Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/category/land/)
This category encompasses land-based issues. It is further segregated with tags into such issues as farm, urban redevelopment or decay, forest, mining.
By Clara Lincolnhol
Michigan is pouring $77 million into clean-up of contaminated abandoned real estate such as former factories. The director of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy says the goal is to make the cleaned-up sites safe for housing, commercial developments and other uses.
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 Joe Lorenz
Electrification and tariffs mean rural Midwest communities can cash in on their mineral resources. But how can these ventures balance local benefit to the ecological cost?
By Eric Freedman
A Wisconsin bear hunting guide has been barred for a year from hunting on federal land. Timothy Collar’s crime: illegal bear baiting in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
By Samantha Ku
New federal policy is aimed at addressing the nation’s wildfire crisis by boosting timber production, but some experts say it’s not expected to have a major impact in Michigan.
By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
Lakefront property in Wexford County, 40-plus acres of forested land in the Upper Peninsula and a tiny island sitting in the middle of Lake Ponemah are up for grabs this year. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is auctioning off those and over 100 other “surplus properties” that officials say are better off in private hands, with the proceeds helping the state acquire more useful land.
By Rachel Lewis
With summer in full swing, you-pick farms have been seeing customers picking their own fruits and vegetables across the state. From blueberries and strawberries to tomatoes and asparagus, many people have opted for gathering their produce themselves. For some, this food gathering goes beyond the farm. In recent years, many people have been turning to wild berry foraging. Instead of grocery stores, these foragers seek out fresh fruits, nuts and herbs from local hiking trails or even off the side of the road.
By Isabella Figueroa
In a new book, archeologists who study past societies of the Great Lakes and Midwest agree “you are what you eat,” but they say there’s a lot more to it than that. It’s also how we eat: the ways we “prepare, cook and consume” those foods are influenced by our history, family and natural environment.The book’s essays use the concept of cuisine to go beyond ingredients when studying thousand-year old foodways in regions that now make up Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and other states.
By Kayte Marshall
It only takes a sunny afternoon, a yard full of dead leaves and one bad decision to turn spring cleaning into a wildfire. The DNR and National Fire Protection Association are advising homeowners to fight fire with foresight this year, especially in Northern Michigan where winter storms left massive amounts of flammable debris and dead trees on the ground.
By Clara Lincolnhol Many Ontario farmers acknowledge the positive benefits of sustainable farming practices but don’t have the manpower to actually adopt them, according to a study published by the University of Waterloo.
By Clara Lincolnhol
Writer Tamara Dean left the city for a rural life in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, a region known for dodging the glaciers that carved the landscape of the surrounding states and the Great Lakes 10,000 years ago.