Families in Kent County, Michigan, have 300 times the recommended limit of PFAS coming out of faucets in their homes. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200406-pfas
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/04/06/many-university-students-dont-qualify-for-covid-aid/
Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig shares his own memories of the first Earth Day and the changes he’s noticed in the nature around him since then.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/great-lakes-moment-earth-day-turns-50/
As the poet, farmer, and environmental activist Wendell Berry once said, “If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are.”
Our first H.O.M.E.School activity asks students to make a list of the special places in their lives and draw their own “sense of place” maps. These maps do not need to be geographically accurate, but they do tell the story of a place from your kid’s point of view.
This lesson will help develop their spatial reasoning abilities, their mapping skills, and a greater “sense of place” – or connection to the Great Lakes.
This activity will take between 30 minutes and an hour.
You’ll need:
Watch the video below to learn about maps and get today’s activity.
Ask your kids to show you the maps they’ve made. What places have they drawn? Why are these things important to them?
Kids: Practice your mapmaking skills. Try to draw or trace an outline of the Great Lakes!
Parents: Share your kid’s Great Lakes map on social media! And if you tag the Alliance for the Great Lakes, we might share it, too.
Want to learn more? Check out these resources!
The post H.O.M.E.School Week 1: Maps appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2020/04/h-o-m-e-school-week-1-maps/
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/04/06/count-on-for-frogs-toads/
In this web exclusive, Great Lakes Now looks at Michigan’s PFAS Action Response Team.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/episode-1012-web-extra-pfas-mpart/
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/grb/2020_Statewide_Virtual_Tornado_Drill_Thurday_April_16th
In this web exclusive, two residents from Kent County, Michigan, share about their struggles with PFAS.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/episode-1012-web-extra-pfas-families/
Education Consultant Gary Abud Jr. has four helpful tips to make the most of online discussions with your students and children as lessons and activities move to the home.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/great-lakes-learning-tips-student-conversation/
Theodore J. Karamanski’s sweeping maritime history, Mastering the Inland Seas: How Lighthouses, Navigational Aids, and Harbors Transformed the Great Lakes and America, demonstrates the far-ranging impact that the tools and infrastructure developed for navigating the Great Lakes had on the national economies, politics and environment of continental North America. Read the full story by the Door County Pulse.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-navigation
The United States Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District announced in early March that Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie all set new monthly records for their levels, beating records set in 1986 for Superior, Michigan, and Huron and 1987 for Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-lake-levels
Scientists have created a lake thermal classification system and noted that a significant proportion of lakes could be reclassified as warmer types as global temperatures rise. Read the full story by Eos.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-lake-classification
Enbridge Energy will not delay submitting permits for its controversial Great Lakes Tunnel Project because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-enbridge
Members of the Michigan Congressional PFAS Task Force sent a letter outlining their priorities to address in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act to address harmful PFAS chemicals. Read the full story by WNEM – TV – Bay City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-pfas
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announced that an agreement has been signed that will help them directly assist Detroit neighborhoods in fighting against flooding events expected during this upcoming spring and summer seasons. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-detroit-flooding
The Presque Isle Conservation District plans to restore fish and wildlife habitat at the Trout River Dam in Rogers Township, Michigan. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-trout-river-dam
The Essex Region Conservation Authority on Thursday issued long-term flood watch for the entire region. The flood watch includes all shorelines along Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and Detroit River. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-flood-watch
Lake Michigan buoys that operate off Port Sheldon and South Haven, Michigan were placed on Thursday, April 2, 2020. Read the full story by WHTC – Holland, MI
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-buoys
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Thursday announced that it has extended the public comment deadline for a plan on battling algal blooms in Lake Erie until June 19. Read the full story by Patch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-algal-blooms
By Kaye LaFond, Interlochen Public Radio
Enbridge Energy will not delay submitting permits for its controversial Great Lakes Tunnel Project because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tribal governments that oppose the project want Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to slow the process down. They say it’s impossible to prepare for public comment and official tribal consultations when most tribal staff are sheltering in place.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/enbridge-move-forward-tunnel-permitting-covid-19/
