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 …

Vote

By Haley Walker
Walkerh4@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 18, 2009
More than three-quarters of the women in a recent survey said they pay the electric bills in their households.
Women…
…who pay household electricity bills – 77 percent
…willing to pay $30 more a month for clean energy – 53 percent
…who have conserved electricity – 97 percent
Source: Women’s Survey on Energy and the Environment

Almost all of them said they felt obligated to reduce electricity use. And more than half were willing to spend $30 more on electricity bills for clean energy, according to the June survey by …

By Jeff Gillies
jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 17, 2009
The Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay both field noxious summer algae blooms fueled by dirt and nutrients from farm fields. The six northeastern states that drain into the Chesapeake Bay have a patchwork plan to curb it.
It doesn’t work and never will, says a recent report by the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit lobbyist and research group.
The report claims runoff prevention programs fail because they’re voluntary — farmers that don’t want to participate don’t have to.
Similar criticism might also be relevant for erosion …

By Rachael Gleason
rachaelkaygleason@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 16, 2009
Quick! Where can you find a video of a snake eating a round goby?
A new tech tool lab announced Tuesday can help Great Lakes information consumers and providers find that and much more. Fast.
GLIN Labs also features a text alert system for sending information to a user’s cell phone, help creating digital maps showing Great Lakes features and a way to search multiple video and other platforms all at once.

By Sarah Coefield
coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 15, 2009
A run on guns and ammo in the wake of President Barack Obama’s election last year may be a boon to Great Lakes wildlife.
A federal tax on the manufacture and import of firearms, ammunition, bows and arrows is distributed to states for wildlife conservation and hunter education programs.
And those tax collections are climbing fast.
Background checks for gun purchases hit record levels in November and corresponded with significant gun and ammunition sales. Gun enthusiasts say they’re stocking up because they fear interference in gun rights …

By Troy Hale & Geri Alumit Zeldes
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 9, 2009
Each week about 50 high school and college students feed the hens, tend the greenhouse and sift the new compost at Harvesting Earth Educational Farm located in Beecher, a community outside of Flint.
To break up the tasks, farm owners Master Jacky and Dora King, black belts in karate, teach these young workers self-defense moves using rakes, hoes and shovels.
For many of these young people, this is their first job.
For the Kings, the farm is sowing the seeds of sustainable agriculture …

By Andy McGlashen
amcglashen@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 8, 2009
DETROIT – The two-story brick building on Chene Street has a dirt floor and no roof, but it does have four walls – more than you can say about many of the structures still standing in this section of Detroit.
They keep the weeds out and give the place a cloistered air. Passing clouds form an elegant ceiling, and this part of the city is nearly silent. It’s a perfect spot for a garden.
Shirley Robinson grows a few herbs and vegetables here, and …