The Michigan Climate Action Network says it will join challenges to a permit approved last December by the Michigan Public Service Commission for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-line-5
The population of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes could increase significantly in the next year or two, and it’s currently unclear how quickly the population can be culled back. Read the full story by WGN-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-sea-lamprey
As each wave crashes into the edge of Township Park in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, the land continues to disintegrate. Despite emergency measures taken four years ago, more permanent action needs to be taken soon. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-lake-erie-erosion
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will partner with a University of Wisconsin research reserve to preserve the western end of popular Wisconsin Point, the Lake Superior sandbar in Superior, Wisconsin, that for centuries has played an integral role for area Anishinaabe. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-sandbar
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is considering making new rules for walleye bag limits. Exactly what the new rules will look like remains unclear. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-walleye-limit
Last week, a few satellite images snapped over the Great Lakes revealed an odd-looking spot in the middle of the southern half of Lake Michigan. The spot represents an eddy of warm water moving westward across the lake. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-satellite-spot
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued a first-of-its-kind order to protect a central Minnesota trout stream affected by farmers pumping groundwater to irrigate their crops. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-trout-stream
After hearing all about the 100% Fish Project that started in Iceland, the executive director of the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers started wondering if the project could help the struggling Great Lakes fishery. He took the idea home to find out. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-100-fishproject
In Ohio, a group of senior engineering students at the University of Toledo decided to tackle remediation of farm field fertilizer runoff for a final graduation project. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-ut-engineering
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.db5fb1aa79961d1d695e4134d9e6ee6c5144948a.001.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.1238e7d419768dd6a9643ca053002082cd81ae5a.001.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.af822f3adfb40c5fbe5105c5a57ed0c8ea060292.002.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.0aaeb8e38e6fba4d9a3c14e8a590f41f8d48e80f.001.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.fa7689045912a84f84ac596d14dd87d9f7b6ea88.001.1.cap
By Daniel Wanschura, Interlochen Public Radio
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Dave Naftzger found out about the 100% Fish Project entirely by accident.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/points-north-more-than-just-filet-of-fish/
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/grb/042784_tornadoes
Environmental advocates in the Chicago area and northwest Indiana applauded a tough new slate of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules for coal-fired power plants, including a sweeping regulation to sharply limit greenhouse gas pollution at coal-burning plants. Read the full story by WTTW-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-coal-regulations
Through expansive cleaning efforts, Muskegon Lake in Muskegon, Michigan, has gone through every step required to remove its designation as an Area of Concern. However, residents of lower socioeconomic communities are raising concerns that the cleaned-up shoreline would be taken over by private interests. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-cleanup-equity
Last winter, the ponds in the park where marbled crayfish – a Great Lakes invasive species – were first discovered in Ontario were drained in hopes that the crayfish would freeze to death. But that didn’t happen, likely thanks to the unseasonably warm weather and their burrowing ability. Now the Invading Species Awareness Program of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters has launched a regional sweep from Ottawa to Windsor. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-invasive-crayfish
A 15-year-old piping plover, known by researchers as Of,gb:X,Y, or “Gabby,” was confirmed this week as having once again migrated from her wintering grounds in Cumberland Island, Georgia, to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan for another summer breeding season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-plover-breeding
A project that helps prevent plastic pollution from entering Lake Superior and Thunder Bay’s local waterways is receiving $45,000 in funding from Ontario. Cutting-edge catch basin filters called LittaTraps will be placed at city parks, waterfront areas and parking lots to capture microplastics before they enter marine ecosystems. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-plastic-cleanup
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency kicked off an $84 million dredging project in the lower Rouge River around Zug Island in southeast Michigan this month, aiming to remove the pollution that makes the Rouge one of the most toxic sites in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-dredging-project
A cutting-edge, high-efficiency cement carrier will make its way to the Great Lakes next year. According to Eureka Shipping, the state-of-the-art mechanical/pneumatic cement ship is designed to replace two older vessels while maintaining the same cargo capacity. Read the full story by the Welland Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-ship-replacement
The Kenosha Sportfishing and Conservation Association has received 40,000 chinook salmon from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to eventually be released into Lake Michigan. Before the chinook salmon arrived, the association made several changes to its salmon rearing pond in hopes of having more fish survive while in their care. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-salmon-release
A new roving trash collector called BeBot will soon hit the shores of Belle Isle State Park in Michigan to not only keep beaches clean for residents, but also prevent harmful trash from ending up in the waterways in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-trash-cleanup
The owners of Sunrise Farms in Palmyra Township, Michigan, are helping Michigan State University improve the water quality and reduce toxic algae in the area. The farm is implementing no-till and strip-till systems, cover crops, filter strips and water retention structures to keep nutrients on the farm. Read the full story by The Daily Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240426-farm-sustainability
“Place both feet on the ground and take a moment to breathe,” said Malaika Hart Gilpin, executive director of One Art Community Center. “Give ourselves a moment to feel a connection with Mama Earth.”
