Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/shaheen-kanthawala/page/3/)
Shoreline property owners in Ontario have privileges right down to the lakes.
Whether you can walk along a Great Lakes beach depends – sometimes to be legal you have to get your feet wet.
Eleven small Canadian beaches will be dropped from those that are tested for water quality problems, the Niagara Falls Review reports. The beaches are located on lakes Erie, Ontario and the Niagara River in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada, according to the Niagara Region website. Public health officials in Ontario say they lack the time and resources to daily test every bit of the Great Lakes shorelines in the region, the paper reported. Officials said the move is an attempt to increase water testing at more frequently used beaches in Ontario.
A new federal report says it’s cheaper and easier to test water quality from space than it is from a boat or a dock. Data gathered by hand can be extrapolated to satellite imagery.
It’s an important advance in lake-heavy regions where it is expensive and challenging to visit every body of water.
Still, gathering data the old-fashioned way is not obsolete.
The United Press International (UPI) reports that the Canadian energy company, Bruce Power, has decided against shipping steam generators loaded with nuclear waste through the Great Lakes region. U.S. Rep. Candice Miller received the information from Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, UPI reported.
With summer approaching are you looking for fun outdoor adventures that don’t burn through your wallet? Three of 21 budget outdoor adventures listed by Outside Magazine are in the Great Lakes states:
Backcountry paddling in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters where Outside prices a night at Canoe On Inn in Ely, fishing licenses, maps, food and even brandy and post-trip dinner at $324. Hiking through the wooden trails of Thompson’s Harbor State Park in Michigan where the magazine says scuba diving at nearby Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a two-night stay at the Cedar Haven Cabin for up to six people, camp provisions and scuba gear all cost $474. Outside budgets Wisconsin’s three-day outfitted Devil’s Lake Multi-Sport trip on the Northwest Passage at $365, including food and equipment. All you need to bring is your sleeping bag.
The curator of natural history at Mackinac State Parks uses bones and jumps around like a kid to excite schoolchildren about natural history.
“What would be the point of preserving a forest or a bird or a watershed, if it’s something I wouldn’t care or know about?” asks Jeff Dykehouse.
The Water, Woods and Wildlife program reaches about 8,000 Michigan students a year.
By Shaheen Kanthawala
Do you love clean waterways? This Valentine’s Day you can let them know. Environment America, an organization that aims to protect air, water and open spaces, developed a campaign to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s initiative to restore the protections of the Clean Water Act. The organization says the law is under attack in the courts, putting some protections in limbo and blocking attempts by Congress to restore them. Environment America is sending valentines submitted by supporters of the campaign to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.