It’s summer in Michigan and people flocking to lakes and other bodies of water around the state may see something they didn’t know we had – jellyfish. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230818-jellyfish
On Wednesday night, Defense Department officials announced plans to install two new groundwater treatment systems near the Wurtsmith base, which borders the community of Oscoda, Michigan near Lake Huron. The systems will be installed at two locations with the intent of reducing the spread of an underground PFAS plume. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230818-pfas-cleanup
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average surface water temperature of the Great Lakes is rising. Over the past couple of years, Lake Superior’s warmer temperatures on the surface have also increased harmful algal blooms. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230818-algal-blooms
Port officials expected it would cost about $30 million to develop a state-of-the-art port facility with convenient access to rail and interstate highways on the former Pulliam Power Plant site. A newly received engineering cost estimate put the price tag above $48.7 million. The cost increase was attributed to increases in labor and material costs. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230818-port-of-green-bay
What did you do this summer?
A red toy buried in sand at Bradford Beach. Photo credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
It’s a question that, in the middle of August, might prompt panicked reexamination of how you spent the long, warm days of a fleeting season. For Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Summer Outreach Opportunities Program scholars, the answers come easily.
This summer, 12 undergraduate students from across the country spent a jam-packed 10 weeks collaborating with outreach specialists on coastal and water resources projects across Wisconsin. Scholars conducted research, engaged kids and adults and shared the stories of Great Lakes science, all while working alongside mentors to explore careers and graduate education in the aquatic sciences.
Whether they wrangled fish in Green Bay or researched green infrastructure in Ashland, scholars have much to share about how they spent their summers. Here’s the first snapshot of four projects.
Project: Beach Ambassador Program for Great Lakes Water Safety
When Alan Liang and his fellow beach ambassadors push their powder-blue cart across Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, curious beachgoers often approach with a question: What are you selling?
Alan Liang pushes the beach ambassador cart as he starts a shift at the beach. Photo credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
Liang explains they’re not peddling cold treats. The brightly colored cart is filled with pamphlets about beach safety, not paletas, and the team is working to build awareness around the changeable water conditions of Lake Michigan.
“Our mission is to spread information as educators about how to keep yourself safe on the beach since there are no lifeguards,” said Liang.
A collaboration between Wisconsin Sea Grant and Milwaukee-area partners, the Beach Ambassador Program began in 2021 in response to an increased number of drownings at Milwaukee beaches. Ambassadors, like summer scholar Liang, are trained to share water safety information with the public, including how to properly wear a life vest, escape a rip current, recognize water quality conditions and determine whether it’s safe to swim. Social Science Outreach Specialist Deidre Peroff serves as one of the program’s mentors.
Weather permitting, ambassadors rove the beach Thursdays through Sundays and begin each shift by gathering at their “shed” on the beach. The team then records the weather and water conditions for that day on a whiteboard: wind speed and direction, water temperature and quality and UV index. Those data then inform the conversations ambassadors initiate with beachgoers.
“For example, yesterday we had very strong winds from the northeast, which would generate a lot of longshore currents,” said Liang. “So that’s what we would talk about because that was the big concern for that day.”
Liang, a sophomore at UW–Madison majoring in computer science and environmental studies and a former math tutor, was drawn to the program because he likes teaching. “I wanted to do something a little bit more education-based, and I thought this was a great fit for me because I’ve also spent a lot of time around water.”
Approaching people, however, can be difficult. It helps that beach ambassadors move as a group, but Liang said this summer has challenged him to get outside of his comfort zone. “I feel like I’ve learned to overcome those awkward, uncomfortable situations,” said Liang.
A beach ambassador holds a factsheet about longshore currents. Photo credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
Not all outreach happens near water. In addition to pulling ambassador shifts at Bradford Beach, Liang tabled at the Green & Healthy Schools Conference and talked with other Milwaukee-based, environmental justice-focused organizations. The goal is to connect with more audiences. “This helps to promote beach safety among those who may be hesitant to go to the beach at all,” said Liang.
He is also designing a website for the program that will launch in early fall. He likes that the project melds both of his interests and shows a possible path forward in both the environmental and computer science fields.
Although the future is on his mind, Liang is also enjoying the present moment, spending the summer along Lake Michigan in his hometown.
“It’s nice to just be where you’re from and interact with the people from your community.”
Project: Restoration and Monitoring of Coastal Habitats
Isabelle Haverkampf and Gweni Malokofsky spent their summers the way many of us wish we could: on the water. Under the mentorship of Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer, Haverkampf and Malokofsky have been working on multiple projects in the Lake Michigan watershed, including surveying fish and manoomin (wild rice) in Green Bay and collecting water quality and site assessment data at Forget-Me-Not Creek between Two Rivers and Manitowoc.