Chairs and floor slightly vibrate in response. After a short meditation, the reporters attending a recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Philadelphia open their eyes.
The post Reporting on local food systems first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/04/26/reporting-on-local-food-systems/
By Tammy Webber, Associated Press
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Their childhood memories are still vivid: warnings against drinking or cooking with tap water, enduring long lines for cases of water, washing from buckets filled with heated, bottled water. And for some, stomach aches, skin rashes and hair loss.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/children-of-flint-water-crisis-make-change-as-young-environmental-and-health-activists/
Nearly 70% of Wisconsin voters polled by Marquette University Law School showed concern about PFAS in drinking water. A uniquely uniting force from across the political aisle, which is not reflected at the state level. Last week, elected officials were once again deadlocked over how to spend the $125 million that was set aside — in May 2023 — to solve the crisis.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/pfas-new-roundup-pfas-are-shown-to-be-unique-bipartisan-voting-concern-in-wisconsin/
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
https://noaaglerl.blog/2024/04/25/noaa-glerl-at-50-half-a-century-of-great-lakes-science-in-service-to-society/
It all started with a mottled little crustacean crawling across a soccer field in Ontario’s Burlington City Park in October 2021, a few miles from Lake Ontario.
The animal may have looked innocuous, but this was the first sign of a costly and grueling ongoing battle against a potentially devastating new invasive species in the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/marbled-crayfish-raises-eyebrows-and-concerns/
Nestled in the heart of an urban and busy city, Wissahickon Valley Park of Philadelphia provides a place for city dwellers to enjoy the sanctuary of nature.
A popular spot for outdoor enthusiasts, historians and even wedding-goers, the park houses over 50 miles of trails and encompasses over 2,000 protected acres along a stretch of the Wissahickon Creek as it passes through northwest Philadelphia.
The post Journalists hike urban wilderness of Wissahickon Valley Park first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/04/25/journalists-hike-urban-wilderness-of-wissahickon-valley-park/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/04/michigan-gets-290m-boost-for-water-upgrades-as-flint-crisis-anniversary-nears/
Following up from a spiny water flea finding in Lake Winnebago in 2022, the WI Department of Natural Resources and local partners conducted extensive monitoring for spiny water fleas through the summer and fall of 2022. Biologists were searching for additional adult spiny waterfleas as well as eggs that would have 
been laid in the sediment of the lake. Following analysis of the samples collected, we are please to report that no evidence of spiny waterflea were found which includes not finding any eggs!
This is fantastic news for our waterways! Currently, there is no evidence that the spiny waterfleas found in 2022 were able to establish a population in Lake Winnebago. Ongoing monitoring by UW-Green Bay as part of the Fox River Navigational System Authority (FRNSA) AIS Monitoring Program will continue to keep an eye out for spiny waterflea and other invasive species.
