Seven years after the Chicago City Council first approved plans for a marina next to Navy Pier, the long-stalled project appears ready to set sail. Read the full story by WGN-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-navypier-marina
Anglers will be allowed to keep fewer steelhead trout in a handful of Michigan rivers after state regulators tightened regulations over fears of population declines. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-steelhead-limits
In Toledo, Ohio, the National Museum of the Great Lakes announced an upcoming expansion as well as a change in leadership during their annual State of the Museum update. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-museum-expansion
The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is expanding tourism along the Lake Superior shoreline near Bayfield, Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-redcliff-tourism
More than 210 years after the Battle of Lake Erie, a replica of the U.S. Brig Niagara still sails the Great Lakes, giving visitors a chance to learn the very old art of square-rig sailing, as well as a chance to engage with a key part of U.S. naval history. Read the full story by the Butler Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-brig-niagara
The Oneida Nation reservation, located within the lower Fox River watershed which drains into Green Bay, Wisconsin, has successfully limited phosphorus in creeks for two consecutive years, with recent evidence of reproducing brook trout for the first time in decades. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-indigenous-agriculture
One of the most common and repeated claims was that the Detroit River was once so polluted that it lit on fire. But did that happen? Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-detroitriver-fire
The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy recently unveiled a half-mile expansion to Detroit’s Riverwalk that allows visitors to walk or bike 3.5 miles along the river, without interruption, from the Joe Louis Arena to the Belle Isle Bridge. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-detroit-riverwalk
A Libertyville, Illinois, high school science teacher, known for incorporating real-world applications in her AP Environmental Science class, attended a weeklong workshop aboard the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency research vessel Lake Guardian on Lake Ontario. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231115-environmental-teacher
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-202310
On Oct. 4, members of the Coastal Hazards of Superior (CHAOS) community of practice gathered atop a bluff overlooking Lake Superior to discuss the stability of the ground beneath their feet.
Adam Bechle, center, discusses shoreline erosion with workshop participants along Schafer Beach. Photo: Cait Dettmann, Minnesota Sea Grant
The group brought together planners, zoning officials and individuals from local, state and federal government in both Minnesota and Wisconsin to share ideas and resources about coastal issues facing western Lake Superior. October’s meeting at Schafer Beach in Superior, Wisconsin, featured the debut of a new tool designed to document shoreline erosion, which threatens homes and other structures built atop bluffs.
Adam Bechle, coastal engineering outreach specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant, and Hannah Paulson, the 2022–2023 J. Philip Keillor Coastal Management Fellow, developed the tool, which is a checklist that helps coastal property owners spot signs of erosion. It describes visual indicators like tilted trees and ground cracks and provides photos of each.
Said Bechle, “[It’s] a way to document what you see at the site. And if you’re a property owner, [it’s] something to refer back to and maybe do annually to look for signs of change.”
And atop a Great Lakes bluff, change is constant. Storms, wind, ice and wave action all impact how fast land erodes. High water levels, like the ones both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan have experienced in the past five years, exacerbate erosion and flooding.
Hannah Paulson explains the erosion checklist. Photo: Cait Dettmann, Minnesota Sea Grant
Taking a longer look through history, lake levels have fluctuated even more drastically. Andy Breckenridge, a geology and environmental science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Superior who presented at the workshop, revealed that where participants stood atop the bluff used to be at the bottom of Lake Superior.
“Lake levels have been much higher than today, and they’ve been much lower than they’ve been today,” said Breckenridge. “And for that reason, this coastline has gone through dramatic changes. It has not looked like this for most of the last 12,000 years.”
With the long view in mind, CHAOS members snapped the erosion checklists to their clipboards and maneuvered down the bluff to give the tool a test run. Bechle and Paulson were joined by Todd Breiby and Lydia Salus of the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, current Keillor Fellow Helena Tiedmann, Karina Heim of the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and Madison Rodman of Minnesota Sea Grant in engaging CHAOS members about what they saw.
