Nearshore

Dams Are Thwarting Louisiana Marsh Restoration, Study Says

By |

(NY) The New York Times –
Desperate to halt the erosion of Louisiana’s coast, officials there are talking about breaking Mississippi River levees south of New Orleans to restore the nourishing flow of muddy water into the state’s marshes. But in a new analysis, scientists at Louisiana State University say inland dams trap so much sediment that the river no longer carries enough to halt marsh loss, especially now that global warming is speeding a rise in sea levels. More

Recreation

DNR planning significant expansion of Pike Lake area

By |

(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – The Pike Lake Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest – a popular hiking and camping destination just 25 miles northwest of Milwaukee – would be expanded nearly fivefold in the future to protect the headwaters of the Ashippun River and possibly provide hunting opportunities, under a draft master plan for the unit. The developing plan also recommends construction of a ramp for launching boats with motors – the first access for motorboats on the property since it opened as a state park in 1971, said Therese Gripentrog, a landscape architect with the state Department of Natural Resources in Milwaukee. The park was designated as a unit of the state forest in 1997. More

Nearshore

To weed or not to weed is the question around West Michigan lakes

By |

(MI) Grand Rapids Press – When Ron Myszak’s four fishing buddies came to his home on Myers Lake for the start of bass season Saturday, he hoped for pristine boating and angling conditions. “I like to fish, so I like to see a few weeds,” said Myszak, 71, who has lived on the Courtland Township lake for more than four decades. “Yet they do a good job of keeping it clean after they treat the lake.” Weed-control crews were on Myszak’s lake last week for the first of several herbicide treatments, a process that hundreds of local lakes and ponds will undergo this spring as boaters, swimmers and fishing enthusiasts return to the water. More