Wildlife

Pheromones in river traps attract sea lampreys

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Scientists have found another promising weapon in the battle against sea lampreys, strong evidence that they may win the war against one of the Great Lakes’ most infamous invaders.

Researchers at Michigan State University have begun field tests on a chemical compound that tricks the lampreys and lures them into traps.

Wildlife

Bald eagle soars off Michigan’s endangered list

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After decades of recuperation, the bald eagle population in Michigan has risen to a level that has prompted officials to remove the bird from the state endangered species list.

“In the 1950s and 1960s, chemicals in pesticides had an impact on many birds at the top of the food chain,” said Christopher Hoving, endangered species coordinator at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Echo

Wildlife poisoning prompts state probe

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A white-tailed deer and possibly a bald eagle were victims of a wildlife poisoning in Baraga County this spring.

Although poisoning cases are rare, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials said they want to find out exactly what happened, even if the survey takes an extended period of time.

Echo

Researchers find promising prospects to battle beech bark disease

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By Jack Johnston

LANSING — In the dead cold of the Upper Peninsula winter, Robert Heyd leaves his snowmobile and approaches an enormous American beech armed with a slingshot, rope and a saw. Supported by his snowshoes on four feet of snow, Heyd slings a quarter-pound weight attached to parachute cord 80 feet up into the highest branches of the behemoth and uses the rope to haul the 4-foot saw to the top. A branch falls harmlessly to the ground next to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) forest health management program director. It’s a first step in saving the state’s majestic beeches. After eight years of research, the DNR and the U.S. Forest Service are ready to implement a strategy to fight the destructive beech bark disease, said Jennifer Koch, a research biologist with the Forest Service’s Northern Research Station in Delaware, Ohio.

Energy

Michigan companies see “green chemistry” blossoming

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By Joe Vaillancourt

LANSING — Twenty years from now, petroleum gasoline may be obsolete. As you pump bio-diesel fuel into your brand-new Ford-GM roadster, you probably won’t think about where the fuel came from. That’s all right — because Michigan government and business are already thinking about bio-diesel fuel, one aspect of green chemistry. Green chemistry could bring vast economic benefits to Michigan while reducing waste and harmful exposure and developing better materials in everyday products, experts say. Green chemistry, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate hazardous substances.

Wildlife

Plan approved to save endangered water snake

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By Gabriel Goodwin

LANSING —The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a plan to aid the recovery of the endangered northern copperbelly water snake because its Michigan population has diminished to mere hundreds due to habitat fragmentation and habitat loss, experts said. The short-term goal of the plan is to allow the population to reach sustainability, Barbara Hasler, fish and wildlife biologist for the agency, said. She said she hopes that will be the turning point for the species because the recovery plan’s focus is to stop the decline, reach a stable point and increase the number of copperbellies. The plan lays out a timeframe of about 30 years but “is very dependent on funding and the ability to do the identified actions to protect the population,”said Hasler, who is based in East Lansing. Professor Bruce Kingsley, chair of the Biology Department at Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said the northern copperbelly water snake population has been declining for at least 75 years and has been in a threatened status for more than 20 years.