When lake sturgeon were designated as a threatened species in Michigan in 1994, conservation programs to protect the fish and help regenerate the population took action. Today, researchers are learning more about the cryptic fish in order to better protect them. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-lake-sturgeon
Offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes could provide enough carbon-free energy to meet all of Ontario’s growing demand at nearly half the cost of new nuclear reactors. There’s just one problem: Ontario declared a moratorium on offshore wind projects in 2011. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-offshore-wind
The Maumee River is causing issues for the city of Toledo by increasing suspended solids in the city’s drinking water. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-maumee-river
The Great Lakes account for 90% of North America’s fresh water and 20% of the global supply, yet water affordability is a real issue in many Great Lakes states as households contend with some of the most expensive tap water rates in the nation.Read the full story by WKSU- Kent, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-water-accessibility
Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Administrator Adam Tindall-Schlicht toured the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor last week to see expansion work. Read the full story by The Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-great-lakes-st-lawrence-seaway
Reporter Dan Egan discusses the unchecked flow of phosphorus into our waterways, often from farm runoff, and how it contributes to “dead zones” and toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie. Read the full story by Chicago Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-dead-zones
Agritourism business operators may have different strategies for addressing the labor shortage like offering hiring bonuses and higher wages.
The post More farm tourism brings more workplace hazards first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/04/19/more-farm-tourism-brings-more-workplace-hazards/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126642F25C14.SpecialWeatherStatement.126642F2AD54WI.GRBSPSGRB.670272ffdeab82d92d5ab990673d0435
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/new-oceaneye-partnership-brings-expansion-microplastics-database
This week marks national volunteer appreciation week, and on this Lakes Chat episode, we’re chatting about volunteering to help the Great Lakes.
Guests included:
Olivia Reda – the Alliance for the Great Lakes Volunteer Engagement Manager.
Eileen Ryan is a long-time Alliance Ambassador and an Adopt-a-Beach volunteer.
Novem Cheng, a volunteer with the Alliance Ambassador and Adopt-a-Beach programs.
Become an Adopt-a-Beach
Team Leader – Alliance for the Great Lakes
Adopt-a-Beach – Alliance for the Great Lakes
The post Celebration of National Volunteer Week: Adopt-a-Beach Volunteers Season 2, Episode 15 appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2023/04/celebration-of-national-volunteer-week-adopt-a-beach-volunteers-season-2-episode-15/
Climate change continues to have an impact on some residents in Southeast Michigan. For the average homeowner, when it rains, one may grab a good book, kick their feet up and relax under the gloomy skies. For Detroit resident Semone Alexander, every time it rains, it’s anything but relaxing.
As heavy rains have become more frequent in the last half-decade, so has the flooding of Alexander and other residents’ homes— so much so that many of the homes have fallen into disrepair.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/04/climate-change-could-spell-catastrophe-for-detroits-older-homes/
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
https://noaaglerl.blog/2023/04/18/close-to-homes-how-glerls-great-lakes-expertise-helps-combat-flooding-in-the-lake-champlain-richelieu-river-basin/
Climate change impacts maple syrup and a Toronto company’s push toward renewable power.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/04/maple-syrup-and-storing-energy-episode-2304/
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an award-winning organization, doing work in Northeast Wisconsin to protect and restore our waters.
This April, our Trash Free Waters program received the Ed Thompson Liberty Award from the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin for the valuable work we do in the community. This award recognizes that Trash Free Waters inspires and empowers local volunteerism on a significant scale.
The Trash Free Waters program offers targeted campaigns, cleanup events, and education to help prevent and reduce litter. The annual Watershed Cleanup deploys over 1,500 volunteers at over 60 sites in the Fox-Wolf River basin. In 2022, volunteers at the Cleanup picked up over 8,400 pounds of trash.
Fox-Wolf is an independent non-profit organization, and our work relies on cultivating a broad base of partnerships. This collaboration allows us to take a holistic approach to watershed management, bringing together individuals, businesses, farmers, government agencies, and city/county staff.
The post Trash Free Waters program recognized for volunteer power appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/04/18/trash-free-waters-program-recognized-for-volunteer-power/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trash-free-waters-program-recognized-for-volunteer-power
Among the species that newly receive threatened status are the Eastern whip-poor-will, evening grosbeak, golden-winged warbler, Northern goshawk, spruce grouse and upland sandpiper.
The post Lark sparrow left Michigan. Seven more birds are in danger. But each of us can help them survive first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/04/18/lark-sparrow-left-michigan-seven-more-birds-are-in-danger-but-each-of-us-can-help-them-survive/
Participants of an accessible birding event spot birds on Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
All are invited to attend the first in a series of three events designed for birders of all skills and abilities. Join “Everyone Can Bird: Spring Arrivals,” 9:30-11:30 a.m., Saturday, May 6, at Boy Scout Landing Public Water Access, 11 Commonwealth Ave., Duluth.
