Echo
Michigan food industry wants state help to expand
|
Michigan’s agriculture food processing industry is no undersized enterprise.
The state’s agro-food diversity is second only to California’s.
Echo
Old dams fail inspection but repair money isn’t there
|
Lack of funding for dam repair or removal is an increasing concern as many across the state approach the end of their design life.
Built to last 50 years, more than 90 percent of the Michigan’s 2,580 dams will have exceeded that lifespan in the next few years.
Echo
Habitat projects protect rare butterflies in Southwest Michigan
|
Two nature restoration projects in Southwest Michigan are rejuvenating wetland habitats as a hospitable home for endangered species, including one of the world’s rarest butterflies.
Echo
Challenges face national forests in centennial year
|
Michigan’s 2.7 million acres of national forest produce enough lumber each year to build around 18,000 average-sized houses and provide habitat to endangered species such as the bald eagle and osprey.
Echo
Conservationists call for update to federal law to block invasive species
|
Recent battles with invasive species in the Great Lakes have prompted a call to update a 1900 federal law that governs importation of non-native plants and animals.
Echo
Growers welcome, critics leery of GE beets
|
Farmers are upbeat about a federal decision to permit the continued use of the Roundup Ready sugar beets, a genetically engineered crop.
GE crops are associated with lower production costs and higher yields. Critics say that they could cause environmental and health risks.
Echo
Corrosive Canadian oil raises pipeline concerns in Great Lakes region
|
Plans to increase the import of a raw form of oil piped from Canada through the Midwest are worrying environment groups that say the trend could pose health and environmental dangers in the Great Lakes Basin.
A new report highlights what the groups say are escalating risks of major pipeline spills of the oil.
Echo
Growers smell trouble in stink bug invasion
|
The name of the new invader is enough to make people laugh, but its potential peril is serious enough to make fruit growers weep.
The brown marmorated stink bug, which is notorious for wiping out horticultural crops, has been discovered in Southwest and central Michigan.
In 2010, growers in Pennsylvania lost an estimated 40 to 50 percent of their peach crop to the stink bug, according to Penn State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
Echo
Ex-cons get green work as first step to new life
|
Some communities are exploring green job initiatives as an opportunity for ex-prisoners to rebuild their lives. The Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative (MPRI), a statewide effort led by the Department of Corrections that does job placement for former prisoners, provide a pathway out of the incarceration cycle for an increasing number of former prisoners.
Echo
New auto trail expands birdwatching near Saginaw Bay
|
A 7.5-mile auto trail through Michigan’s Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge will open in May. The trail would allow visitors to observe birds in the refuge like the bald eagle and peregrine falcon.