Wildlife

Three cheers for the snake lady

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An Ohio activist dubbed “The Snake Lady” and a university researcher have been honored for their efforts to conserve the threatened Lake Erie watersnake. Kristin Stanford and Richard King of Northern Illinois University are among this year’s 18 recipients of the recently announced U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Recovery Champions awards. According to a U.S. F&W press release, the pair has put in a combined 35 years of work to save the snake and its habitat. King has been working since the 1980s and identified early declines in the population and threats to the species. Stanford has “worked tirelessly to reach out to residents of the Lake Erie islands”  to teach them how to live with the snake.”

“The dedication of Ms. Stanford and Dr. King to the conservation of the Lake Erie watersnake, through both scientific methods and strong public involvement, has recovery efforts for this species to the point that the next step is  to propose removing it from the list of endangered and threatened species.  There is no greater measure of recovery success,” said Midwest Regional Director Tom Melius.

Land

Foodborne illnesses cost billions

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Americans spend $152 billion for medical and pain and suffering costs related to foodborne illnesses.

Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan rank in the top 10 states for the number of cases and money spent on them.

Nationwide there are 76 million cases a year resulting in 300,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.

Land

VIDEO: Growing Power sprouts in Wisconsin

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It’s one of the last places you’d expect to find a farm.

But in Wisconsin’s largest city is Growing Power, an urban agriculture project that proves it can grow food just about anywhere.

Check out this video that shows Growing Power as one of the growing number of urban farms throughout the Great Lakes region.

Echo

Tapped out: Sour year for maple syrupers

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In 2009, Michigan produced the most maple syrup in more than 60 years, but this spring farmers are tapping out sooner than they had hoped. An early warm spell made it a poor season, syrupers say.

Ideal conditions require below-freezing temperatures at night and above-freezing temperatures during the day.

Last year the state produced 115,000 gallons of syrup ranking it fifth in the nation. A typical year is 60,000 to 70,000 gallons.

Sampling menus: School lunches and dumpster dives

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Last February, I began a story that would end up being one of the greatest challenges and investigations of my journalism career thus far. I decided to investigate food waste by diving into dumpsters behind grocery stores and bakeries in my then town of residence, St. Augustine, Florida. I committed myself to eating only what I found in the dumpster, I suppose to prove how much food was going to waste. I documented what I ate everyday and my experiences while digging through the garbage.

Echo

Carp. It’s what’s for dinner.

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A Chicago fishmonger has a solution for the asian carp invasion:  If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em!  But it might not be that simple.  He sent carp to some of Chicago’s top chefs and they, well, struggled. The carp are bony, bloody and apparently have a flavor that’s entirely in the eye (or tastebuds) of the beholder. Mike Sula reported on the carp experiment for the Chicago Reader. Some choice excerpts:

From Paul Kahan at the Publican: “After a few attempts at butchering, we were adequately creeped out and will not go any further.” From Sean Sanders at Browntrout: “…tastewise I really don’t like it.

Carp bomb: The Marina City carp cobs

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The Marina City towers on the Chicago River are sometimes called “corn cobs” for their vegetal resemblances. I’m sure “carp cobs” will be an easy adjustment once this Asian carp invasion hits full swing. This carp bomb is brought to you by Katie Coleman and the Environmental Law and Policy Center. Remember, we want to show off YOUR Asian carp photobombs. Read all about how it works here.

Straight to the source: Great Lakes water use by Canada

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A quote attributed to Queen’s University (Ontario) biologist Linda Campbell in a March 22 Whig Standard story confused me:
“People hear that the Great Lakes have 20 percent of the world’s fresh water and they think, ‘We’ve got that much water around, so what’s the problem?’ Campbell said most of the fresh water used by people comes from rainfall or runoff and the usable amount of water is actually a little under 3 percent, or a little more than 10 percent of the commonly assumed figure. “We are living off the interest, not the capital,” she said. It was that line “usable amount of water.” Did that mean that the other 17 percent or so of Great Lakes water was, well, unusable?