Isabelle Haverkampf releases a fish back into the water. Photo credit: Isabelle Haverkampf
A highlight of the summer was fish monitoring. For one week each month, the scholars worked with partner organizations at four sites in the bay of Green Bay in Lake Michigan, setting fykes and hauling seine nets to collect data on the species, size and number of fish caught. Prior to this summer, neither had much experience handling fish.
“I was uncomfortable holding and measuring bigger fish at the beginning, but I’ve definitely gotten much better at it,” said Haverkampf.
Gweni Malokofsky holds painted turtles she encountered during fish monitoring. Photo credit: Gweni Malokofsky
Together, the team netted banded killifish, yellow perch, gar, bowfins and bullheads. Some species, Malokofsky learned, were more cooperative than others.
“The bowfins are definitely the hardest to deal with,” Malokofsky said. “If they don’t want to sit there, they won’t.”
Overall, the experience affirmed the scholars’ interest in working in the natural resources field. Haverkampf, a water science and geology double major who will graduate from Northland College in December, gained clarity about what she wants to study in graduate school.
The team measures a fish. Photo credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
“I’ve found I really want to go into the water sciences sector, specifically in restoration or resource work,” she said, adding that she’s interested in how contaminants move through aquatic food webs.
Malokofsky, a sophomore at UW–Green Bay majoring in biology with an emphasis in ecology and conservation, appreciated the hands-on introduction to field work.
“I’m glad that I’m learning how to use different kinds of probes and tools and field equipment I previously haven’t had experience with,” she said.
Another perk of the experience? Knowing the best places for a peaceful paddle. Malokofsky said her family just got kayaks and canoes this summer. “Now I know some places I’d like to take them to.”
Project: Harvesting Manoomin as a Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy
This summer, Elliot Benjamin and Lucia Richardson immersed themselves in the stories and science of manoomin, also known as psiŋ or wild rice. Manoomin is an important food source with cultural and spiritual significance to the Native nations of the Great Lakes region but has been declining in range and abundance. Working with Social Science Outreach Specialist Deidre Peroff and partner organizations in Minnesota, the scholars participated in field work, field trips and independent study to learn how manoomin is connected to human, plant and animal communities and how those connections can help the plant thrive—despite changes in climate, water quality, land use and hydrology that threaten its existence.
Summer scholar Elliot Benjamin. Photo credit: Elliot Benjamin
For Benjamin, a senior at Marquette University majoring in sociology and gender studies with a minor in English, this summer was an opportunity to take a deeper dive and learn more about the ecological importance of a plant they first encountered in a Native American literature course.
“I knew some of the cultural significance and had read a little bit on my own,” said Benjamin, “but I didn’t know a lot about the biology of the plant itself and the history of the Anishinaabeg culture and all the different factors that are harming [manoomin].”
Summer scholar Lucia Richardson. Photo credit: Lucia Richardson
Richardson, a junior at Northland College majoring in nature and humanities with a minor in Native American studies, was also familiar with manoomin, having made rice knockers and participated in harvesting. This summer, she learned more about the relationships between manoomin, water quality, wildlife and the overall ecosystem.
“Manoomin is a keystone species,” said Richardson. “Manoomin in a habitat means that it’s a healthy, thriving habitat.”
Both scholars worked on capstone projects that raise awareness of the plant but also foster relationships between people.
Benjamin wrote an essay blending what they’ve learned about manoomin with reflections on their identity as a trans person.
“I wanted to take a more personal reflection approach to it,” they said, noting the capstone was a good opportunity to tap into their training in the humanities. Benjamin plans to submit the piece to an academic journal currently seeking papers about trans perspectives and ecology.
Richardson built upon an oral history project she began at Northland College transcribing and digitizing interviews with Bad River and Red Cliff tribal elders and government officials. Recorded in the 1970s, the oral histories were recently found on cassette tapes in the Northland Indigenous Culture Center and feature both personal and tribal history. Richardson is returning the tapes to tribal governments and hopes to collaborate on a future project.
As humanities students, Benjamin and Richardson appreciated how the summer exposed them to scientific topics and field work while welcoming their perspectives as nonscientists. Both are considering futures in environmental studies. Said Benjamin, “[The summer scholar experience] made it feel more attainable.”
Project: Environmental Video Production
Van Mill out in the field. Photo credit: Bonnie Willison
Jeremy Van Mill knows that observation is a good teacher—a lesson his summer scholar experience has helped him appreciate in a new way. Alongside video producer Bonnie Willison, Van Mill travelled across Wisconsin filming and photographing Sea Grant-funded researchers, outreach specialists and fellow summer scholars in the field. With no formal training in the aquatic sciences, Van Mill learned by watching and listening with his camera.
“One of the things I really enjoy about this position is that I am exposed to topics that I don’t have any experience with,” said Van Mill.