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/04/03/michigan-residents-want-to-save-and-spend-stimulus-checks/
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/great-lakes-energy-coronavirus-covid-19-nuclear-solar/
The cruise ships that typically dock in Muskegon, Michigan, each summer have postponed some of their visits due to COVID-19, a sign that the region’s tourism industry may take a hard hit this summer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-tourism
The portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway that includes the north country opened Wednesday morning. The section from Montreal to Lake Ontario opened eight days later than the Seaway’s Welland Canal section. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-seaway
Residents surrounding Lake Ontario feel that high water levels are due to IJC’s plan 2014, which allows for water levels in Lake Ontario to fluctuate. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-flooding
This week is a great week to reel in some walleye around Lake Erie, but also make sure to keep your social distance while doing so. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-walleye
Michigan farms are prohibited from applying animal waste as cropland fertilizer in winter unless the farms meet certain conditions under a new general permit for factory-sized agribusiness operations. The new restriction is intended to prevent nutrients from entering waterways. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-manure
Ontario’s Port of Thunder Bay is anticipating a very strong month with increasing demand and a backlog of grain waiting to be shipped. Read the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-grain-shipping
The Essex Region Conservation Authority announced on Wednesday an indefinite flood watch for all of shoreline areas within Ontario’s Essex region, including Pelee Island. Read the full story by CBC Canada.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-Essex-flooding
New research has suggested that water levels in the Northwoods lakes of Wisconsin and even the Great Lakes can predict the mercury level in fish. Read the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-mercury
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/ncei-improves-analysis-sea-surface-temperatures
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/04/02/remembering-the-ups-break-away-movement/
Great Lakes Now and Detroit PBS KIDS takes you along on a Virtual Field Trip.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/great-lakes-now-virtual-field-trip/
The HOW Coalition’s annual Great Lakes Conference attracts more than 300 people from across the region to discuss cross-cutting and cutting edge Great Lakes issues. This year’s conference will be held at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 7-8, 2020.
The Coalition is looking for engaging and compelling proposals for both field trips and presentations at this year’s conference.
Download the 2020 call for applications
Click here to access the 2020 Field Trip Application
Click here to access the 2020 Presentation/Workshop Application
Applications due May 30, 2020
We invite you to submit application to share your work with the Great Lakes Community. This year, the HOW Coalition is especially looking to expand our reach to include more stories from the intersection of social justice and the environment, and we encourage folks who can share stories from their communities to apply. If we can assist you in making these connections between environment and community or talking through a presentation idea, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Celia Haven at havenc@nwf.org or 734-887-7123.
A note about COVID-19: There is a lot of uncertainty right now about summer and fall events. As of right now, our conference is still slated to happen in person October 7-8, and so we are moving forward with conference planning and constantly monitoring the situation. We will rely on the guidance of public health professionals to determine our course of action and will let you know immediately if there are any changes in conference plans – whether that be a postponement, moving to a virtual conference, or cancellation. Of course, we understand that there are much bigger priorities in people’s lives right now. If thinking about Great Lakes issues (and maybe even our conference) provides some respite from the intense times we find ourselves in, then we hope you will consider participating in our conference and submitting a proposal.
1. Field Trips: Field Trips: Showcasing Milwaukee, the three rivers, and the surrounding community
The Coalition is seeking fun, educational, inspiring and creative proposals for field trips in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to highlight community projects, social and environmental challenges, restoration success stories, and cultural landmarks.
2. Workshops: Six Great Lakes Issue Areas
Apply for either:
The Coalition is seeking innovative, creative, engaging and compelling proposals for presentations in the below categories. Preferred applications in all categories will include culturally and racially diverse voices and groups or individuals representing under-resourced communities to share important stores from around the region. Expanded issue area descriptions are included in the full Request for Proposals.
A) Great Lakes Policy Issues
B) Innovative Great Lakes Restoration Success Stories
C) Addressing Environmental Injustices
D) Grassroots Action that makes a Difference
E) Great Lakes Research and Emerging Issues
F) Skills, Training, and Organizational Development
See the request for applications document for full descriptions of each category, and instructions to apply
Are you curious about what field trips and presentations have been included in previous conferences? You can find the 2019 conference program book from Detroit, Michigan, here.
