Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/great-lakes-echo/)
By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
A new MSU study found that a community’s walkability – particularly the density of pedestrian crossings and public transit stops – influences residents’ health outcomes such as blood pressure, cholesterol and depression. Hamtamck ranks as Michigan’s most walkable city.
By Julia Belden
It’s one of Mother Nature’s most spectacular events. Mature chinook salmon, battered from a long and exhausting migration, return to the shallow tributaries of their birthplace to spawn. It’s the final act of the salmon’s short two-to-three-year life: after passing on their genes to the next generation, the fish quickly die.
By Victoria Witke
After the death of tens of millions of Michigan ash trees from the invasive emerald ash borer, a new study done in Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties shows white ash are more resilient than previously thought. Despite so many dying, they continue to reproduce in forests with the invasive bug.
By Shealyn Paulis
Two Minnesota nature enthusiasts have spent years chasing the state’s most elusive wildflowers. Their journey, filled with adventure and discovery, is now captured in their upcoming book, Chasing Wildflowers: An Adventurous Guide to Finding Minnesota’s Native Flowers in Their Unique Habitats.
By Isabella Figueroa
A new book explores how picnics in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have brought communities together, connecting the past through nature with a shared meal outdoors.
By Finn Mills
A Utica representative and a Rochester Hills senator want to authorize new funding for noise abatement projects along state highways. MDOT is studying the legislation and says Michigan has suspended construction of noise abatement measures due to a lack of funding since 2007.
By Ruth Thornton
A common practice by farmers to fertilize their fields may be spreading forever chemicals into new areas and into the food supply. It can be a cost-effective way for municipalities to dispose of sewage sludge but raises health concerns.
By Dylan Engels
Michigan’s wolf population has grown since the animal was listed as an endangered species a half-century ago, and that raises some concerns. Meanwhile, a new study from the National Park Service and the University of Wisconsin looks at how the reintroduction of wolves on Isle Royale has affected the diets of two other island predators, the American marten and the fox.
By Anna Barnes
A new book from a Rogers City-area writer collects tales of the contentious issue of the presence or absence of cougars in the Northern Lower Peninsula and UP.
By Clara Lincolnhol
Ice fishing has returned to Lake Erie this year after several seasons of thin ice and open water. Business owners and anglers have noted an increase in activity, with some reporting higher turnout than in previous years. At the same time, changing ice conditions in recent years have raised questions about long-term trends on the Great Lakes.