Van Mill, a second-year student in visual communications at Madison College, profiled the work of Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist, Scott McComb, and edited a video about groundwater flooding research on Crystal and Mud lakes in Dane County. He also edited the audio for a live performance of “Me and Debry,” a Sea Grant-funded play about marine debris, and photographed numerous events and outings.
The experience invited Van Mill to practice different ways of telling stories and producing videos. “It’s forcing me to stretch and change and reconsider the way I do things,” he said.
One of Van Mill’s favorite moments he captured this summer: Titus Seilheimer and a little, whiskery brown bullhead. Photo credit: Jeremy Van Mill
For example, letting the footage shape the story. In his previous film projects, Van Mill knew exactly what he was getting into: with script in hand, location scouted and actors rehearsed, he could plan out every shot in advance. That sort of control isn’t possible when filming in a poorly lit laboratory or on a boat in Lake Michigan, especially if your subjects move in unpredictable ways.
“You have to take a step back a little bit and stop trying to stage things or control different elements and seize the opportunities you have,” said Van Mill.
That means being present, paying attention and letting the story unfold on its own. “You’re sort of like a fly on the wall more than you’re producing video,” said Van Mill.
Van Mill’s macro photography captures small creatures up close, like this butterfly. Photo credit: Jeremy Van Mill
Speaking of flies, Van Mill films them, too. While in college, he started dabbling in macro videography and photography, meaning he films very small things. His subject of choice? Insects. Van Mill has spent hours finding and filming various critters going about their insectile agendas on beaches and in backyards.
“I learned a lot about insects by observing them,” said Van Mill. The videos reveal details people don’t usually see, like the tiny hairs on a fly’s leg or the coiling proboscis of a butterfly.
So much of the world opens up when you pay attention. Van Mill said it best: “Everyday things become extraordinary with a different angle or different perspective.”
The post Summer scholars dip toes into water-related careers: Part one first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/summer-scholars-dip-toes-into-water-related-careers-part-one/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12665AB9FA8C.AirQualityAlert.12665AC98380WI.GRBAQAGRB.95772b461ecdeafcc9c0642321d118ec
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/grb/082398_DoorCoTornado
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/grb/082398_DoorCoTornado
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12665AAC8FC8.AirQualityAlert.12665ABA4140WI.GRBAQAGRB.95772b461ecdeafcc9c0642321d118ec
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/2023/08/new-federal-money-start-effort-make-great-lakes-coasts-more-resilient/
The partnership is Indiana’s first U.S. Geological Survey Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Midcontinent Region
https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/purdue-university-host-new-multi-agency-research-partnership-benefit?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
Editor’s Note: “Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A direct descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe, she lives and works in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her two books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and she is at work on a children’s story.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/08/nibi-chronicles-beaver-named-annabelle-her-kin-us/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12665AAAE470.AirQualityAlert.12665ABA4140WI.GRBAQAGRB.95772b461ecdeafcc9c0642321d118ec
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12665AA986D4.AirQualityAlert.12665AAB2610WI.GRBAQAGRB.95772b461ecdeafcc9c0642321d118ec
By Siri Chilukuri, Planet Detroit
This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News, Borderless, Ensia, Planet Detroit, Sahan Journal, and Wisconsin Watch, as well as the Guardian and Inside Climate News. The project was supported by the Joyce Foundation.
Jera Slaughter looks at her backyard with pride, pointing out every feature and explaining how it came to be.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/08/chicagos-south-side-neighbors-fight-keep-lake-michigan-bay/
Keep up with energy-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
Home Water Quality Testing Kits For Lead, Copper And PFAS To Debut In Chicago — Forbes
The National Science Foundation is backing a pilot study by Northwestern University to develop and distribute water quality testing kits to Chicago-area residents.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/08/pfas-news-roundup-clermont-county-village-lawsuit-forever-chemicals-testing-kits-debut-chicago/
For our Diving Deep for Solutions series, we commissioned author and journalist Kari Lydersen to examine big issues facing the lakes today and how our expert team at the Alliance for the Great Lakes is growing to meet the moment.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” notes Alliance for the Great Lakes Vice President for Policy Molly Flanagan.
The old adage is often cited in regards to invasive species, and a good example is the $1 billion-plus of federal and state dollars proposed to keep invasive carp from advancing into Lake Michigan – “even if it costs a lot,” Flanagan continued.
“You’re talking about fishing industries worth $7 billion a year, recreational boating worth $16 billion a year, and you’re protecting a lot of different economies that equal much more than that,” Flanagan continued.
Thanks to years of advocacy by the Alliance and our partners, the federal government has upped the portion it is willing to pay for constructing barriers to block the voracious invasive carp, at Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River southwest of Chicago.
Last year through the Water Resources Development Act, the federal government agreed to pick up 90% of a tab estimated at $1.5 billion, if states will pay the rest. Previously, the federal government had planned to pay 65%.
The new plan means Great Lakes states must pay about $115 million total. This year Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer proposed $64 million in the state budget, and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker proposed $50 million. Both budgets passed state legislatures.
