A new federal report says it’s cheaper and easier to test water quality from space than it is from a boat or a dock. Data gathered by hand can be extrapolated to satellite imagery.

It’s an important advance in lake-heavy regions where it is expensive and challenging to visit every body of water.

Still, gathering data the old-fashioned way is not obsolete.

When I hear the term “hipster,” I think of thick-rimmed glasses with no lenses. And vinyl. And vintage clothes, skinny jeans, converse sneakers and the irritating phrase: “Oh, you’ve probably never heard of them before…” But Minnesota? Hardly. And yet a recent report says that state is actually the number one most “hipsterish” state in the United States.

A new state effort is targeting the shrinking amount of habitat land for grassland birds in the Lower Peninsula by focusing on pheasant restoration.

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Kirk Deeter, who blogs for the Field & Stream website, recently named Michigan the top state in the U.S. for flyfishing.
Deeter credited the state for an abundance of bass, pike, steelhead, salmon, panfish and fly-fishable lakes.
He ranked New York twelfth. The only other Great Lakes states he mentioned were Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Wisconsin – and then only as an invitation to rebut his decision not to include them in the top 12.
What do you think? Was he right?

The United Press International (UPI) reports that the Canadian energy company, Bruce Power, has decided against shipping steam generators loaded with nuclear waste through the Great Lakes region. U.S. Rep. Candice Miller received the information from Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, UPI reported.

Are you tired of sitting in a classroom to learn about the environment? Why not go outside to touch and feel nature?

Two success stories in the 2011 State of the Birds report are from within the Great Lakes region – the Bartel Grassland restoration project outside of Chicago, Ill., and the state of the Kirtland’s warbler in Michigan.

With summer approaching are you looking for fun outdoor adventures that don’t burn through your wallet?

Three of 21 budget outdoor adventures listed by Outside Magazine are in the Great Lakes states:

Backcountry paddling in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters where Outside prices a night at Canoe On Inn in Ely, fishing licenses, maps, food and even brandy and post-trip dinner at $324.

Hiking through the wooden trails of Thompson’s Harbor State Park in Michigan where the magazine says scuba diving at nearby Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a two-night stay at the Cedar Haven Cabin …

Nearly 15 billion gallons of sewage has been swimming in Michigan’s rivers, lakes and streams since January, a construction trade association group recently announced.