Remember- an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It’s easy to help prevent the spread of all aquatic invasive species between lakes. No matter what lake or river you visit, follow these steps to protect your wild places:
Spiny waterflea on a fingertip
· Inspect equipment (boats, fishing line, etc.) for attached aquatic plant, animals, or mud
· Remove all attached plants or animals
· Drain all water from buckets and containers
· Never move live fish away from a waterbody (fish out of water = dead)
Photo Credit: Riley Schultz (UWGB), WI Sea Grant, Donn Brandstrator (UM-Duluth), Chris Acy
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 Twitter! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.
Winnebago Waterways is a Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance program. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization that identifies and advocates effective policies and actions that protect, restore, and sustain water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.
Check out the Keepers of the Fox Program at https://fwwa.org/watershed-recovery/lower-fox-recovery/
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 Update: 2022 Spiny Waterflea Findings in Lake Winnebago appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2024/04/24/update-2022-spiny-waterflea-findings-in-lake-winnebago/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=update-2022-spiny-waterflea-findings-in-lake-winnebago
David Hart (center) talks with Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer and Congresswoman Gwen Moore.
David Hart has been named the winner of the 2024 Robert and Carroll Heideman Award for Excellence in Public Service and Outreach for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The award will be officially conferred during an award ceremony the evening of April 24.
Hart is the assistant director for extension and is also a specialist in geographic information science, urban planning and coastal managements skills.
“I’ve had a lifelong fascination with maps and nature. I remember when I realized that fascination could lead to a career. I love applying geographic information science to better understand the Great Lakes and finding those moments when it becomes clear that something you’ve done has had an impact to make things better,” Hart said.
His embodiment of the Wisconsin Idea, the tenet that the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state and the expertise of the campus is used for the benefit of the state’s residents, led him to the honor.
“I work at an organization with great people advancing an important mission to enhance the conservation and health of Great Lakes resources and the well-being of Great Lakes communities,” he said. “I feel the award is a reflection of those people and that mission and I’m humbled and honored of the recognition that comes with it.”
David Hart (facing camera and third from the right) convenes field trips and invites speakers, such as this one, where a geoscientist is discussing the effects of Lake Michigan on surrounding beaches and bluffs. This convening of local officials and scientists is one of the hallmarks of Hart’s work to expand the Wisconsin Idea.
This award is given to an individual who reflects the public service mission of the university. That public service was highlighted by those who wrote to support his nomination. One state-level official said, “He led development of the Wisconsin Coastal Atlas and the Wisconsin Coastal Guide, both of which remain important online tools for viewing and exploring information about the Great Lakes. Professional planners and resource managers regularly use the Coastal Atlas to explore and analyze coastal issues, share coastal data and inform decision-making about sustainable use of the Great Lakes. Consistent with the Wisconsin Idea, this tool makes the knowledge and expertise of the university available to a wide range of users.”
The writer continued, “David’s efforts to network Wisconsin’s Coastal Atlas with similar tools via the internet has allowed stakeholders to investigate the effects of complex issues—like climate change and invasive species—more rigorously and on more appropriate scales. Similarly, the Wisconsin Coastal Guide helps recreationalists and tourists find coastal information leading to deeper experiences with our Great Lakes.”
In addition to Hart’s own geospatial technology work, he oversees the efforts of 13 outreach specialists. The specialists both solicit thoughts about local needs, seeking to find solutions and offer resources, as well as share their knowledge and the findings born of Sea Grant research. The team of specialists are leaders in fisheries, coastal engineering, tourism, climate change, coastal community challenges, food fish outreach, aquaculture, social science, emerging contaminants, aquatic invasive species, education and workforce development.
One of Hart’s colleagues who fills a similar role with Michigan Sea Grant said, “David consistently demonstrates his competency and willingness to work effectively with others for the common good. And, when misunderstandings inevitably happen, David humbly invites others into conversations that need to repair any misunderstandings and identify how to move forward together, including when it involves modifying procedures, creating best practices, or reprioritizing current tasks to create an optimal, collaborative working environment that values and includes all perspectives.”