To move the deal forward, the state of Illinois still needs to sign an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“We’ve been putting forth a simple message: Illinois needs to sign the agreement,” said Flanagan. “Any delay risks delaying the project. We can’t afford that because we’re in a race against the clock to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes.”
The planned barrier includes a bubble curtain, electric barrier, acoustic deterrents and a flushing lock. Pre-construction work is underway thanks to close to $10 million already committed by Illinois and Michigan.
“It’s a really positive development in terms of Michigan and Illinois working together,” Flanagan said. “All the states are coming to the table to talk about the carp issue and try to problem-solve. They haven’t all committed money, but it’s another good example of how our region collaborates.”
Ironically, the crystal-clear water that many appreciate in Lake Michigan is the result of previous invaders that colonized the lakes – zebra mussels and quagga mussels.
“They’re filtering out the bottom of the food web, with dramatic impacts,” said Flanagan. “The water is so clear but that’s not necessarily a good thing – there’s [almost] nothing left in the water for other fish to eat. If invasive carp get in, they’ll also feed on the base of the food web.” That would be especially damaging to plankton-rich places like western Lake Erie and Green Bay.
And that’s not to mention another likely impact of one of several threatening species of invasive carp – the “flying” silver carp, as Flanagan said, known for jumping violently out of the water when agitated by boat engines.
This behavior makes infested rivers too risky for boaters. “That would hammer the recreational economy in the region. Who wants to boat on the Chicago or Kalamazoo River if carps are flying at you?”
While invasive carp are advancing from the Mississippi River, where they’ve devastated the ecosystem and recreation, more invasives have historically come via ships plying the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Ocean ships take in ballast in freshwater and brackish ports around the globe, including live organisms, and empty it when they’ve reached destinations and need to take on cargo in the Great Lakes. For years advocates from around the country, including the Alliance, have demanded stricter regulations on ballast water. While ocean ships now have to install treatment technology, unfortunately, EPA’s latest draft rules missed the mark.
“Ship-borne invasive species cost the Great Lakes Region alone at least $200 million dollars every year,” says a 2020 comment on the proposed EPA rules by the Alliance and other organizations. “This is a dire problem that must be solved.”
But “lakers” – ships that stay within the Great Lakes – are exempt from the draft rules, even though they also transport ballast and organisms in it between the lakes as they carry ore, salt and other commodities. Hence the EPA should include lakers in its ballast water rule just as Canada has, and finalize the rule, the Alliance says.
“We need to keep pressure on the EPA to regulate lakers,” Flanagan said. “This is critical to protecting the Great Lakes from invasive species.”
Meanwhile the rules are not as strict as advocates have demanded, since they don’t require best available treatment technology for ballast, like advanced ultraviolet radiation systems, and they don’t prohibit ships taking on ballast in areas that are polluted by algae or sewage.
Alliance President & CEO Joel Brammeier called the battle against invasives a “mature” struggle – one where the Alliance and other advocates are winning substantial new protections but where the Great Lakes have suffered permanent damage that can never be reversed.
Few invasive species have been introduced in recent years, thanks to prevention protocols and spending urged by the Alliance and other players. But continued vigilance is needed to deal with the nearly 200 harmful invasive species already in the Great Lakes, and the threat of new ones like invasive carp.
“We need to continually invest in prevention and control and never let that slide,” Brammeier said. “Our lakes have suffered enough, and I believe people across the region understand the importance of not going backward.”
Meanwhile the debate on ballast speaks to larger changes in economic priorities for the Great Lakes. Great Lakes shipping is still a booming industry credited for generating $35 billion in economic activity a year, while Great Lakes residents, cities and states are increasingly prioritizing the recreational and ecological value of the lakes.
“Our region missed the boat by letting invasive species in the lakes in the first place. That’s a tough lesson,” Brammeier said. “But it compels us to ask tough questions about every industry that wants to use the lakes. And everyone is going to have to demonstrate it can do so sustainably, because Great Lakers understand the risks better than most.”
