Editors note: This story is part of a series relevant to the International Joint Commissions biennial meeting next Wednesday and Thursday in Windsor.
Two approaches to keep ravenous carp and other invasive species out of Lake Michigan are gaining ground, but both could be years from completion.
Electrical barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal are the only obstacles keeping silver carp and other aquatic invasive species from entering the lake. The carp could harm native Great Lakes fish that use similar resources. And silver carp can injure boaters when they …

By Jeff Gillies
jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Oct. 1, 2009
Editors note: This story is part of a series relevant to the International Joint Commission’s Oct. 7 and 8 biennial meeting in Windsor.

When Matt Preisser thought he saw a photo of a potential Great Lakes invasive species in a Michigan newspaper, he tracked it down and checked it out.
“The plants in the photo were suspiciously similar to hydrilla,” said Preisser, who works for Michigan’s Aquatic Nuisance Control Program. “It was close enough that I didn’t want to pass it up and miss the chance …

By Haley Walker
Walkerh4@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 30, 2009
Great Lakes water levels could drop by up to two feet by the turn of the century as temperatures rise, according to a recent series of reports released by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The water decline is a response to global climate change, according to the report by the group of scientists and citizens that advocates for science-based solutions to environmental problems. Warming temperatures reduce ice cover and increase evaporation. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are projected to have the greatest changes.

By Rachael Gleason
Great Lakes Echo
rachaelkaygleason@gmail.com
Sept. 29, 2009
Winter road safety is adding salt pollution to Great Lakes streams, according to a recent government study.
The U.S. Geological Survey examined approximately 100 streams in 19 northern states for road salt and other sources of chloride.
Of the 52 streams tested in Great Lakes states, a quarter had chloride levels that exceeded federal standards designed to protect drinking water supplies.
Levels higher than 250 milligrams per liter give water a salty taste, according to the study.
Excessive chloride can also be harmful to fish, plants, insects, worms …

Jeff Gillies
jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 28, 2009
Great Lakes climate science is often stuck in the past. Studies show that all five lakes have warmed up over the past century. But they rarely predict how much the water will warm in the next one.
A new tool from Canada could help buck that trend, warning policymakers of new threats from foreign organisms and other waterborne consequence of global climate change.

By Haley Walker
Walkerh4@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 25, 2009
Big Blue, Gus, Chomsky, George and Leonidasto buried their snouts in leafy greens, rolled in the mud, and grunted happily when they arrived recently at Michigan State University’s student organic farm.
They had traveled from their birthplace at MSU’s old swine farm to a garden at the university’s organic farm.
It was only a physical distance of a few miles, but light years in the way the 6-month-old pigs were raised. These animals are part of a university experiment that will look not only at their …

By Rachael Gleason
rachaelkaygleason@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 24, 2009
An Ohio professor finds answers to Great Lakes climate questions in an unlikely place — the rings of trees growing in the Pacific Northwest.
“We use tree rings to tell us how the past climate changed before written history,” said Gregory C. Wiles, professor and chair of geology at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio.
Tree rings, evidence of new growth in a tree, reveal more than just age. They show cycles of wet weather, drought and temperature changes.
“What it comes down to is weather,” …

By Sarah Coefield
Coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 23, 2009
Countless deer descend on crops in the Great Lakes region, leaving in their wake torn corn silks, leafless soybeans, devastated orchards and millions of dollars in damage.  It’s a drop in the bucket for the agriculturally rich region but nonetheless painful for individual farmers.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s a minor amount, but it can be your entire crop,” said Paul Zimmerman, the public affairs executive director for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
While damage may be little noticed on large farms, it can …

By Rachael Gleason
rachaelkaygleason@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 22, 2009
Lousy weather and increased farming mean fewer pheasants in Minnesota grasslands this year.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports a 27 percent decline in the pheasant population from last year. The number of birds also fell below the 10-year average.
A harsh winter and a cool, wet spring made it hard for baby pheasants to survive, said Dennis Simon, a wildlife chief at the state agency.
“We finally had a normal winter and there was a loss of birds,” Simon said.
At the same time more than …

By Andrew Norman
namronwerdna@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 21, 2009
Supporters of a climate change bill targeted members of Congress from the eight Great Lakes states with campaign cash to get the measure through the House last June.
On average they gave $215,920 to each representative in the 125-member Great Lakes delegation since 2003, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit and non-partisan research group that tracks money in U.S. politics.
That’s substantially higher than the $188,938 average for all of Congress. Great Lakes delegates who voted against the bill received $41,000 more on …