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
Under one option of its proposed Wilderness Stewardship Plan, Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior would consider remaining open to visitors in the winter if Lake Superior is “100% ice-free for five years.” Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-isle-royale-winter-visit
A Michigan teen’s photo shoot with his steer along the Lake Michigan shoreline has become a subject of contention in Milton Township, Michigan, and part of a larger debate about what limits should apply to the use of public spaces. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-cow-photoshoot
A mat-forming cyanobacteria, Lyngbya, has been growing along shorelines in Lake St. Clair, Michigan for the last decade. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Macomb County, Michigan are conducting a joint two-year study to understand cyanobacteria’s growth, determine whether it poses health risks, and find treatment options. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-stclair-lyngbya
Leveraging its treaty-granted sovereign nation status, the White Earth Band tribe in Minnesota is establishing its own authority to issue permits for expansions of large livestock and dairy operations within its reservation boundary to protect reservation water reserves. Read the full story by MinnPost.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-tribal-water-reserves
The eDNA of silver carp has been detected in a water sample taken from the St. Joseph River near Berrien Springs, Michigan, as part of a regular U.S. Fish and Wildlife program to monitor Michigan waterways for the invasive bighead and silver carp. However, a positive eDNA sample does not necessarily indicate the presence of live fish. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-carp-edna-detected
The Crooked River Lock in Alanson, Michigan, closed for the remainder of the 2023 season as engineers perform critical maintenance. The lock is part of the 36-mile Inland Waterway beginning at Lake Huron through which up to 40,000 recreational boat passengers pass annually. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-lock-closed
With fall bird migration well underway, data from the website BirdCast estimates over 150 million birds have crossed the state of Michigan since late August. BirdCast provides a migration forecast for Michigan from September to November. Read the full story by Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230920-fall-migration
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126660CE6BC4.SpecialWeatherStatement.126660CEF4E0WI.GRBSPSGRB.2ffe7ebb7002abe28338a7cdee4c19c5
Mountain biking Great Lakes trails and the U.S. Supreme Court’s impact on wetlands.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/trails-and-wetlands-episode-2309/
I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/i-speak-for-the-fish-mesmerized-minnows/
By the end of the month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to decide whether to approve an Ohio plan to reduce phosphorus pollution that feeds cyanobacteria in Lake Erie. Cyanobacterial blooms have become much larger in the last 30 years and have become a major public health concern. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-epa-ohio-reducephosphorus
H2Ohio’s incentive program for agriculture producers is expanding statewide. The program, led by ODA, provides funding to producers to help offset the financial risk associated with implementing H2Ohio’s agricultural best management practices that work to improve Ohio’s water quality. The program has been available only to farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin, but producers throughout the state will be eligible to participate in H2Ohio beginning in 2024. Read the full story by The Courier.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-h2ohio-expanding-statewide
While much of the focus of the fight to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp centers is on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, the USACE has identified an additional 18 places where invasive carp could theoretically cross into the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-beyondbrandonroad
The Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington, Michigan takes visitors on a journey around the Great Lakes, exploring shipwrecks, piloting a car ferry, testing their strength against a manpowered steamship wheel and hearing stories from long-passed ship captains. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-maritimemuseum-lakemishoreline-interactiveexhibits
Erie County, along with environmental agency partners and public volunteers participated in the Pennsylvania-Lake Erie International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Saturday morning, Sept. 16, to improve the Lake Erie watershed. This year’s effort focused on 22 sites along the Lake Erie shoreline and watershed. Volunteers removed over 3700 pounds of trash and other items from over 36 miles of shoreline and waterways. Read the full story by WZTE – Union City, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-annuallakeerie-coastalcleanup
SepticSmart week is an annual event that focuses on educating homeowners and communities on the proper care and maintenance of their septic systems. If a septic system is not properly maintained, it can shorten the life of the system and potentially contaminate ground water which is a source of drinking water for many. Read the full story by The Morning Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-septicsmartweek-2023
The Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse has been sold at auction, and the new owners are two Clevelanders who intend to preserve the historic part of Cleveland’s skyline. The lighthouse fetched a price of $425,000 when the auction closed on Sept. 6. Read the full story by Scripps News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-greatlakes-lighthouse-magnates
National Hunting and Fishing Day, which was established in the early 1970s, celebrates the contributions that men and women make to the conservation of our nation’s rich sporting heritage, wildlife and fisheries resources. Through self-imposed fees and excise taxes on guns and ammunition, fishing and archery equipment and certain outdoor sporting goods, sportsmen and women have raised more than $60 billion for wildlife and fisheries conservation efforts. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-events-interestinhunting-fishing
Over the next month, the Wisconsin DNR will host open houses at the Governor Tommy G. Thompson Fish Hatchery, Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility, Root River Steelhead Facility and the Wild Rose Fish Hatchery. Each of these free events will give attendees a chance to see fish up close and learn how hatcheries and spawning facilities help sustain Wisconsin’s fish populations. Read the full story by Wisconsin DNR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-wisconsindnr-spawningtour-hatcherytour
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/preserving-world-war-ii-naval-data
A 150-year-old schooner that sank in 1881, was finally discovered in Lake Michigan. On July 15, maritime historians, Brendon Baillod and Bob Jaeck located the old shipwreck off the coast of Algoma, Wisconsin. The Trinidad was on their radar for more than twenty years, as the ship was a strong candidate for research; the captain and his eight crew members all survived (except their trusted Newfoundland), providing a good description of where the vessel sank.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/behind-shipwreck-discovered-lake-michigan/
Ontario may seem to be a water secure region, but new research out of the University of Waterloo challenges the myth of water abundance in the Great Lakes watershed. Read the full story by The Sault Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-steel
Steel production dipped by 5,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-steel
During September the Alliance for the Great Lakes is encouraging Great Lakes residents to go to the beach and help clean up the shoreline. Read the full story by the Keweenaw Report.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-shoreline-cleanup
New research from Bowling Green State University shows that some migratory birds use the islands in Lake Erie during potentially dangerous crossings of the Lake, a key finding for possible placement of wind turbines. Read the full story by The Fremont News-Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-bird-migration
A company seeking to restart a southwestern Michigan nuclear power plant said Tuesday it has taken a major step forward with the signing of a power purchase agreement. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-nuclear-power
More than 300 scientists, conservationists, and other stakeholders are gathering in Green Bay, Wisconsin to talk about the quality of the environment. Read the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-aoc-conference
A new study analyzing toxins produced by Microcystis, the main type of cyanobacteria that compose the annual harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Lake Erie, suggests that the toxicity of the bloom may be overestimated in earlier warm months and underestimated later in the summer. Read the full story by The Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-algae
According to a news release, Lake Michigan ranks second on the list of most picturesque landscapes in America. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-lake-michigan
Waterspouts were observed Wednesday morning in the southern portion of Lake Michigan, according to Special Marine Warnings issued by the National Weather Service Office in Milwaukee. Read the full story by WOOD-TV Grand Rapids, Mi.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-waterspouts
States and Native American tribes will have greater authority to block energy projects such as natural gas pipelines that could pollute rivers and streams under a final rule issued Thursday by the Biden administration. Read the full story by the Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-biden-protection
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.
In 1933, a high schooler fishing along the Huron River in Ann Arbor, Michigan looked into the water and saw something weird.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/points-north-we-got-jellyfish/
Upper Midwest Water Science Center employees attended the Great Lakes Area of Concern Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin September 13-14, 2023.
Hayley Olds, Grace Armstrong, Sarah Janssen, Leon Katona, Lisa Fogarty, Jeannette Cruz, Kayla Lockmiller, Tori Byers, Alexei Rose, and Isaac Mevis attended.
Kayla Lockmiller and Tori Byers presented a poster.
Sarah Janssen gave a talk.
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/upper-midwest-water-science-center-employees?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Eric Freedman, Great Lakes Echo
What’s on the menu today?