The post 15th Annual Great Lakes Restoration Conference Request for Workshops and Field trips Now Open appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Healing Our Waters Coalition
https://healthylakes.org/15th-annual-great-lakes-restoration-conference-request-for-workshops-and-field-trips-now-open/
$4.5 million is on the way to help clean up contaminated sediment in Duluth’s St. Louis River. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed the agreement to help what’s known as an “Area of Concern” on Lake Superior. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-aoc
In 1961, there were only 52 breeding pairs of bald eagles in Michigan, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Today, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says that number has swelled to about 800 nesting pairs. Read the full story by the Battle Creek Enquirer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-eagles
A comprehensive study on Ontario’s Oshawa Creek, a tributary to Lake Ontario, places the value of the water body and its surrounding areas at approximately $400 million. Read the full story by The Oshawa Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-oshawa
The shipping season on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River is getting underway nearly two weeks later than industry stakeholders had hoped. The extra time was used by the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board to reduce water levels in the system in order to mitigate the chance of flooding later this year. Read the full story by WRVO – Oswego, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-levels
Though Put-in-Bay’s annual tourist season really doesn’t get going until Memorial Day, this is usually a time for soft openings, recruiting employees, and getting warmed up for summer. However, with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s stay-at-home order still in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, Put-in-Bay is emptier than it is during normal off-season days. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-islanders
Drinking water fountains and taps at public and private schools in Indiana will be required to be tested for lead contamination by 2023 under a new state law. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-lead
Arctic grayling, a fish known for its sail-like dorsal fin that died out in Michigan in the 1930s, could be making a comeback in Michigan. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-grayling
As the cruise industry navigates the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Great Lakes cruises have a slight advantage over their larger competitors, as their cruising seasons start much later in the summer. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-cruises
With Great Lakes shipping season kicking off last week, American and foreign freighters are expected to transport cargo throughout the more than 100 ports of call in the region, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and industry leaders. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-shipping
Lakes Michigan and Huron rose past their combined long-term historical average in July 2014 and have remained above that baseline ever since. A new interactive map shows a decade of water height data to put context to water level changes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-fluctuations
Michigan EGLE said the ban is intended to prevent manure from flowing into waterways. Manure is a leading polluter of the Great Lakes, inland lakes and streams.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/ap-michigan-ban-manure-croplands-winter/
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/04/01/comparing-actions-by-great-lakes-states-and-spreat-of-covid-19/
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Tiana Starks
tianastarks@ts2consulting.com
(248) 361-1617
Public Health Experts, Environment Justice Orgs. Gather to Urge Michigan Mayors To Turn Water On ASAP
Statewide #TurnWaterOn Collaborative Responds to Governor Gretchen’s Executive Order
Detroit, MI (April 1, 2020) – Michigan residents and public health experts are calling on Governor Gretchen Whitmer to work with her newly created Michigan Advisory Council for Environmental Justice (MAC EJ) to enforce the executive order she issued on March 28, 2020 to have water restored for all residences that were previously turned off. Michigan mayors and water service providers must ensure that residential water services are restored timely, transparently, and equitably. To remain in compliance with the order all residences’ must have water restored by April 12, 2020.
Detroit and Michigan have become national epicenters for the Coronavirus in the U.S. and the Governor and her administration must work quickly to restore life-saving resources, such as clean water. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Monday afternoon, the state ranked fourth in the nation in the number of confirmed cases per capita with 6,498 cases and 183 deaths.
“We thank Governor Whitmer for her leadership through the Executive Order to turn water on to all homes,” said Nick Leonard, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center. “We also thank Governor Whitmer for the $2 million in grant funding for utilities to restore life-saving residential water services. Now we ask the Governor to use her own MAC EJ to ensure water is turned on right away to those suffering and unable to wash their hands.”
