Land
Expanding wildland-urban interface creates new land challenges
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The growth is due to societal changes such as increased vacation, early retirement, an aging population and telecommuting.
Nearshore
Weevils, invasive plants add to woes of the Pitcher’s thistle
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Greenhouse seedlings are needed to preserve the plant that was federally listed as threatened in 1988.
Nearshore
Enbridge practices oil containment at controversial pipeline crossing Straits of Mackinac
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“Everyone needs insurance,” said Al Monaco, the chief executive officer of Enbridge Inc. “This isn’t cheap insurance either.”
Wildlife
Great Lakes region a hotspot for black bear poaching
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The Michigan House of Representatives is expected to consider increasing bear-poaching fines today after four people were arrested for illegally trafficking in bear parts.
Water
Online database tracks Great Lakes restoration efforts
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Clickable map details Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects.
Energy
Where does your power come from?
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The Washington Post has a nifty interactive graphic that shows how much each state relies on various sources of electricity in 2015. Here’s how the states of the Great Lakes region compare with the national percentages. States are not listed when energy sources are so small they are lumped into an “other” category.
Coal – nationally 34 percent
Indiana 75 percent
Ohio 62 percent
Wisconsin 55 percent
Minnesota 47 percent
Michigan 45 percent
Illinois 39 percent
Pennsylvania 35 percent
New York 2 percent
Natural gas – nationally 30 percent
New York 38 percent
Pennsylvania 24 percent
Ohio 22 percent
Wisconsin 20 percent
Indiana 17 percent
Michigan 15 percent
Minnesota 11 percent
Illinois 5 percent
Nuclear – nationally 20 percent
Illinois 49 percent
Pennsylvania 36 percent
New York 32 percent
Michigan 29 percent
Minnesota 19 percent
Wisconsin 16 percent
Ohio 12 percent
Hydro – nationally 7 percent
New York 19 percent
Wisconsin 4 percent
Minnesota 1 percent
Michigan 1 percent
Pennsylvania 1 percent
Wind – nationally 5 percent
Minnesota 19 percent
Illinois 6 percent
Michigan 5 percent
Indiana 5 percent
New York 4 percent
Wisconsin 4 percent
Pennsylvania 2 percent
Oil – nationally 1 percent
New York 3 percent
Pennsylvania 1 percent
Solar – nationally 1 percent
All Great Lakes states roll solar into an other category
Air
Smoke on a lake that’s great
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The forests of western Canada and the U.S. aren’t the only ones burning during a drought this year. This image from NASA’s Earth Observatory shows that similar fires in Siberia have produced a smoky trail obscuring parts of Lake Baikal. Burning areas are in red. Lake Baikal is one of the world’s largest lakes. While smaller in area than North America’s Lake Superior, it is far deeper and contains much more water – the most of any lake in the world.
Wildlife
The dawn of the Great Lakes Wolf Patrol
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An animal activist attracts the attention of a documentary filmmaker, criticism from hunters and mixed reception from other wolf protection advocates. This is the second of two-part profile of Rod Coronado.