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Perennial grains: great for beer, bread and the fight against climate change
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The initiative took a holistic approach in developing Kernza, thinking about how the plant could benefit farmers and the environment.
Land
Little prairie in the city: urban nature center restores grasslands
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Current State tours Fenner Nature Center’s recent restoration of 19 acres of prairie land right in the middle of Lansing.
Land
Bankruptcy judge: Michigan farmland sale doesn’t violate conservation easement
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Local conservancy argues that sale violates prohibition on dividing land, makes it less viable for agriculture and harder to manage the easement.
Wildlife
Earthworms rob forests of key nutrients; pave way for other invaders
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By Chris Symons
Compost box heroes, or the root of all ecological evil? Worms in Great Lakes forests are not what they seem. Trilliums are smaller, algal blooms are more common and hummingbird populations are decreasing. All of these are made worse by non-native earthworms in Great Lakes soil. A recent study in Ecosystems journal identified four key minerals that earthworms remove from soil and that native plants need to grow.
Recreation
State and local partners plan statewide trail
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The Iron Belle trail is a proposed 1,200-mile pathway starting in Detroit and ending in the western Upper Peninsula.
Echo
MONDAY MASHUP: Food Environment Atlas
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People in Indiana and Ohio spend more than $500 a year on fast food – hundreds more than the Great Lakes state average. Uncover such food-related information with this U.S. Department of Agriculture mashup of food environments.
Echo
Ecologists examine past and future of region’s threatened prairies and savannas
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Three ecologists explore the history and future of two vital ecosystems in this book about the savannas and prairies that once cover 7 percent of Michigan.
Farming, logging, development, drainage systems, overuse of groundwater and absence of fire threaten their existence.
Echo
Lake litter crackdown: States battle trash, human waste left by ice anglers
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Resource officials in northern Great Lakes states are warning litterbug ice anglers to clean up their act.
Enforcement officers finding trash near favorite ice fishing spots are not pleased.
“It’s illegal to leave any garbage or litter on public lands or waters,” said Ken Soring.
Echo
MONDAY MASHUP: Great Lakes Superfund sites
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Hazardous waste sites in Great Lakes states make up a third of the nation’s total, according to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity. Each state page also has information on proposed, existing and remediated Superfund sites.
Echo
MONDAY MASHUP: National Low-Impact Development Atlas
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By Rachael Gleason
Officials at the University of Minnesota Duluth have found a solution to campus soil erosion caused by students cutting sidewalk corners. Permeable pavement allows for natural water filtration but prevents erosion at common footpath shortcuts. Builders are using this method in several Minneapolis locations, according to links on a mashup detailing low-impact developments. The mashup was developed for the National Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials Network, a nexus of sustainable land use educators. It highlights building projects by the network’s 32 member programs. Minnesota is the only state in the Great Lakes with projects mapped out so far.