Tilted trees, a ground crack, lack of vegetation and a spot where groundwater was seeping through the bluff were some of the signs participants spotted. The activity sparked conversation about the importance of photos to explain erosion to property owners, with one participant noting the need for images of erosion after strong storm events.
Workshop participants assess the bluff for signs of erosion. Photo credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
Said Paulson, “I think we got some good suggestions for refining the tool even more.”
Returning to the top of the bluff, participants then cycled through three stations showcasing additional tools to assess bluff stability. One station showed how topography maps can be used to estimate slope—a helpful method if not physically on the property—and another demonstrated how to use an inclinometer to gather exact slope measurements on site. Participants also tried their hand at measuring the high point of the bluff using a reel tape.
While it may be tempting to frame erosion as the antagonist in this story, Bechle is careful to point out that without it, we wouldn’t have beautiful sand beaches, as much of that sand comes from eroded bluff soils. That’s why it’s important to make careful, informed decisions about if and where to build structures on bluffs and shorelines.
“Erosion is a natural process, and if we weren’t here, it would just be occurring,” said Bechle. “It’s not a bad thing; it’s just a bad thing because we have things we care about that might get impacted by it.”
Bechle and Paulson plan to include the checklist in an updated version of the “Coastal Processes Manual,” which is under development. In the meantime, coastal residents interested in maintaining and improving the stability of their bluff can refer to Wisconsin Sea Grant’s “A Property Owner’s Guide to Protecting Your Bluff.”
The post Convening CHAOS to spot signs of shoreline erosion first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/convening-chaos-to-spot-signs-of-shoreline-erosion/
New publication alert!
Environmental surveillance and detection of viable highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in Iowa wetland.
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/new-publication-highlight-environmental?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
An invasive insect increasingly threatens one of the Great Lakes region’s most important trees for storing the carbon that causes global warming.
Researchers have found that eastern hemlock trees felled by the invasive woolly adelgid could emit 4.5 tons of carbon across almost two and a half football fields.
The post Invasive insect threatens carbon storage in Great Lakes forests first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/11/15/invasive-insect-threatens-carbon-storage-in-great-lakes-forests/
By Seth Borenstein and Tammy Webber, Associated Press
Revved-up climate change now permeates Americans’ daily lives with harm that is “already far-reaching and worsening across every region of the United States,” a massive new government report says.
The National Climate Assessment, which comes out every four to five years, was released Tuesday with details that bring climate change’s impacts down to a local level.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/11/ap-worsening-warming-hurting-people-regions-us-climate-assessment/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
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/2023/11/concerns-about-michigan-steelhead-populations-prompt-new-catch-limits/
The One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest invites inspiring young filmmakers across the world, from grades three through post-grad, to submit films that address today’s most pressing environmental challenges. The contest winners receive a financial award for their winning films, which premiered in front of a live and virtual audience at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago this September.
In accompaniment to their own award, the winners choose an environmental nonprofit whose mission aligns with the subject of their film to receive a matching grant. This year, the Alliance was the grateful recipient of a matching grant award chosen by high school senior, Asiana Spaw, the winner of the 2023 One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest College Level Award for her short film, Microplastics: Not a Small Problem. Several Alliance staff attended the Awards Celebration and were able to meet Asiana and her parents and see her film along with nine other outstanding films by students across the country and the world.
Asiana is a 12th-grader from Northwest Indiana who grew up visiting Lake Michigan. Her film addresses the issue of microplastics in the Great Lakes and its effect on marine life and human populations. The film highlights the need to not only reduce single-use plastic but also the need for legislative action. Her message aligns well with the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ work to reduce plastic pollution both on the ground and through policy and advocacy.