Designed with accessibility in mind, the event will provide American Sign Language interpretation, stationary birding options, binoculars and spotting scopes for use. Expert birding guides will lead discussion and aid observation. The Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, Hawk Ridge, Lake Superior Reserve, Wisconsin Sea Grant, and the Minnesota Land Trust are hosting the “Everyone Can Bird” series.
Spring is a great time to spot waterfowl, tree sparrows and bald eagles along the St. Louis River as some birds arrive or travel through after winter. Come and observe which feathery friends await. Light refreshments will be provided.
In addition to the May 6 event, “Everyone Can Bird” opportunities will be held Aug. 2 at Barker’s Island in Superior, and Oct. 14 at Hawk Ridge in Duluth. The series builds on a previous accessible birding event hosted by the same partners that took place last September on Barker’s Island.
Registration is encouraged but not required. Learn more or register at bit.ly/4331le7.These activities are designed with access in mind. People who would like to request additional accommodations should email Luciana.Ranelli@wisc.edu or call Luciana at 715-399-4085 at least 10 days before the event.
Boy Scout Landing Public Water Access is a collaborative project of the city of Duluth and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and is one of the public ways to access the St. Louis River freshwater estuary. This “Everyone Can Bird” event occurs the weekend before fishing opener.
The post Everyone can bird, first of three accessible birding events first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/everyone-can-bird-first-of-three-accessible-birding-events/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=everyone-can-bird-first-of-three-accessible-birding-events
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/2023/04/i-speak-for-fish-eyeballing-walleye/
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/2023/04/i-speak-for-fish-eyeballing-walleye/
The Ontario government is investing nearly $1 million to support Indigenous-led projects and increased collaboration with Indigenous organizations and youth to help protect and restore the Great Lakes. Read and listen to the full story by Muskoka411.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-ontario-indigenousleaders-greatlakes
A little bird that lives along the Lake Michigan shoreline is showing new signs of life thanks to the efforts from a team at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Forty years ago, the Great Lakes piping plover was on the brink of extinction. While the population has rebounded, the birds are still considered extremely vulnerable. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-pipingplover-greatlakes-preservingmichigan
The MV Federal Dart arrived at the Port of Thunder Bay on Friday marking it as the first ocean-going “salty” vessel of the 2023 shipping season. The five-year-old Marshall Islands-flagged bulker berthed at Superior Elevator and loaded with Canadian wheat before heading back on a 15-day voyage to the United Kingdom. Read the full story by the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-salty-thunderbay
It felt like peak beach season for most of the week and first responders are already looking ahead to the summer tourism season. One way the City of South Haven tries to protect everyone who visits Lake Michigan is through a buoy that monitors water conditions 24/7. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-southhaven-buoymonitoring-24/7
More than a dozen environmental groups are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to set water pollution limits for some industrial contaminants as well as its reluctance to update decades-old standards for others, arguing that the agency’s inaction amounts to a “free pass to pollute” for hundreds of chemical and fertilizer plants, oil refineries, plastics manufacturers and other industrial facilities. Read the full story by the Wausau Pilot and Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-epa-sued-pfas-pollutionlimits
Stabilization measures began this week on Port Burwell’s 1840-vintage wooden lighthouse – the oldest one on Lake Erie’s north shore – so badly in need of repair it was at risk of toppling over. Read the full story by The Beacon Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-repairwork-portburwell-lakeerielighthouse
Michigan has a rich history of rearing fish since the state began operating hatcheries 150 years ago. The use of stocked fish has long been one of the cornerstones in managing Michigan’s fisheries, but it has gone through many changes over time. Read the full story by the Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-upperpeninsula-fishhatcheries-longhistory
Fish samples taken at 30 or so locations that included the Ohio River, Lake Erie and tributaries of both turned up measurable levels of the chemicals known as PFAS and PFOS. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-foreverchemicals-fish
It was the end of an era Saturday, at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin. The final littoral combat ship built at the shipyard was launched and christened. The future USS Cleveland (LCS 31), a Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, is the 16th and final Freedom-variant LCS. Read the full story by Fox 11 News – Green Bay.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-freedomclass-combatship
More young people are taking interest in scuba diving and Great Lakes eco-dives are expected to become more popular in the coming years.