The MAC EJ was created to address ongoing environmental justice issues and was set up to have people that are impacted daily at the table to advise on critical environmental issues, like drinking water. MAC EJ was strategically crafted to provide opportunities for those on the frontlines to weigh in on environmental protections, regulations, and policies in Michigan that will be fair and meaningful to all Michiganders, regardless of geography, race, color, origin, or income.
“Without water to wash hands and food entering homes, COVID-19 will continue to spread,” said Nadia Gaber, MD/PhD Candidate at the University of California San Francisco. “One only need to look at a map of COVID-19 cases in Michigan to understand how vital access to clean, safe water is to public health.”
“While mayors of some Michigan cities put into place a moratorium on water shut offs and called for the restoration of residential water services over the last month; said Jill Ryan, Freshwater Future Executive Director, “turning on water to residents’ homes has been slow and the process unclear. Meanwhile, community members continue to suffer without access to clean, safe water in their homes.”
“I did not create the phrase DO NO HARM, but I took an oath upon graduating medical school to uphold it forever more. From a public health standpoint, depriving people of water is both deplorable and dangerous under the best of circumstances. In the face of this COVID19 pandemic it rises to the level of a criminal act. Not only does it put the affected person or family in grave danger, it also enables the contagion to spread like a wildfire endangering everyone in the community and country, like gasoline on a forest fire. Only when all of us fully comprehend our interrelatedness and interdependence, and act accordingly, will we have a bright future for all people – one wherein human compassion, decency, dignity, health and safety prevail,” said Wendy Sternberg, MD, Physician and Medical Strategist, Public Health Institute Ad Hoc Team and Founder and Executive Director, Genesis at the Crossroads.
###
Social Media
Hashtags:
#TurnWaterOn
#KeepWaterOn
#MakeWaterAffordable
#CleanWaterSavesLives
Sample Tweets:
@GovWhitmer Thank you for ordering the water back on across Michigan, due to the urgency, please utilize the MACEJ to assist with transparency and reporting. #TurnWaterOn #KeepWaterOn #MakeWaterAffordable #CleanWaterSavesLives
{Your City’s Twitter Handle} #TurnWaterOn now so my neighbors can wash their hands and save lives. @GovWhitmer use the #MACEJ to ensure accountability and transparency, as #CleanWaterSavesLives. #KeepWaterOn #MakeWaterAffordable
Michigan water systems, both rural and urban, please ensure residents have water. Ensure people have water across Michigan. Please donate to local efforts at https://bit.ly/3bHoc3l #TurnWaterOn #KeepWaterOn #MakeWaterAffordable #CleanWaterSavesLives
The faster water service is restored, the more lives can be saved! Thank you@GovWhitmer. #TurnWaterOn #KeepWaterOn #MakeWaterAffordable #CleanWaterSavesLives
{Your City’s Twitter Handle} The faster water service is restored, the more lives can be saved! @GovWhitmer use the MACEJ to track progress. #TurnWaterOn #KeepWaterOn #MakeWaterAffordable #CleanWaterSavesLives
Thank you @GovWhitmer for ordering water service restored. Municipalities, please move fast to save lives. Donate to local efforts at www.XXXX #TurnWaterOn #KeepWaterOn #MakeWaterAffordable #CleanWaterSavesLives
#TurnWaterOn quickly to save lives. @GovWhitmer, please use the MAC EJ to push for speedy response of municipalities. #KeepWaterOn #MakeWaterAffordable #CleanWaterSavesLives
#CleanWaterSavesLives donate to provide water until all water services are restored, https://bit.ly/3bHoc3l #TurnWaterOn #KeepWaterOn #MakeWaterAffordable
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/policy-memo/news-alert-public-health-experts-environment-justice-orgs-gather-to-urge-michigan-mayors-to-turn-water-on-asap/
Cruise season is expected to continue as normal for the Great Lakes region, even as ports and cruise lines grapple with how to protect passengers and crew.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/coronavirus-covid-19-cruises-continue/
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/04/01/fish-tale-chances-of-arctic-grayling-return-to-michigan-very-good/
Waukesha this month is bidding the first large construction contracts for its new Lake Michigan drinking water system. Read the full story by Milwaukee Business Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-waukesha-water