If you’re an eastern massasauga rattlesnake in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, the main course on your menu is likely to be small mammals like meadow voles and masked shrews, with an occasional side order of bird and snake.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/what-do-michigan-rattlers-chow-down/
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-202308
More than 300 scientists, conservationists, and other stakeholders are gathering in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to discuss the 43 Areas of Concern around the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-improvement-mission
More than 50 turtle hatchlings were released into wetland habitats in Michigan after being removed as eggs along the path of the Mid-Michigan Pipeline Project. Watch the full story by Local 4 News – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-turtle-release
The Great Lakes are facing an era of challenges and opportunities that will require new stewardship principles, and leaders who are able to work across disciplines including science, policy, economics and social science. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-future-challenges
The deep blue waters, the rocky cliffs of the North Shore, the wondrous foliage, it’s all there and ready for its closeup as Lake Superior is named one of the top 10 most picturesque landscapes in America. Read the full story by WCCO-TV – Twin Cities, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-instagrammable-superior
Since 1953, the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline has been transporting oil and natural gas through Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada. The Line 5 pipeline crosses under the Straits of Mackinac, which has led to controversy surrounding Indigenous rights and environmental concerns, as well as a slew of legal battles working to shut down the pipeline. Read the full story by The Michigan Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-line5-pipline
Indigenous tribes in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have asked federal officials to deny a utility’s request for a loan to help build a natural gas-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Superior, calling the project unthinkable in the face of climate change. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-gas-plant
The town of Essex, Ontario, admitted it doesn’t have the resources to deal with back-to-back storms and severe flooding, leading to the town’s first-ever discharge of a sewage treatment plant into Lake Erie. Read the full story by CTV News Windsor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-sewage-release
A strong, regional economy helped fuel a “remarkable” 47% increase in the economic impact of the Port of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in a five-year span. Read the full story by Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-economic-impact
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/2023/09/state-michigan-sues-gerald-r-ford-airport-authority-pfas-pollution/
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:
Illinois
Farmer Claiming PFAS Pollution From Mine Sent to Arbitration — Bloomberg Law News
An Illinois appellate court on Friday ordered a dispute between a farmer and a mining company over alleged water pollution from firefighting foam used to extinguish a fire at a mining operation be settled in arbitration, reversing a lower court decision.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/pfas-news-roundup-impact-pfas-farming-proposed-cuts-epa/
For seven years, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance has partnered with Oshkosh North High School Communities for their 9/11 Day of Service event. This is an event where students take on a variety of hands-on projects to make a difference in their community. NBC-26 news coverage interviewed one of the high school teachers that participated and led student volunteers, Brad Weber. “Although he says it pales in comparison with what they faced that day, Weber says he thinks giving back through service is a good way to honor those who risked their lives on 9/11 and helps bring something good, out of a great tragedy.” (Seth Humeniuk, NBC-26)
(Photo credit: NBC-26)
For this year’s event, Fox-Wolf’s Trash Free Waters and shoreline restoration programs each hosted student groups for watershed projects. Fox-Wolf’s Katie Reed had students fully engaged in Menominee Park’s largest shoreline restoration projects, having students trim plants, remove invasive species, and collect seeds from native flowers. Additionally, students learned about the benefits of shoreline restoration projects including erosion prevention, water infiltration, and ideal pollinator habitat.
At the same time, students were nearby cleaning up trash and debris from Miller’s Bay–on Lake Winnebago’s west shore. Fox-Wolf’s Kelly
Reyer paddled alongside Oshkosh North High School students and staff cleaning up a total of 23 pounds of trash. Included in this total was one large cooking pot, a slimy yellow bucket, a fishing pole, and lots of plastic bags and wrappers.
All of us at Fox-Wolf appreciate the continued partnership with the Oshkosh North High School Communities team, and the hard work of all the dedicated students. To learn more about ONHS Communities, visit www.communitiesonhs.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 Oshkosh Students Tackle Watershed Projects for 9/11 Day of Service appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/09/12/onhs-students-improve-water-quality/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=onhs-students-improve-water-quality