The post An Ounce of Prevention: Keeping New Invasive Species Out of the Great Lakes appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2023/08/an-ounce-of-prevention-keeping-new-invasive-species-out-of-the-great-lakes/
Love staring at a map and discovering something interesting? Then “Mapping the Great Lakes” is for you. It’s a monthly Great Lakes Now feature created by Alex B. Hill, a self-described “data nerd and anthropologist” who combines cartography, data, and analytics with storytelling and human experience.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/08/mapping-the-great-lakes-who-is-looking-out-for-the-great-lakes/
The Environmental Protection Agency is drafting the fourth iteration of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan. The agency is seeking public input on the new plan, designed to strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-epa-plan
Thanks to a new deep water research program, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan is working to maintain the population of chub fish and learn more about the invasive species that affect local fish populations. Read the full story by the Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-tribal-research
Icebreaker, a proposed demonstration wind farm in Lake Erie, would be North America’s first ever freshwater offshore wind project. However, locals are expressing concerns over wildlife and potential oil leaks. Read the full story by The Guardian.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-wind-farm
Shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway is continuing its long-term downturn, and changes in the region’s steel industry are largely responsible for the trend, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-shipping-decline
A pumped hydroelectric storage facility on Lake Michigan was built more than 50 years ago to help absorb nuclear energy during overnight hours when customer demand for electricity was low. Now, the facility generates additional electricity for Michigan’s power grid via a system of turbines pumping water out of and into the lake. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-water-battery
Launched from Erie, Pennsylvania, by the U.S. Geological Survey last month, an unmanned Saildrone is crossing Lake Erie this summer to study fish populations. Read the full story by WBEN – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-saildrone
Cruise ships docking in Wisconsin ports of call are providing new waves of tourists and a welcome post-COVID boost to the local economy. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-wisconsin-cruises
While Lake Erie’s water level remains above average, it was expected to resume its seasonal decline in August and is projected to go down 5 inches by mid-September. Even though the lake didn’t reach record highs in 2023, any kind of decline that takes levels closer to average can be beneficial for lakeshore property owners. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-erie-decline
The ongoing drought that has plagued Wisconsin over the last couple of months has had little to no impact on the water levels on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior as the lake levels remain above long-term averages. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1 – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-drought-lakes
Climate change is influencing changes to Lake Erie’s water levels, ice cover, and water temperatures, all of which have an impact on the breeding conditions and habitat for walleye. This uncertainty in the future of the walleye population could cause issues for towns which rely on fishing for the local economy. Read the full story by WKSU – Kent, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-walleye
Demonstrates the Wisconsin Idea in action
Wisconsin Sea Grant is sponsoring a panel headlined by entertainer Charlie Berens and author Dan Egan at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Memorial Union Terrace, on the shore of Lake Mendota, to discuss the lake and its blues—seasonal blue-green algae blooms—and the larger issues surrounding the use of phosphorus.
The event is scheduled for 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St., Madison, Wisconsin. It will also be video livestreamed at https://go.wisc.edu/terracecripescast as part of Berens’s Cripescast podcast series. The series focuses on Midwestern people and themes.
Emmy Award-winning journalist Charlie Berens will devote an upcoming podcast episode to harmful algal blooms as part of a live event and livestream.
This spring, Egan published “The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance,” which outlines the world’s mining, processing and use of phosphorus. It also explains the element’s paradox—phosphorus brings agricultural plenty but can lead to environmental devastation, such as the growth of a bacteria known as blue-green algae that chokes the oxygen from aquatic ecosystems and creates dead zones.
Berens and Egan will be joined by Jake Vander Zanden, an expert on freshwater lakes and director of UW-Madison’s Center for Limnology, and Randy Jackson from the Department of Agronomy at UW-Madison who will speak to successful agricultural systems using reduced inputs. The panel will highlight the Wisconsin Idea, how the university’s research can inform policymaking and practices to reduce phosphorus input or reuse of the element, leading to healthier waters across the state and nation.
A researcher samples water affected by a large harmful algal bloom.
Berens is an Emmy-Award-winning journalist, comedian and New York Times best-selling author of “The Midwest Survival Guide.”
Egan wrote the bestseller “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes,” which was the 2018 UW-Madison Go Big Read selection. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize twice. He is currently journalist in residence at the Center for Water Policy at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.
A book signing will follow the panel.
In case of inclement weather, the event will take place in Shannon Hall of the Memorial Union.
The post Aug. 31 event and livestream to explore phosphorus in aquatic ecosystems first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/aug-31-event-and-livestream-to-explore-phosphorus-in-aquatic-ecosystems/
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
https://noaaglerl.blog/2023/08/16/from-interesting-pet-to-invasive-species-the-dangers-of-releasing-exotic-plants-and-animals-into-the-wild/
It’s one of the most colorful and fun events of the year: the Northeast Wisconsin Paddlers cruise through the Appleton locks. The event is for adults and kids, but only open to non-motorized kayaks and canoes. The date is Saturday, Aug. 26 with a launch from Appleton’s Lutz Park and a paddle through the four Appleton locks to Sunset Park in Kimberly. Fees are adults $15, Northeast Wisconsin Paddlers members $10, and children under 16 are free when accompanied by an adult.
The Appleton Locks Paddle gives you a view from the inside of the only restored, hand-operated locks system in the nation. We pass through all four Appleton locks, which date back to 1856. Learn more about the locks.
If the flow rate is too high for novice paddlers to handle the Appleton locks safely, we will relocate downstream, launching at Sunset Park in Kimberly and landing at Riverside Park in Kaukauna.
