By Gabriel Goodwin
LANSING –The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a plan to aid the recovery of the endangered northern copperbelly water snake because its Michigan population has diminished to mere hundreds due to habitat fragmentation and habitat loss, experts said.
The short-term goal of the plan is to allow the population to reach sustainability, Barbara Hasler, fish and wildlife biologist for the agency, said.
She said she hopes that will be the turning point for the species because the recovery plan’s focus is to stop the decline, reach …

By Andy Balaskovitz
Great Lakes Echo
March 28, 2009
More than 3,000 feet below the ground in Gaylord, Mich., scientists hope to find solutions to America’s energy dilemma.
They seek evidence of a coal-powered future that does not contribute to global warming. And Michigan may be sitting on a key part of the answer.

By Matthew Cimitile, cimitile@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
As the world gears up to turn off its lights for Earth Hour Saturday, researchers and stargazers suggest a need to reduce excessive light pollution permanently.

By Matthew Cimitile, cimitile@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo

GRAND RAPIDS – From the highway, Grand Rapids, Mich. looks like any American city. Skyscraper shadows darken city blocks during the day. Streetlights, cars and the nightlife animate the city after sunset.
But in Grand Rapids, businesses and government are investing in alternative technologies while incorporating sustainable practices to save money, earn profits and develop a struggling state economy. Other Michigan cities are following the trend.
A politically conservative area of Michigan, Grand Rapids was once known as the “furniture capital” of the nation. It …

Here at Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism we believe that a university should do more than teach good journalism.
While mainstream journalism jobs dwindle and the profession comes to grips with technological revolution, we believe we have an obligation to nurture environmental journalism while serving the public. Teaching is a vitally important university role. So are creation, innovation, research and service.

By Matthew Cimitile, cimitile@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
EAST LANSING – There are economic, environmental and social benefits in sustainably managing governments and businesses. There are also costs for not doing so. The field of ecological economics studies the costs and benefits of the interaction between the human and the natural world.
Daniel Kramer is an assistant professor at Michigan State University with joint appointments in Fisheries and Wildlife and James Madison College. His research details the human side of conservation biology; the interaction between humans and nature as it pertains to conserving …

The “new” Environmental Protection Agency under Lisa Jackson has released a toxic tally of releases to air, land and water in Michigan and the rest of the United States.
Folks here care about this stuff because the region relies on the Great Lakes for fishing, recreation, drinking water, you name it. It’s part of our identity.And if you’ve ever stood and looked out into the expanse of Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie or Superior, it just cheers you up.
The latest numbers aren’t as cheery. The TRI (Toxic Release Inventory) data show an overall …

By Amanda Peterka
Great Lakes Echo
LANSING – The lights usually dim at 6 p.m. in Michigan’s Capitol. The schedule is meant to reduce energy use in Lansing’s historic centerpiece.

By Andrew McGlashen
Great Lakes Echo
Most college students don’t think about lead or mercury when they sit down at a computer. But in 2007, Michigan State University chucked more than 140,000 pounds – that’s about 50 Volkswagen Beetles –of used electronics.

Anglers who ate Great Lakes fish have 33 percent fewer PCBs and 43 percent less DDT in their bodies than they did a decade ago, largely because they changed their diet and switched to less contaminated fish, according to a study by Wisconsin researchers.