With award-winning work behind him, Hart stressed he will continue efforts to advance the Wisconsin Idea. “I’m currently collaborating with planners, cartographers and environmental educators to address coastal natural hazards, enhance public access to the coast, use story maps to share Great Lakes natural and cultural heritage and apply a process called geodesign that links scenario planning and impact simulation to promote green stormwater infrastructure.”
The post Hart wins prestigious outreach award in honor of service to Wisconsin first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/hart-wins-prestigious-outreach-award-in-honor-of-service-to-wisconsin/
Michigan is adding $290 million in infrastructure investments to the MI Clean Water Plan. Municipal and community water systems will be eligible to apply for low-interest loans to help public water suppliers ensure safe and clean drinking water. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-mi-clean-water
Twenty-two million pounds of plastic waste end up in the Great Lakes every year. About half of that waste ends up in Lake Michigan alone. Samira Hanessian, energy policy director with the Illinois Environmental Council, discusses why buying sustainable matters. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-plastic-pollution
This past winter was one of the warmest on record. It led to record-low ice coverage on all five Great Lakes, a sign that the world’s largest freshwater system is not immune to climate change. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-ice-coverage
The Ohio Department of Agriculture recently hosted a discussion around water conservation with agricultural leaders from Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan to focus on improving water quality in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Read the full story by Outdoor News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-ag-leaders-meet
Caribou are set to return to Ontario’s Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior, six years after they were airlifted to more remote islands to protect them from hungry wolves. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-caribou
Every spring, as temperatures rise, midges emerge in swarms around Milwaukee’s waterfronts. While they are harmless, residents find the sheer number of midges overwhelming. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-midge-flies
The owner of a barge best known for repeatedly sinking in Lake Michigan pleaded guilty to polluting Great Lakes waters in a settlement that gives him another year to move the beleaguered industrial vessel. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-barge-lawsuit
In Michigan, Muskegon County’s newest and largest park, Dune Harbor Park, opened to the public in June 2023. The property was previously used as a sand mining site, which created two inland lakes that can now be used for kayaking and fishing. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-lake-michigan-park
The city of Toledo, Ohio, and the Lucas County Board of Commissioners will join the Environmental Law & Policy Center in suing the U.S. EPA over what they believe is a “facially inadequate plan” to reduce phosphorus runoff in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-lake-erie-lawsuit
The Biggest Week in American Birding draws a worldwide audience to glimpse dozens of species of migrating birds in northern Ohio, though officials say they’ve been seeing changes in recent years. Trends such as warmer winters, habitat loss, and low lake ice coverage may be impacting migrations. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-ohio-birding
Sounding the alarm on an invasive crustacean and rising temperatures in Lake Superior.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/warming-waters-and-mutant-crayfish/
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/decades-data-changing-atlantic-circulation
Environmental journalists and educators face a changing media field and systemic barriers that make it difficult to improve the profession.
Experts at a recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Philadelphia addressed some of these challenges to reimagine a more sustainable system.
The post Rethinking environmental journalism education first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/04/24/rethinking-environmental-journalism-education/
This story is a part of “A Year in the Wild Kitchen of the Great Lakes,” a series in partnership with expert forager Lisa M. Rose with the mission of nurturing a deeper connection with the natural world through foraging.
The Importance of Ecological Awareness in Foraging
As we delve into the world of foraging, it’s crucial to cultivate an understanding of the ecosystems we interact with, especially when harvesting wild plants like ramps (wild leeks) and ostrich ferns.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/a-fleeting-wild-taste-of-spring-ephemerals-ramps-and-ostrich-fern/
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.601caf7fac4c32fefe470bbdd38f35f0febbaeae.001.1.cap