Save time at the launch by filling out the American Canoe Association ADULT WAIVER FORM or CHILD WAIVER FORM in advance and have the correct amount of cash or a check to pay the event fee.
For more info, visit this link.
Blog – Fox Locks
https://foxlocks.org/blog/appleton-locks-paddle-aug-26/
Stockton Island accessibility tour-goers head toward the island in the park service boat, the Phoenix. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Natalie Chin, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s climate and tourism outreach specialist in Superior, Wisconsin, first heard about the “Access for All” campaign by the Friends of the Apostle Islands (Friends) last year. Her personal and professional interests in the accessibility of coastal spaces spurred her to make a personal donation to the project.
This year, she heard a presentation on the campaign while at a conference. The campaign seeks funding for projects to make the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Lake Superior more accessible. Afterward, Chin used Sea Grant funds to support a series of four trips that the Friends organized this summer to allow people to see progress the National Park Service has made and other accessibility projects that are in the works in the park.
Lynne Dominy, superintendent of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Chin said there are, “So many connections to coastal tourism, diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility. Also, I try to support efforts throughout the geographic coverage that our field office has – the four northern Wisconsin counties.”
Chin was invited to attend one of the Access for All tours last month. Before boarding the Phoenix, the park service boat that would take tour-goers to Stockton Island, Lynne Dominy, park superintendent, and Jeff Rennicke, executive director of the Friends, provided a short orientation.
“This park has been here for over 50 years,” Dominy said. “It has a lot of outdated infrastructure as do many of the national parks across the whole nation, and we’re working on them one step at a time.”
Accessible outdoor privies are among the projects recently completed in the park. On Stockton Island, the group planned to visit the accessible amphitheater, which is used for the park’s popular evening ranger talks, and an accessible campsite.
Other projects in the works include a boardwalk to the lighthouse on Sand Island and a ramp to replace 45 steep stairs that lead down to Meyers Beach, a busy entry point for kayakers who want to visit the park’s mainland sea caves.
In a Wisconsin Public Radio interview, Rennicke explained that, “National parks do really belong to all of us. That has to include the one in five Americans who face mobility challenges every day. That’s 61 million people. And if you add to that the millions more who experience vision or hearing or even cognitive challenges, it quickly becomes clear that for many people, obstacles in national parks can be the difference between the trip of a lifetime and being left behind.”
Tommy Richardson, accessibility coordinator for the park, discusses construction of the accessible amphitheater on Stockton Island. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Rennicke set the charge for the tour. “Look with your eyes, have a great time, but don’t forget to look with your heart at how we can help other people enjoy this as well. That’s what our Access for All program is all about.”
After crossing 13 miles of Lake Superior to Stockton Island, the group assembled at the renovated amphitheater. Park staff explained the former structure had basically been a muddy mess, and that it was impossible for a person in a wheelchair to negotiate the slope.
Tommy Richardson, marine and grounds supervisor and accessibility coordinator for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, said that before the accessibility initiative, “We didn’t do much around here except mow the lawn.”
Not so now. Richardson and his eight-man crew ferried supplies for the amphitheater via three or four boat trips and hand carried them to the site on the hillside during renovation. After three weeks of work they had a new structure, which featured a ramp and a tiered deck with benches. A round metal firepit sits on a metal grate on the boardwalk at the front of the amphitheater.
The fire pit was Richardson’s brainchild. He said designing one that could be used safely on a boardwalk was challenging. “If you Google it, not a lot comes up.”
The fire pit on the accessible amphitheater boardwalk. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
He gained ideas from consulting with other accessibility coordinators and visiting other accessible outdoors sites in the area. His same firepit design is now used at the three accessible campsites on the island.
Rennicke relayed what the accessible facilities mean to visitors. He said a park ranger was approached after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the amphitheater in 2022. “One of the visitors that day was from a sailboat. With tears in her eyes, she expressed her gratitude for the amphitheater. Her husband had been hit by a car two years earlier and permanently disabled. As his primary caregiver, this was her first trip out with him to do something they had always done together.”
After a short walk down a boardwalk to Campsite #1, the group was able to see more of Richardson’s ingenuity. The accessible campsite featured a square wooden platform with a fire pit.
“How many of you have ever pounded in a tent stake with a rock?” Rennicke asked. “That’s part of camping. So, if you’re going to camp on a platform, Tommy and his crew said, well, you’ve got to have that experience of putting the stakes in. You don’t want people pounding stakes into your boards, right?”
The box of docking rings, which are used to secure tents to the campsite platforms. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Richardson took a round metal ring out of a wooden box on the railing that surrounds the platform. “They’re docking rings,” he said. “They’re used a lot in Minnesota. They go between the dock boards and you turn them, and they’ll just hold tight.” The rings are available to campers to secure their tents to the wooden platform.