Another winning student, 8th grader, Andrew Older, from River Forest, Illinois, received an Honorable Mention Award for his three-minute short film titled, Invasive Fish in the Des Plaines River. In his film, Andrew explained how invasive carp and goby fish got into the river and how they are outcompeting native species, threatening the local ecology. He also included information on organizations that work to prevent the spread of invasive species, including the Alliance for the Great Lakes, and encouraged viewers to donate to the cause (Thank you, Andrew!). His film premiered at the One Earth Young Filmmakers Honorable Mention Awards Virtual Screening on November 4th.
Read on to hear from the students in their own words and watch their 3- and 4-minute short films!
“I am a 12th grade filmmaker from Northwest Indiana. Most of my work is narrative, and I love to include social issues and my intersectional experiences. Besides classes and filmmaking, I spend my time competing on the Speech team, coxing for crew, and playing the oboe!
I made this short documentary over a few days for the One Earth Young Filmmaker’s Contest to call attention to an issue local to me. Before my research, I had little familiarity with how plastic pollution can affect lakes differently from the ocean, which tends to gain more media attention. As I live near Lake Michigan, I both want to see less trash along the shores and know that my drinking water is free from unknown contaminants. I chose the Alliance for the Great Lakes because they lead excellent efforts, like the Adopt-a-Beach cleanups, to preserve our Great Lakes. I look forward to seeing their continued work to mitigate the threats to these bodies of water.”
Andrew Older is an 8th-grade student at Roosevelt Middle School. He lives in River Forest with his parents, sister, and dog Theo. He loves spending time outside and Thatcher Woods is a favorite spot.
“I created this video to raise awareness about invasive species in the Des Plaines River, a local river near my house where I regularly fish. One time, while fishing, I noticed that most of the fish I was catching were Gobi fish. After learning from my teacher, Mr. Schlacter, that they were an invasive fish species, I submitted a video on the topic to the One Earth Film Festival, a global environmental film competition. I learned that even one action, even if it is small, can make a difference because it can inspire others to take action. If we all do something, it can have an impact on the environment.”
The Alliance is inspired by the work of Asiana and Andrew to spread awareness about these important Great Lakes issues. We commend them and the One Earth Film Festival for encouraging environmental activism as well as environmental philanthropy through film.
To watch the full screening of the 2023 One Earth Young Filmmakers First-Place Contest Awards and Honorable Mention Awards short films, click the below links:
The post One Earth: Young Filmmakers Shine A Light on Great Lakes Issues appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2023/11/one-earth-young-filmmakers-shine-a-light-on-great-lakes-issues/
When you reminisce about the Thanksgiving season, it’s easy to envision a belly stuffed with turkey, then leaning all the way back in your favorite recliner for a nap.
The hard work of small-town turkey farmers around Michigan is likely to go unnoticed when many consumers head to the supermarket for their frozen bird
The post Local farms compete with imported turkeys during Thanksgiving first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/11/14/local-farms-compete-with-imported-turkeys-during-thanksgiving/
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Michigan
EGLE establishes new surface water values for two additional PFAS chemicals — State of Michigan
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has set human health water quality parameters, which measure the maximum substance concentrations before adverse health effects.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/11/pfas-news-roundup-how-forever-chemicals-affect-human-body/
Wisconsin environmental regulators are proposing to add 51 new water bodies to the state’s list of polluted waters for 2024, as well as 81 new listings for pollutants in waterways. Phosphorus and aquatic plants account for the majority of pollution under new listings. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-wisconsindnr-pollutedwaterways
An effort to block invasive grass carp from spawning in the Sandusky River will be explained during a public information session in Fremont, Ohio, on Monday. Officials are doing a study to see if sound waves, bubble curtains, and other barriers can deter the fish from spawning. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-efforts-deter-grasscarp-spawning
It’s a tricky balance: get enough salt on the roads to protect drivers, but also be environmentally conscious. Salt alternatives — like beet juice, or sugar and corn by-products — are an option, but not a cheap option. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-beetjuice-salt-michigan-roads-winter
After spring spawning runs, walleye return to shallow waters of Lake Erie’s western basin and up into the river during the fall season, leading to good reports of walleye catches. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-walleyeseason-lakeerie-fall
