Elk Lake with brown trout. In 2018, she stocked 40,000 fish. In 2019, 40,000 more. The count of brown trout stocked into Elk Lake is now over 180,000. And yet, according to the reports Hettinger receives in her role with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, very few have been caught. Read the full story by Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-trout-missing
By Briana Rice, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/detroit-incinerator-demolished-complaints/
Minnesota state legislators approved a bill funding more than 40 high-priority conservation projects, including culvert improvements benefiting brook trout populations as a part of Minnesota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund. Read the full story by WTIP – Grand Marais, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-mn-trout
A culvert washout in Superior, Wisconsin, during a flood in 2012. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
A new program for community leaders in northern Wisconsin who are looking for ways to address climate change is available through Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve.
The Lake Superior Climate Champions Program provides a yearlong opportunity for community teams to work on a goal of their choosing that addresses climate change, with a minimum of $2,500 in funding, guidance from Sea Grant and Reserve staff members and the chance to connect with other communities working on climate challenges.
Participating teams of two to four people must be from one of the four coastal counties (Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland or Iron). The teams should include community members in decision-making roles, such as tribal or county government staff, elected officials, members of local boards and committees or regional intergovernmental committees.
“All across Lake Superior’s coastal communities, we feel the impacts of climate change firsthand,” said Karina Heim, coastal training program coordinator with the Lake Superior Reserve. “Finding time and the capacity to address climate issues can be a challenge for local leaders. Our Climate Champions Program offers dedicated support for climate work.”
Teams who want to participate need to apply online by Aug. 1 at: bit.ly/39Zovej. Two teams will be selected for 2022 and the program will begin in the fall.
Examples of projects include: finding and using an assessment or planning tool to prepare for climate challenges (flooding, public health, etc.), planning a workshop or a facilitated process that allows for climate change learning and dialog and incorporating climate change considerations into an existing project or process, such as land-use planning or stormwater management.
For more information, visit lakesuperiornerr.org/focus-areas/coastal-leadership/lake-superior-climate-champions/.
The post Lake Superior Climate Champions Program Available for Communities first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/lake-superior-climate-champions-program-available-for-communities/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lake-superior-climate-champions-program-available-for-communities
