Cougar country: Big cats confirmed in Ontario and likely in Michigan

Whether cougars are prowling around Michigan and Ontario has been a small mystery. Michigan’s last known cougar was killed in 1906, and Ontario’s was shot in 1884. But evidence that they’re back is piling up. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources confirmed the cats are back after biologists checked out scat, tracks and DNA in a three-phase, four-year study, reports Raveena Aulakh for the Toronto Star. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment recently released a trail camera photo of a vaguely feline blur in the Upper Peninsula.

VIDEO: Michigan solar car outraces other Great Lakes universities’ “raycers”

Last Saturday a group of University of Michigan students won the American Solar Challenge – a competition where students design and build solar-driven cars and race them across the country. This year’s teams and their vehicles sped 1,200 miles from Oklahoma to Illinois. Michigan’s 700-pound machine dubbed “Infinium” – which can reach speeds over 100 miles per hour – beat 16 other U.S. and international teams and crossed the finish line in about 28 hours. In second place, University of Minnesota’s car “Centaurus 2,” finished over two hours later. Last place finisher “Mercury III,” Illinois State University’s vehicle, came in 38 hours later.

Carp bomb: Barrier break

CHICAGO – A bighead Asian Carp was apprehended Wednesday after breaching a maximum security federal barrier, officials say. No one was harmed in the capture of the 20-pounder. Officials aren’t sure how the carp escaped, but they say he was just six miles from a clean getaway. Advocates of the watery prison say it keeps the public safe from the ferocious fish.  Opponents say the barrier isn’t a cure, but a band-aid over a larger ecological problem. Click here for more on how society is putting up with carp.

Asian carp

Asian carp: Time to panic?

Fishermen have pulled a live, 20-pound bighead carp from Lake Calumet, the first live Asian carp found past the fish-shocking barrier and only six unimpeded miles away from Lake Michigan.

This begs the question: Can we panic now?

A Great Lakes biologist, sport fisherman and activist suggest not.

Carp watch: News roundup in wake of barrier breach

Now that an actual real live Asian carp has been discovered beyond the barrier trying to keep it out of Lake Michigan, scientists are trying to discover if the adult male fish was dropped into Lake Calumet or if it is part of a larger population of fish. John Rogner of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources told the Chicago Tribune that the carp, 34 inches long and more than 19 pounds, was found east of the O’Brien Lock, giving it unimpeded access to Lake Michigan. Rogner said fish biologists will use genetic testing to try to determine whether the bighead carp was farm-raised, indicating it might have been dropped off in the lake, or whether it had lived its life in its natural environment. The latter would suggest the carp was among several that perhaps have migrated up the Chicago water system and are now poised to enter Lake Michigan, a potentially dire scenario given how Asian carp have overwhelmed native fish populations in the Mississippi River and lower parts of the Illinois River. Meanwhile, the fish has spurred Great Lakes politicians and activists into calling for immediate action.

Desperate Alewives: A fresh approach to governance

Commentary
By Jane Elder

I promised to talk about substance this time, but there’s so much substance on the table it is difficult to know where to start, but I’ll wade into the waters of governance. Governance is a clunky word — a noun constructed to carry the weight of how two nations will actually govern, or manage their commitments to protect the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes. Let me gently suggest that the status quo is not working terribly well, and this invites opportunities to re-imagine cooperation across friendly borders on behalf of the lakes. Some of us remember what worked well through the IJC and the Agreement process prior to the 1987 changes in governance. While nostalgia for days past isn’t sufficient to build a new structure, there’s a fair amount of agreement on what we old timers miss.