Recreation

Minnesota trail best for donating blood; what about others?

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Outside Magazine just named 32 best trails, each with a different claim to fame — “Best Trail that Doesn’t Exist,” “Best Trail for Getting High,” etc. Four titles are awarded to trails in our Great Lakes states:

Best Prehistoric Trail: Ice Age National Scenic Trail, Wisconsin

Best Trail for Donating Blood: Superior Hiking Trail, Minnesota

Best Canoe Trail: Northern Forest Canoe Trail, partly in New York

Best Burrow: Freedom Tunnel, New York

The only one of these along a Great Lake, however, is Minnesota’s Superior Hiking Trail. This can’t be the only Great Lakes trail worthy of a spot on their list! So help us out. Name your favorite Great Lakes trail and its claim to fame in the comments below!

Recreation

Two-mile challenge supports bike commuting initiatives

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Bike sharing is increasingly popular throughout the Great Lakes region. Minnesota has a statewide system; Lansing, Mich. recently began exploring the idea; and B-cycle, of Waterloo, Wisc.,  recently was  named the fifth most innovative transportation company by Fast Company Magazine. B-cycle also has locations in Chicago and Madison. Perhaps such systems could help recruit riders to fight climate change.

Land

Michigan leads nation in tree-planting contest

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Michigan leads the country by a landslide in juice company Odwalla’s Plant a Tree campaign. This is the third year of the program that asks people to vote for a state. With each vote, Odwalla donates $1 to plant a tree in one of that state’s parks. For the past two years, Michigan has come out first. While Michigan only represents 14 percent of the land in the Great Lakes region, it has a whopping 60 percent of votes, with 13,036 as of Wednesday.

Nearshore

Dr. Beach to announce top 10 Great Lakes beaches

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Stephen Leatherman, a.k.a. “Dr. Beach,” this year will begin compiling a list of the top 10 Great Lakes beaches. Letterman has rated national beaches since 1991, but this is the first year that our freshwater beaches will be in the spotlight. Beach managers and representatives nominated roughly 30 beaches. Miami-based Leatherman used the Internet to research the beaches. The rating system is down to a science — Leatherman has 50 criteria to determine the best beaches.

Ontario, Illinois use tabletop exercises to practice for Asian invasion

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Officials in Ontario are preparing for a possible Asian carp invasion in the Thames River by performing a tabletop exercise with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The simulation demonstrated that in the event of such an invasion, nets would be placed upstream and downstream to catch fish; an alternate plan is to use electrical current to catch the carp, according to Treehugger. This invasion concern stems from repeated incidents of people trying to bring trucks of the species into Toronto to sell. Similar techniques are being planned in the U.S. as well, as announced in the Monitoring and Rapid Response Plan for Illinois Waters. Are these tabletop exercises adequate in anticipation of a potentially devastating disaster?

Recreation

Winter Lake Superior surfers get Wave of the Week recognition

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Ahhh, winter in the Great Lakes states – hot cocoa, sledding, cuddling up by the fire and…surfing? Surfing isn’t your go-to activity in 20-degree weather? Well, me neither. But on Friday, Daily Surf Videos chose their Wave of the Week video featuring dedicated surfers trekking out in the winter months to catch some of the Great Lakes best waves. When a large storm crosses, it can make for double overhead surf, compared to 2- or 3-foot waves typical in the calm summer months.

Beach cleanup program offers web-based training

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Volunteers can adopt a Great Lakes beach this year with help from web-based training. The Alliance for the Great Lakes program is in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota.  It hopes to soon include New York. Special events are scheduled throughout the region to increase public participation, but the majority of the program consists of participants volunteering on their own schedule. The year-round program launched in 2003 collects litter and assesses beach and shoreline health, according to program manager Jamie Cross. Last year, 10,700 volunteers removed 31,295 pounds of trash.