The post Scuba divers clean up the dirty history of the Great Lakes first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/04/17/scuba-divers-clean-up-the-dirty-history-of-the-great-lakes/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126642A6F684.SpecialWeatherStatement.126642A76DA8WI.GRBSPSGRB.747e49cf925d473ecac83faa26316a44
Some residents in Vickery, including Ohio State Rep. Gary Click, were upset to learn that hazardous wastewater from a Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment was being sent to their area for disposal. But the reality is that Vickery Environmental (VE), a Class 1 deep well injection site about five miles from Sandusky Bay, has been receiving and disposing liquid waste for nearly a half century.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/04/deep-dive-disposing-waste-east-palestine-derailment/
A record number of cruises are expected to dock in Detroit this year as part of a growing Great Lakes cruise industry. Last year, there were a record 52 cruise ships that docked in Detroit, and according to Cruise the Great Lakes and the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, there will be 67 cruise ships docking during the season. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-detroit-cruise
Former U.N. water adviser Maude Barlow is the veteran Canadian and international water rights activist who was instrumental in securing the human right to water declaration by the United Nations in 2010. Barlow recently spoke with Great Lakes Now in an interview that in addition to the World Water conference, covered U.S and Canada’s relationship with the Great Lakes and recent tension between the two countries. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-water-insight
In Door County, Wisconsin, wetter weather means the water level in Lake Michigan is higher than usual for this time of year. Although, the water level isn’t as high as it was at this time last year, and the forecasted levels for this summer are nowhere near the record-setting highs they reached three and four years ago. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-water-levels
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office announced the Fresh Coast Maritime Challenge program in a Monday night release. The program is a partnership between Traverse Connect and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation awarding up to $150,000 in grants to decarbonize and electrify Michigan watercraft and marinas. Read the full story by Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-maritime-challenge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel will apply lampricides to the Black River in Alcona County, Michigan, to kill sea lamprey larvae burrowed in the stream bottom. The applications will be conducted between April 24 to May 4 in accordance with State of Michigan permits. Read the full story by Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-lamprey-control
A storage basin containing wastewater at the Waste Treatment Plant in Washburn, Wisconsin, is on track to overflow due to the fast melting of snow, and that is threatening Lake Superior. The storage basin at Washburn’s treatment plant typically takes in 175,000 to 200,000 gallons of water per day; in four days, it took in over 3.4 million gallons. Read the full story by WDIO-DT – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-wastewater-overflow
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has made a deal to buy Batchewana Island in Lake Superior north of Sault Ste. Marie to protect it from development. It is Lake Superior’s largest privately-owned island and has 27 kilometres of shoreline and more than 2,000 hectares of forests and wetlands. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-island-purchase
This year, more than 300 students at six Milwaukee-area schools are investigating the importance of clean water, from our faucets to Lake Michigan. In the classroom, the student’s goal was to learn how to do the experiments before they run the same tests at Bradford Beach next month. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-student-water-testing
Canada’s worst invasive plant is a little less evident thanks to a comprehensive and collaborative initiative founded in 2013 that sees phragmites removed from the community. A partnership between the Municipality of Kincardine, Ontario, Dr. Janice Gilbert, and the Lake Huron Coastal Centre in 2013 created the Phragmites Management Plan to control the destructive plant. Read the full story by the Saugeen Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-phragmite-remediation
The cities of Joliet, Channahon, Crest Hill, Minooka, Shorewood and Romeoville, Illinois are all participating in the Wyland Mayor’s Challenge that asks residents to conserve water, energy and other natural resources on behalf of their city through a series of informative, easy-to-use pledges online. Read the full story by WJOL – Joliet, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-water-conservation-challenge
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126642A66084.SpecialWeatherStatement.126642B348D0WI.GRBSPSGRB.f0e7c53ffc71f540bfb2b4c12686d6bb
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126642A61714.AirQualityAlert.126642B3E510WI.GRBAQAGRB.ca1aa86e52e9b62f1db1ff52bbdd6cb5
The organization holds an annual “challenge” for communities to measure their progress toward advancing sustainability.
The post Recycling gets positive reviews as green groups press for more action first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/04/14/recycling-gets-positive-reviews-as-green-groups-press-for-more-action/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126642A4FBE0.SpecialWeatherStatement.126642A67790WI.GRBSPSGRB.f0e7c53ffc71f540bfb2b4c12686d6bb
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126642A415CC.SpecialWeatherStatement.126642A56BFCWI.GRBSPSGRB.f0e7c53ffc71f540bfb2b4c12686d6bb
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126642978EC4.SpecialWeatherStatement.126642A40690WI.GRBSPSGRB.f0e7c53ffc71f540bfb2b4c12686d6bb
By Kathleen Foody, Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Michigan researchers have found the wreckage of two ships that disappeared into Lake Superior in 1914 and hope the discovery will lead them to a third that sank at the same time, killing nearly 30 people aboard the trio of lumber-shipping vessels.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/04/ap-michigan-researchers-find-1914-shipwrecks-in-lake-superior/
Other proposals that the state Department of Transportation and legislators are looking into include converting some highways into toll roads.
The post Mileage-based road tax ideas could stall out over privacy concerns first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/04/13/mileage-based-road-tax-ideas-could-stall-out-over-privacy-concerns/
There were two differing visions on how to deal with the global water crisis at the recent United Nations World Water Conference, according to former U.N. water adviser Maude Barlow.
One, would “treat water as a commodity like oil and gas and put it on the open market for sale,” Barlow said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/04/former-adviser-warns-water-futures-trading-water-crisis-level-climate/
The first piping plover to return to the Great Lakes region this spring has been reported at Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, marking the official start of another breeding season for the federally endangered shorebird. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-piping-plover