Dominy explained that the park’s accessibility efforts are spreading to the rest of the community and within the park service. “This is how you create change – to show people that it’s possible. Then everybody wants to be a part of it because people want Bayfield to be accessible. . . We set a really high bar and we expect everyone to come on board with us.”
After time to walk the trails and beaches on the island, the group headed back to the mainland on the Phoenix. Chin was impressed by the projects she toured. “It’s obvious that there’s a lot of thought and passion that’s gone into the work, and it was really cool to see it personally. . . We’re trying to help increase access to coastal spaces so that people can come to the lakeshore, learn about the Great Lakes and experience it for themselves. Supporting efforts like these falls within our mission of outreach and education, and also promoting the sustainable use of the Great Lakes, as well.”
To learn more about the Access for All campaign, visit their website.
Visitors enjoy Julian Bay on Stockton Island, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/providing-access-for-all-to-a-national-lakeshore/
by Jonah Chester, Wisconsin Watch
This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News, Borderless, Ensia, Planet Detroit, Sahan Journal, and Wisconsin Watch, as well as the Guardian and Inside Climate News. The project was supported by the Joyce Foundation.
Janet Haas two decades ago saw potential in a field of thistle, grass and bushes that Milwaukee County had neglected: Valley Park, nestled between the Menomonee River to the west and homes in one of Milwaukee’s most racially diverse neighborhoods to the east.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/08/milwaukee-residents-fear-flooding-due-planned-i-94-expansion/
Michigan will spend more than half a million dollars on a slate of projects meant to support the state’s transition to renewable energy — for boats. Six companies will receive a total of $506,000 as part of a new grant program aimed at decarbonizing the region’s maritime industry. The first round of projects will develop electric boats, deploy solar-powered vessels and install charging stations. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-chargingstations-electricboats-michiganmarinas
There is a project in the works to install a “gantlet” system in the Des Plaines River at Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet to stop silver and bighead carp from reaching the Great Lakes. The $1.14 billion project is funded by the federal government and the states of Illinois and Michigan. Although the cost estimate has increased and progress has been slow, the project is in the last stages of design as Illinois prepares to sign an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction. Read the full story by The Pantagraph.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-scientists-invasivecarp-creativestrategies-protectlakemichigan
Port Colborne could enable an all-season Lake Erie shipping option when the St. Lawrence Seaway system’s locks are not operating, says a study from Fluid Intelligence. The study looks at the potential advantages of short-sea shipping services between southern Ontario and the U.S. Great Lakes region and was released in May. Read the full story by the Welland Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-portcolborne-shortseashipping-lakeerie
Volunteers came together Sunday morning to help clean up trash at International Park located in Toledo, OH. The effort was put on by a group whose goal is to protect and preserve our Great Lakes. Sunday was the fourth stop on the Ultimate Great Lakes Cleanup Road Trip where organizers and volunteers are beautifying each of the Great Lakes in just one week. The first step in helping Lake Erie is to clean up the Maumee River. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-greatlakes-greatresponsibility-cleanup
The state is recommending that Michigan residents lower how much smelt they eat from some local bodies of water. New guidelines for smelt consumption were included in the state health department’s 2023 Eat Safe Fish Guides, with the agency saying people should limit their smelt consumption to just one serving per month for fish from Lake Michigan, as well as Portage Lake in Houghton County. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-smelt-michigan-lakes-guidelines
For decades, scientists have been drawn like magnets to a cluster of remote islands thirty-some miles out into northern Lake Michigan, halfway between Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. The islands in the Beaver Island archipelago are a hub for scientific research about Great Lakes water quality, microplastics pollution, wetlands monitoring, and more. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-wetlands-waterquality-beaverisland
Some Chicago swimmers took on a challenge in the name of a good cause on Saturday. They have been swimming in Lake Michigan to raise money for cancer research. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-swimacrossamerica-lakemichigan
Algae is part of our life and the life of our waters. In general, algae are not harmful and are an important link in the food web. However, not all algae is helpful. When blooms become very large (then die and take up oxygen, resulting in low oxygen concentrations) or when they produce toxins, they are considered harmful. Harmful algae can be problematic for aquatic life, pets, and even people.
The post Harmful Algae Blooms, FAQ appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/08/14/harmful-algae-blooms-faq/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=harmful-algae-blooms-faq
Swimmers and some boaters are being warned to stay out of parts of Lake Erie on Monday. A Beach Hazard Statement has been issued for swimmers in Erie, Lucas, and Ottawa Counties beginning in the afternoon on Monday, August 14. The warning then goes into effect for Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Lake, and Lorain Counties later in the evening. According to the alert, wind and wave action could make for a high risk of rip currents. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-lakeerie-weatheralert
An opportunity to learn about shipwrecks and underwater photography is coming up on Thursday at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena. As part of the Sanctuary Lecture Series, renowned underwater photographer and author Chris Roxburgh will host a free presentation, Exploring Shipwrecks of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-shipwrecks-thunderbay-explore
Did you hear about the Michigan man who crossed Lake Michigan in a bathtub (sitting backwards, no less) because of a $5 bet? Well, the 54-year anniversary of his voyage was this week. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-lakemi-crossedlake-bathtub
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-202307
A report published recently by Wisconsin Sea Grant cites a lack of housing as a major barrier to development of nature-based jobs in Wisconsin’s northern tier. This includes Douglas, Ashland, Bayfield and Iron counties.
