Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/witkevicmsu-edu/)
By Victoria Witke
Christina Petalas, a doctoral student McGill University, studies herring gulls to learn about plastic pollution near the St. Lawrence River. Across two studies, she found plastic additives in every bird sampled, which could have human health consequences.
By Victoria Witke
New research shows Anishinaabe fire practices shaped today’s Great Lakes ecosystems. The region’s forests never existed and can’t continue to exist without people – or fire.
By Victoria Witke Catch and release ethics is credited for the fact that smallmouth bass in Lake St. Clair have been getting larger over the past 50 years, a DNR study finds. Other factors may include warming Great Lakes water temperatures and longer growing seasons due to climate change.
By Victoria Witke
Jacob Faist of Jackson County is among the state’s farmers worried about tar spot, an emerging disease in corn and silage fed to dairy cows. It can lower crop yield, reduce the nutritional value of the corn and reduce milk production. According to a study, Michigan and the Great Lakes region are particularly vulnerable. Researchers did the study in Branch, Ottawa, Ingham and Barry counties. Top producing counties include Lenawee and Ionia.
By Victoria Witke
When Roger LaBine was younger, he often drove his grandfather to the Ottawa National Forest to hunt porcupines for food and more, including birch bark-and quill baskets He’s a member of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. A notable proportion of the population relies on public forests for food, and Michigan ranked third in a new study in the amount of wild meat hunted on public lands.
By Victoria Witke
Consistent training of dairy farm workers can prevent mastitis, and improve milk quality and employee communication, according to a recent MSU study. The dairy industry contributes $15.7 billion yearly to the state economy. Huron and Clinton counties host the greatest number of dairy cows, and Lenawee, Missaukee and Ionia counties also have lots of them.
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 Victoria Witke
A new U-M study done in Lenawee, Tuscola and Monroe counties finds that cover crop mixtures on farms can help mitigate adverse impacts of climate change, instead of single species cover crops. There are concerns about the freezing of federal payments for agriculture programs.
By Victoria Witke A proposal would impose a 50-cent per delivery “retail delivery tax” to raise about $275 million a year to fix local streets. We hear from the Michigan Municipal League, which is floating the idea, and the Michigan Retailers Association and Small Business Association of Michigan which call it a no-go. An Ann Arbor legislator on the subcommittee that handles transportation funding says the money is badly needed.