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Outside Magazine has picked its top seven Great Lakes adventures:

Trout fish Michigan’s Jordan River
Dive for shipwrecks in Ontario’s Thunder Bay
Hike, climb and kayak Minnesota’s north shore
Bike in Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine State Forest
Sail Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay
Canoe in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park
Kayak Canada’s Pukaskwa National Park

Do you agree? Know of a Great Lakes trip that should make the list?
And what about cool outdoor trips around lakes Erie and Ontario?
Weigh in with a comment below.

By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 12, 2009
Insects about an inch long are starting to eat their way through the Midwest’s corn and beans.
The western bean cutworm, native to the central high plains and western corn belt, was found in Pennsylvania for the first time this year.  In 2006 it first appeared in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
“We thought it might be here, but we didn’t expect to find the distribution we already found — it’s surprising how widespread it already is,” said John Tooker, assistant professor of entomology at Pennsylvania …

By Jeff Gillies, jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 11, 2009
The Great Lakes states have more outdated sewers dumping waste into local waterways than anywhere else in the country.
At the same time the region is on the verge of a federal infusion of $475 million for environmental protection.
Happy convergence of problem and solution? Not really.
The money, part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative that Congress is considering, will come with a qualifier: It can’t be used to upgrade sewers or build water treatment plants.

The Detroit Free Press has an extensive, two-part series on contaminated ground water in west Michigan. Food processing plants spray wastewater onto local crops, kicking off a process that primes groundwater to pick up extra iron and other heavy metals. The food processing industry and a state environmental agency have known about the problem for years, but residents say they have been slow to clean up the problem or notify them.
Part one: “Companies denied responsibility, failed to meet cleanup deadlines and violated state law with leaks, spills and …

Vote here.

By David Poulson
poulsondavid@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 7, 2009
I attended a Great Lakes public hearing this week that really wasn’t.
The event at Michigan State University was one of the EPA-sponsored meetings held to solicit feedback for the Obama Administration’s proposed $475 million investment in environmental restoration.
And while the meeting was open to the public, not much of the public was represented.
Instead, this was mostly a Great Lakes love-in.
Much of the crowd consisted of the same people, or the same kinds of people, whom I’ve met during 25 years of covering similar gatherings. …

By Mary Hansen
mehansen4@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 6, 2009
Muskegon County’s Wastewater Treatment Plant in Michigan was established more than 35 years ago because of an overburdened system that polluted waterways. Sandy soil filters and treats wastewater.  The system encompasses 11,000 acres and a natural bird sanctuary – one of the largest inland nesting areas for seagulls. The operation produces hydropower and is considering windpower.

By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 5, 2009
Federal agencies and Michigan residents looking to clean up Great Lakes toxic hotspots planned Tuesday how to obtain a piece of the Obama Administration’s proposed $475 million environmental protection initiative.
The meeting was held at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.
Michigan has 14 of the Great Lakes’ 43 Areas of Concern, or AOCs, designated by the U.S and Canada as impaired or unable to support aquatic life. Only one U.S. site, located in New York, has been cleaned to where it could be formally …

Editors note: Catch tweets of hearing from Echo and others on Twitter at #GLRI Related stories here. Related poll here.

By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 3, 2009
When more than 30 Michigan residents approached the microphone at a Great Lakes public hearing Monday, two messages were repeated: the public needs to be included in the Obama Administration’s $475 million plan to restore the Great Lakes, and there needs to be an effort to educate others.
“If we don’t educate people to understand how their day-to-day activities impact the quality of the Great …

By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 3, 2009
Environmental Protection Agency officials are coming to Michigan tonight to discuss how the Obama Administration’s proposed $475 million to clean up the Great Lakes should be spent.
The two-hour public meeting starts at 5 p.m. at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Center, 55 S. Harrison Ave. in East Lansing.
This is the seventh hearing in a series of eight — one was designated in each of the Great Lakes states.
The EPA will present its plan to restore the Great Lakes and then allow time for questions …