Old dredge spoils may be the culprit in private well PFAS contamination around Wolverine Worldwide’s corporate offices in Courtland Township, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-pollutionprobe-wolverineworldwide
Manoomin is the word in Native language Anishinaabemowin for wild rice, which is on the cusp of being designated Michigan’s state native grain. It is perhaps the most culturally significant plant species among Great Lakes tribes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-tribalefforts-wildrice-mi-state-symbol
Southeast Chicago residents joined members of the Alliance of the Southeast and Friends of the Parks to protest the 25-foot-tall waste dump the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to build on the existing confined disposal facility off of Steelworkers Park. Read the full story by WBBM – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-toxicwaste-environmental-rejectedplan
The St. Lawrence Seaway announced Friday the shipping channel’s St. Lawrence River section will close on January 5, 2024. That’s the latest scheduled closing since the Seaway opened in 1959. Read the full story by North Country Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-stlawrence-seaway-latestclosingdate
Check your car, kayak or a nearby rail car – it might be providing free transportation for an invasive pest or plant. And you can be part of a renewed effort to stop the invaders as the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network needs help finding and identifying invasive species. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231113-land-water-invasivespecies
Michigan is the second-most agriculturally diverse state, with farmers growing a wide variety of produce and specialty crops, such as cherries, asparagus and blueberries.
One bonus of buying locally grown produce is that the community’s economy benefits.
The post Buying local fresh produce benefits farmers first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/11/13/buying-local-fresh-produce-benefits-farmers/
Former director of the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI), Jim Hurley, last week received a certificate of appreciation for his service on the State of Wisconsin’s Groundwater Coordinating Council (GCC).
Hurley spent 11 years as a member of the body that was created by the state legislature in 1984 to both facilitate interagency cooperation of those departments that have jurisdiction over water and foster research, monitoring and education around Wisconsin’s 1.2 quadrillion gallons of groundwater. Hurley was the GCC representative from the Universities of Wisconsin.
In highlighting his contributions, Jim Zellmer said Hurley was invaluable to “funding efforts, placement of postgraduate fellows and really supporting all of the research, education and outreach that has benefited the Groundwater Coordinating Council, the agencies that participate in the council and the state as a whole.”
Zellmer chairs the GCC and is a deputy division administrator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), overseeing drinking water and groundwater and water quality programs, as well as the Office of Great Waters.
Hurley said the GCC is an amazing resource that brings entities together to solve problems. He said many other states look to Wisconsin as a model for cooperative groundwater study and ongoing monitoring.
In particular, he called out the research that led to better understanding the scope of naturally occurring radium compromising drinking water in Waukesha, Wisconsin. That work led to the unprecedented approval from Great Lakes governors and premiers to allow residents of this southeastern Wisconsin community outside of the basin to draw drinking water from Lake Michigan as a solution to protect public health.
Hurley also invoked a study about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that was released in early November. He complimented the research team for recognizing the value of drawing on both state and federal agency knowledge along with that of academia. The study presented an important picture of PFAS prevalence and levels in private drinking water wells across the state.
“It was great to see how quickly the state, and a little bit of the feds in there too, and universities responded to PFAS” in the groundwater, Hurley said.
In October, Hurley retired as the WRI director. During his years on the GCC, he managed a groundwater research competition that allows potential investigators to submit to several funding sources simultaneously. Then, the WRI arranges for peer review of all submitted proposals, easing funding decision-making for those providing the dollars for the eventual projects.
During Hurley’s tenure there were 82 research projects funded by the universities and the state of Wisconsin departments of Natural Resources, as well as Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). The research topics were diverse but can be broadly characterized as addressing groundwater quantity, quality and management.
In addition to the DNR, DATCP and the universities, other GCC members include the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey and the state of Wisconsin departments of Safety and Professional Services, Health Services and Transportation.
