Echo

Mining limits proposed, opposed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

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By Nick Mordowanec
Dec. 9, 2009

LANSING, Mich. —Environmental groups in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have proposed a mining initiative to protect the state’s water supply. But lawmakers representing the U.P. are opposing a ballot measure by environmental groups like the Save Our Water Committee and Save the Wild UP, arguing that sulfide mining would generate jobs. The initiative claims sulfide and uranium mining threatens water in the Great Lakes basin.

Echo

Michigan considers statewide ban on phosphorus fertilizer; Minnesota already has one

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By HYONHEE SHIN
Dec. 8, 2009

LANSING, Mich. — Some Michigan lawmakers are seeking to protect streams and lakes by restricting phosphorus lawn fertilizer use. Under a bill by Rep. Terry Brown, D-Pigeon, property owners wouldn’t be able to use lawn fertilizers containing phosphorus unless a soil test concludes the existing level of phosphorus is too low or they’re growing new turf. Allegan, Ottawa, Muskegon, Van Buren, Bay and Saginaw counties have adopted a ban, as has Ann Arbor, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Echo

Recycling challenge: New life for dead auto plants

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By JORDAN TRAVIS
Dec. 6, 2009

LANSING, Mich. — As Ford Motor Co., Clairvoyant Energy and Xtreme Power work to turn the auto company’s former Wixom Assembly Plant into a renewable energy industrial park, other former auto plants sit empty. Some are being torn down, like the General Motors Craft Centre in Lansing. Others, such as the Packard Plant in Detroit, await their fate.

Echo

Isle Royale is an economic engine; can it handle more visitors?

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By ADAM DeLAY
Dec. 5, 2009

LANSING — Wildlife enthusiast Jim DuFresne describes the scene as breathtaking. “You take a six-hour boat ride where all you see is the clear water,” he says. “Then when you finally get there, you really feel like you’re in the wilderness and surrounded by nature. It’s truly an incredible feeling.”

The Clarkston outdoors writer isn’t talking about a far-away Alaskan forest or the famed Yellowstone National Park.

Water

Book tells tale of tragic Lake Huron freighter sinking

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By Eric Freedman
Nov. 30, 2009

LANSING — The Edmund Fitzgerald is the best-known of the Great Lakes’ doomed ships, but the freighter’s demise with its entire crew off Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula is by no means the state’s only such maritime disaster. Andrew Kantar, a Ferris State University professor, tells another such story, that of the ill-fated freighter Daniel J. Morrell. It sank in 1966 off the tip of the Thumb in Lake Huron, northwest of Harbor Beach. “Each of the Great Lakes has its own tragic history, and Lake Huron’s violent moods have become legendary,” Kantar writes in “Deadly Voyage: The S.S. Daniel J. Morrell Tragedy” (Michigan State University Press, $16.95).

Echo

Plan for turbines on Great Lakes modified to measure offshore wind energy potential

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By Nick Mordowanec
Nov. 29, 2009

A university intends to measure Lake Michigan’s potential for offshore wind power with a $1.4 million federal grant. The original plan by Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., was to place wind turbines in the Great Lakes. But that’s changed. “We are not putting wind turbines out there,” said Arn Boezaart, interim director of the university’s Alternative and Renewable Energy Center.

Water

Lawmakers want to lift pesticide ban to battle bedbug blast; Ohio, Michigan among hardbitten

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By Emily Lawler
Nov. 28, 2009
LANSING, Mich. — Forget letting the bedbugs bite – even having them in your home is a danger. The entire United States is dealing with a resurgence of these pesky parasites, which feed on human blood. “They can cause red itchy lesions,” said Kim Signs, a zoonotic disease epidemiologist with Michigan’s Department of Community Health.

Echo

Old fish makes new Great Lakes comeback

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By Mehak Bansil
Nov. 27, 2009

LANSING–Lake sturgeon, one of the oldest surviving species from prehistoric times, is making a small comeback in the Great Lakes region. “They’ve increased about a couple of percent since their lowest numbers, but at least the populations aren’t going down anymore,” said Bruce Manny, a fishery biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor. The increase is due in part to a spawning project in Black Lake, an inland lake in Cheboygan County. According to a report in the Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 40 percent of the lake sturgeon released into Black Lake as part of the project survived their first winter, but Manny said, there are no estimates on the actual number due to a lack of comprehensive studies.

Land

Swap a used coat for admission to state parks in Michigan

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By Caitlin Costello
Nov. 27, 2009
LANSING, Mich. – The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Salvation Army’s Coats for Kids program are helping families bundle up and enjoy Michigan’s outdoors. Coats for Kids encourages the public to bring gently used coats to one of 16 state parks on Saturday, Dec. 5 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. In return, donors will receive free entrance to the park for the day.

Echo

Long commutes, high gas prices spur creation of more commuter lots

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By Emily Lawler
Nov. 22, 2009

LANSING, Mich. – Look for more car pool lots in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on the 2010 state road map. The state added four car pool lots in the Upper Peninsula this summer and fall as U.P. residents are becoming more interested in the option. “They have generally a longer travel distance between jobs, so there’s definitely a need for carpool lots in the U.P.,” said Niles Annelin, car pool lot coordinator for the Michigan Department of Transportation.