Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/keweir/page/27/)
(MI) Detroit Free Press – White-nose syndrome, thought to be caused by a fungus previously unknown in the United States, settles on the noses and wings of hibernating bats. It has destroyed as many as 97% of the bats in some caves in the Northeast. The telltale white fungus was first noted on dead bats in New York in 2006 and has claimed more than 1 million bats in nine states since then, scientists say. More
(MI) AnnArbor.com – Ann Arbor residents might not have to sort their recyclables in the future – and they might even get rewarded for recycling – if the City Council ultimately passes a proposal reviewed Monday evening. In a special work session, council members were presented with a $3.5 million plan that would convert Ann Arbor’s Materials Recovery Facility into what’s referred to as a single-stream operation. More
(MI) The Associated Press – Gov. Jennifer Granholm has signed legislation requiring that farm animals confined in small cages have enough room to turn around and fully extend their limbs. The bill signed Monday makes Michigan the second state to ban commonly used cages for egg-laying chickens, the fifth to ban common crates for veal calves and the seventh to ban certain stalls for pregnant pigs. More
(MI) The Mudpuppy – The Saginaw Valley is meeting standards for fine particulate matter, the soot from coal-fired energy and other fossil fuel burning that can cause health problems and shorten your life. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently designated areas in Michigan and other Midwest states for not meeting daily standards for PM 2.5, or airborne fine particles that are less than 2.5 microns in size. Michigan counties that didn’t meet the standard are Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne, EPA officials said. More
(MI) Detroit Free Press – In a cost-cutting move praised by environmental groups and blasted by the state’s farm bureau, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced Thursday she would combine Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environmental Quality next year. The new agency is to be called the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and the move takes effect Jan. 17. More
(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Storm water carries so much phosphorus into a chain of lakes in Maple Grove and Plymouth that it may take 20 years to get the three lakes off the state’s impaired waters list. That’s the finding of a new report to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency which describes the extent of the pollution in each lake and what can be done to reverse it. The report begins the process of cleaning up the lakes as required by the federal Clean Water Act. More
(IL) Chicago Tribune – A growing threat for food-borne illnesses comes attractively packaged, is stunningly convenient and is increasingly popular with shoppers looking for healthy meals: ready-to-eat leafy greens that make putting together a green salad as easy as opening a bag. Though beef and poultry are a more frequent source of food-related outbreaks than produce, the number of outbreaks tied to lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens, whether fresh-cut or whole, has been rising over the last two decades, according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. On Tuesday, researchers with the group called leafy greens the riskiest food regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, with 363 outbreaks linked to those foods from 1990 to 2006. (Meat is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.) More
(TX) FishingWorld.com – A sweeping oceans and Great Lakes management policy document proposed by the Obama Administration will have a significant impact on the sportfishing industry, America’s saltwater anglers and the nation’s coastal communities. The draft policy, the Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, issued on September 17, will govern federal Pacific and Atlantic Ocean waters and Great Lakes resource conservation and management and will coordinate these efforts among federal, state and local agencies. This past June, President Obama created the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), to develop a draft national policy and implementation strategy for conserving and managing the United States ocean territory and the Great Lakes. More
(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Like canoe-paddling Johnny Appleseeds, John Patrick and others are trying to change northern Wisconsin’s landscape back to the way it used to look, one handful of wild rice at a time. Efforts to restore ancient wild rice beds are paying off as rice gatherers – who recently finished one of the best harvests in recent years – now collect as much as one-third of the annual crop from reseeded beds, said Peter David, a wildlife biologist with the commission. More
(MI) Traverse City Record-Eagle – It was a busy summer on the water front for Great Lakes advocates in what environmentalists and others are calling “The Water Wars.” Traverse City environmental attorney Jim Olson, west Michigan citizens groups and various organizations are in the thick of it, working to plug holes they see in laws and agreements designed to protect the lakes from water withdrawals, sale, privatization and export outside the basin. More