The post Honor for former WRI director first appeared on WRI.News Release | WRI
https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/honor-for-former-wri-director/
Most kids are not too excited about cleaning. I know my kids groan when I remind them of their daily chores. That’s why it was remarkable, and certainly noteworthy, to see a fifth grade student cleaning up litter on their own. Meet Rean: Rean is a fifth grade student in elementary school in Oshkosh. The crossing guard at her school had noticed that she was picking up trash around her school and neighborhood both before and after school hours. Her good deeds were reported to the school’s counselor and from there, I was contacted at the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance because the Trash Free Waters program loves to highlight those who help protect our waters from trash and debris.
This past week, I was able to sit down with Rean and learn more about her and why she believes it’s important to keep her neighborhood clean. When asked why she started picking up trash on her way to school, she said,
“I saw so much trash on the ground, and saw it every day. I started picking it up because nobody else would.”
Since she started cleaning up, she has been accompanied by her friend and fellow 5th grader, Vicky. When asked about her favorite lake or river, she said she loves all water bodies, but she especially loves spending time at Menominee Park–located along Lake Winnebago’s east shore. I wanted to get her thoughts on how she believes littering can be reduced and prevented. She reponded,
“People could have trash cans they bring along with them. We need more trash and recycle cans in more places. I want to make biodegradable plastic that grows trees if thrown on the ground.”
Finally, I told her she’s doing something that not many adults are doing, and asked her if she had any advice for adults. Rean responded,
“Please don’t litter, it’s bad for the planet. Make sure it goes in the trash can, [and] please use reusable items. You should join the watershed cleanup event in the spring.”
Rean received some trash bags, trash grabbers, and gloves from Fox-Wolf to make her efforts cleaner and more efficient. Thank you Rean for your hard work and for inspiring others to do the same.
Written by: Kelly Reyer, Trash Free Waters Program Coordinator
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, kelly@fwwa.org.
The post Doing the Right Thing: An interview with a 5th Grader appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/11/12/doing-the-right-thing-an-interview-with-a-5th-grader/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=doing-the-right-thing-an-interview-with-a-5th-grader
This lesson will explore the phenomenon of the moose-wolf population dynamics on Isle Royale, as students learn about how one of our lesser-known national parks provides a firsthand opportunity to witness biology, ecology, and history in action. They will explore the dynamics of predator-prey relationships, conduct field observations about populations in their own area, and mathematically model the moose-wolf population biology over time.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/11/episode-2310-dynamic-populations-lesson-plan/
Scientists at Laboratory for Infectious Disease and the Environment are collaborating with Polk County Conservation in central Iowa to estimate the health risk posed to recreators in the Des Moines River and tributaries.
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/collaborative-usgs-study-informs-development-water?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
The American Courage, a 617-foot U.S.-flagged bulk freighter, was refloated from its grounding in the St. Clair River with the help of several tugboats around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 7. The ship grounded Tuesday morning around 7:20 a.m. while attempting to make port at the St. Clair Aggregates dock in Marine City, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-freighter-refloated
Student conservationists planted 3,000 bunches of beachgrass at Westcott Beach State Park in Henderson, New York, to fortify the dunes in case of more high-water events, like those of 2017 and 2019. The project is a repair of a planting done last fall that was hit by a storm in May, causing many of the grasses to be washed away. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-dune-protection
Thank you for becoming a Business Member of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance! Your partnership is a critical resource in protecting our waters. Your membership is pending until we receive payment. Complete this form, and we’ll send an invoice shortly.