Lind Reid, owner and principal consultant with Water 365 LLC. Submitted photo.
“I like to think of this as our Forest Gump project because, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll get,’” said Linda Reid, owner and principal consultant with Water 365 LLC, which prepared the report along with Birchline Planning LLC. “Housing supply, housing availability, housing quality and housing costs all rose to the top as key issues for nature-based solutions and green infrastructure implementation challenges. That wasn’t something that was planned.”
The report, titled, “Workforce Needs for Nature-Based Solutions in Wisconsin’s Northern Tier,” is available for free download. The report’s findings were discussed last month during a webinar, “What Does Housing Have to do With Green Infrastructure? Workforce Needs in Northern Wisconsin.”
Reid described the topics they focused on during their interviews with people across the northern region. “We were looking at wetland restoration, urban and rural stream restoration, floodplain restoration, coastal restoration, landscape area restoration, and maintenance and culvert replacement as some of the key topics,” she said.
Three of the people interviewed for the report participated in the webinar. These included Alex Faber, executive director, Superior Rivers Watershed Association; Sara Hudson, director, city of Ashland Parks and Recreation; and Philomena Kebec, economic development coordinator, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Hudson concurred with the report’s findings about housing. “We definitely have a housing shortage here in Ashland. The houses that are on the market need a lot of work and so most people can’t afford to buy a house in order to fix it up to where you’d want to live there,” she said.
Juli Beth Hinds, principal at Birchline Planning LLC. Submitted photo
Juli Beth Hinds, another report author and principal at Birchline Planning, added, “It’s not economical to renovate properties that are in pretty poor condition because the market for resale just isn’t high enough yet. In other words, one of the flipping shows from HGTV is not coming soon to Washburn or Ashland. Those economics aren’t working and they’re working against the region.”
Hinds also said short-term summer rentals take many homes off the market due to the area’s tourism economy.
In addition to the housing issue, the report found strong capacity, interest and strengths in the region that support use of nature-based solutions.
“Overall, the region’s public, private, educational and nonprofit leaders have an exceptional understanding of nature-based solutions and green infrastructure practices,” said Natalie Chin, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s climate and tourism outreach specialist who commissioned the report. “However, the region is held back by the sheer lack of people available to carry out this work. Also, communities need more capacity when it comes to project management. Writing grants and executing them is a full-time job just by itself for these types of projects.”
Providing employment programs for people emerging from incarceration and addiction was cited as one possible solution to green infrastructure project employment needs during the webinar.
The nature-based jobs webinar panelists. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
“There is a lack of medication-assisted treatment here. There’s a lack of support services for reintegration. That could also be a big piece in building up capacity to do nature-based solutions and build more community resilience,” Hinds said.
Kebec said the Bad River Tribe is also focused on supportive employment opportunities for people battling addiction.
Hinds concluded, “We need the environmental community’s voice in the dialogue around housing supply, around the problems of Wisconsin municipal levy limits, around addiction and incarceration and around community vitality. Often, these aren’t seen as environmental resilience issues, but they absolutely are.”
As next steps, this report recommends that Wisconsin Sea Grant and its regional partners consider options to build grant and project management capacity, address the regional housing shortage, work toward legislative reform and facilitate training that will support specific needs in the northern tier around nature-based solutions. Case studies of efforts in other rural regions are provided to illustrate successful strategies from other areas.
For more information, watch a video of the webinar on YouTube.
The post Lack of housing looms large as barrier to nature-based jobs in northern Wisconsin first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/lack-of-housing-looms-large-as-barrier-to-nature-based-jobs-in-northern-wisconsin/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12665A5D3ACC.SevereThunderstormWatch.12665A5DC960WI.GRBWCNGRB.62f24bbfaaa98f0b6b0a415d992c3a6f
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12665A5CE090.SevereThunderstormWatch.12665A5DC960WI.WNSWOU0.5eed48b9e51e124d9dc8df40b1f7bfb3
Toledo-Lucas County, Ohio, Health Department officials announced Wednesday that the public should avoid all contact with water at Maumee Bay State Park due to cyanotoxin levels caused by the Lake Erie Algal Bloom. The public is not permitted to swim at Lake Erie Beach at the park and pets should be kept away from the water. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230811-algal-bloom
Major upgrades are underway in Macomb County, Michigan, to prevent sewage overflows from ending up in Lake St. Clair and prepare for heavy rain events in the future. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230811-sewer-funding
