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Great Lakes Echo - Environmental news of the Great Lakes region

Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/)

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Potter Park Zoo encourages people to help save monarch butterfly population

By Genevieve Fox | August 9, 2022

In July, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the monarch butterfly as endangered for the first time in history. Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, Michigan, first installed a pollinator garden in 2018. With the recent news of the monarch’s decline, the zoo is encouraging people to build wildlife habitats of their own.

Climate

Study finds climate change may worsen allergies

Findings by researchers at the University of Michigan predict that warming temperatures may result in increased seasonal allergies. They also found that pollen emissions could begin 40 days earlier than normal, with allergy season lasting an additional 19 days. That’s in contrast with a normal allergy season that typically lasts 10 to 30 days. 

Commentary

August: Dibs on the Water

As anyone who lives in Michigan knows, March and April are the wet months. But like so many things that Anyone knows, this is only about half true. The amount of precipitation (the water in rain and snow) doesn’t change much from month to month in Michigan.

Waste

Indiana environmental services exec sentenced for mishandling hazardous wastes

A federal judge has placed the ex-president of a Fort Wayne environmental services company – described in her lawyer’s sentencing memorandum as “kind, generous, hard-working and honest” and a “huge source of inspiration” for her children and grandchildren” – on probation for two years for illegally storing hazardous wastes and falsifying a document.

More Headlines

Artifacts reveal human side of Great Lakes lighthouses
Protecting your place: one man’s tribute to Northern Michigan
Ohio man pleads guilty to illegally shooting bald eagle

Climate

  • Climate change increases milk production: TikTok edition

    In our newest TikTok, Echo reporter Shelby Frink discusses the results of a recent study published in Agricultural and Resources Economic Review that explores how climate change impacts milk and feed production.

  • More climate

Water quality

  • Rising water makes Lake Michigan wetlands vulnerable to invaders: TikTok edition

    In our newest TikTok, Echo reporter Caroline Miller discusses a recent study that documents the first sighting of an invasive species, European frogbit, in Wisconsin and says that it could threaten native plants, fish and invertebrates.

  • More water quality

Invaders

  • Threats to the native berries amongst us

    A century after National Geographic published its article on berries, Michigan is witnessing some changes due to climate change and invasive species.

  • More invaders

Wildlife

  • Largest tally of snakebites in Michigan

    Michigan’s only venomous snake, the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, has been suspected or proven responsible for at least 75 bites reported in the state from 2003 through 2020, according to the most comprehensive tally ever of such incidents.

  • More wildlife

Energy

  • Nuclear power concerns outlast decommissioning

    As Michigan and other states gradually move away from coal and other brown energy sources, there’s growing interest in carbon-free alternatives, including nuclear energy, which some advocates call a “clean alternative” that now fuels 30% of Michigan’s total electricity. With Palisades and other plants in the Great Lakes region scheduled to shut down in the coming decades, more people are considering the long-term impacts of this energy source.

  • More energy

Art

  • Spooky lakes and beach trash: How a Wisconsin teacher and artist gained 1.3 million TikTok followers

    Geo Rutherford is a self-described Great Lakes enthusiast that built a large following—the same number that the Washington Post has—by making educational TikTok videos about the Great Lakes and other lakes around the world.

  • More art

Law

  • Proposed hotline aimed at bottle bill fraud

    Some Michigan lawmakers and environmental advocates want to create a hotline to stop retailers from fraudulently cashing in on the state’s beverage container deposit law.

  • More law

Nearshore

  • More beach, boat access planned from coastal grants

    Coastal restoration efforts are underway across the state as recipients of the Michigan Coastal Management Program grants begin work locally. Seventeen awards totaling more than $1.1 million will fund projects and initiatives to protect, preserve and enhance the state’s coastal resources.

  • More nearshore

Urban

  • Urban ecology is in the hands of Minnesota citizens

    Since 2019, just over a dozen inner-city families in the heart of Minneapolis have cared for small prairies full of native plants in the boulevard strips adjacent to their homes. The project is aimed at  increasing urban biodiversity. It is called City Backyard Science and is funded by the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment.

  • More urban

Farm

  • Conservation program partnership targets farms in three Michigan watersheds

    The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) was reinstated earlier this year and reimburses farmers for following proper conservation practices. To be eligible for the program, land must have a cropping history, or planting history, of four out of six years between 2012-17 and have been owned at least one year prior to applying.

  • More farm

Waste

  • Supply chain slowdown could boost demand for recycled materials: TikTok edition

    In our newest TikTok, Echo reporter Danielle James discusses how the pandemic's impact on supply chains could help the recycling industry bring in new business.

  • More waste

Recreation

  • Deer kill count moves online

    Starting this year, hunters in Michigan will have to report their deer harvest online. Wildlife officials presented the plan to the state Natural Resources Commission and said online reporting will provide more accurate information about what kinds of deer are being taken and provide it more quickly.

  • More recreation

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Climate Stories

Catch of the Day

  • Water test: Rending the Great Lakes food web

    The food web in lakes Michigan and Huron has changed in ways that jeopardize age-old fishing traditions and raise questions about how we’ve managed them. Now negotiators are updating a legal settlement that spells out where and how much lake whitefish and lake trout can be harvested. 

  • More Catch of the Day

COVID-19

  • Communities welcome return of winter festivals

    By Sammy Schuck Most people may know that festivals attract people to Michigan communities. What most may not know is that festivals and events in the state are an annual $1 billion industry, according to Michigan Festivals and Events Association CEO Mike Szukhent. According to Szukhent, the lack of winter festivals last year “hit hard.” […]

  • More COVID-19 stories

Podcasts

  • ‘Adopt-a-Forest’ program encourages citizens to clean up public land

    The Adopt-a-Forest program is volunteer-driven and helps people engage with the outdoors and encourages them to keep public lands clean, the state Department of Natural Resources says.

  • More podcasts

Photo Friday

  • NASA astronaut captures Belle Isle image from space

    The Detroit River is one of the most important waterways in the Great Lakes system, according to NASA’s post.

  • More Photo Friday

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Email: GreatLakesEcho@gmail.com
Editor: David Poulson
Phone: 517 432 5417
Email: poulsondavid@gmail.com

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