The post Business Membership: invoice request appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/11/10/business-membership-invoice-request/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=business-membership-invoice-request
In St. Helena Island, Michigan, a historic island lighthouse in the Straits of Mackinac will be more accessible with the installation of a new roll-out dock extension. Previously accessible only by dingy, boats of all sizes will be able to visit the St. Helena Island Light Station when the dock is extended by 48 feet to a total of 140 feet from shore. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-dock-extension
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced it is proceeding with the process to allow commercial fishing for lake trout in Lake Michigan. The DNR’s decision to give a “yes” in principle to commercial take of lake trout in Lake Michigan is a significant change for Wisconsin fisheries management. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-commercial-trout-take
The Biinaagami initiative is an Anishinaabek call to action to protect and sustain the Great Lakes water resources. The initiative urges the adoption of a “two-eyed seeing” philosophy, harmonizing Indigenous and Western sciences, ensuring our actions are guided by a comprehensive and inclusive vision for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed. Read the full story by Canadian Geographic.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-indigenous-initiative
This year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory is going to test out brand new buoys on the waters of Lake Michigan that are built to survive the harsh conditions on the lakes during the wintertime. They are smaller, stronger buoys that can withstand the ice buildup on the lakes and will hopefully supply weather and water information year-round. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-winter-buoys
Although it is not part of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s charge, the agency got involved in a local movement to clean up the decades-old, two million cubic yards of contaminated sediment in the Milwaukee Estuary. Formed at the junction of three rivers that empty to Lake Michigan from Wisconsin, the estuary is on a federal 1987 list of officially designated Areas of Concern still to be remediated. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-sediment-cleanup
A new study conducted by University of Toronto researchers identified that nearly 90 percent of the surface water sampled across the Great Lakes have high levels of microplastics, which are extremely small pieces of plastic that occur in the environment as a consequence of plastic pollution. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-microplastics-study
The Indigenous communities that call the Great Lakes region home have been practicing good land stewardship and sharing that message with others. But for too long, that message hasn’t been heard. The tribes believe their traditional ecological knowledge is critical to safeguarding resources and cleaning up the land, air, and water for everyone. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-traditional-ecological-knowledge
Forty-eight years after the Edmund Fitzgerald sank to the bottom of Lake Superior, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point, Michigan, is hosting a memorial event to mark the maritime tragedy. This year’s event, on Friday, November 10 at 7 p.m., is closed to the public but will be livestreamed. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231110-edmund-fitzgerald-anniversary
Points North is a biweekly podcast hosted by Daniel Wanschura and Morgan Springer about the land, water and inhabitants of the Upper Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Tom Wall is a West Michigan rock star who uses plants as bandmates.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/11/points-north-the-plant-musician/
Michigan farmers, looking to expand crop insurance and research funding, are pushing to see their needs recognized as the federal Farm Bill moves along on the congressional agenda.
“This would not be the first time that a Farm Bill was extended. It’s happened several times, but we need leadership to sit down to get the job done,” he said.
The post State farmers eye upcoming federal Farm Bill first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/11/10/state-farmers-eye-upcoming-federal-farm-bill/
Wisconsin has laws that outline standards for farms’ nutrient management.
NR 151
NR 243
ATCP 50
NRCS 590
General Information
Nutrient Management Basics
The post Legislation and Nutrient Management appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/11/09/legislationnm/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=legislationnm
By Suman Naishadham and Victor Caivano, Associated Press
FORT MCMURRAY, Canada (AP) — During a May wildfire that scorched a vast swath of spruce and pine forest in northwestern Canada, Julia Cardinal lost a riverside cabin that was many things to her: retirement project, gift from from her husband, and somewhere to live by nature, as her family had done for generations.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/11/ap-canada-says-it-can-fight-climate-change-and-be-major-oil-nation/
Since assuming the helm of Milwaukee’s sewerage agency (MMSD) in 2002, Kevin Shafer has been focused on managing and expanding the city’s deep tunnels designed to keep sewage out of Lake Michigan.
Knowing that tunnels alone are not enough, Shafer also started a campaign to emphasize green infrastructure and over the years, Milwaukee went from having a reputation as a bad actor to being a national leader in managing sewage overflows.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/11/wisconsin-agencys-expanded-mission-led-to-record-450-million-investment-in-milwaukee-waterways/
