Echo

Dry summer helps Great Lakes beach cleanup

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This year’s drought may make an annual effort to clean up Great Lakes beaches and shorelines a little easier, according to the Associated Press. The Alliance for the Great Lakes, an organization that works to preserve the Great Lakes, is holding the cleanups Saturday at beaches in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. This year’s cleanups will be easier because the dry weather meant fewer sewer overflows that dump trash into the water, the news agency reported. The environmental group is asking volunteers to show up at Great Lakes beaches to pick up trash. Individuals, families, schools, community, scouting and religious groups can register online to take part in the cleanups.

Echo

Live Stream from Great Lakes Week Conference in Cleveland

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Activists, scientists and government representatives have converged in Cleveland this week for the second annual Great Lakes Week. For those who cannot make it to Ohio, a live stream and commentaries on the event are available online from Detroit Public Television and WVIZ/PBS ideastream®. One of the commentators is Great Lakes Echo’s own Gary Wilson. You can hear Gary talk about key issues such as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and algae blooms.

Gary also was interviewed here by WBEZ in Chicago. Agencies including the International Joint Commission, the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency worked together to put on the conference.

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Current forecasting tool can help St. Lawrence boaters

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An online tool for charting water currents and depths can help St. Lawrence Seaway boaters plan safe recreational trips. The tool pools wind and water data from several U.S. and Canadian research agencies and incorporates them into a forecasting model every three hours, said Riley Young Morse program manager at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and developer of the tool’s user interface. Boaters can click a point on a computer-generated map of the seaway closest to where they need information. This produces the current water current conditions and forecasts for that area.

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Drought extends risk of West Nile virus

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The dry summer has increased the mosquito that spreads the West Nile virus.

The species easily reproduces in a warm, dry climate.

Michigan health officials say more than 115 cases and six deaths have been confirmed this year, up from 34 cases last year.

Echo

Great Lakes restoration: Beyond the money

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Make no mistake, there have been real accomplishments in Great Lakes restoration.

Now we face a financial and political environment that’s less friendly to spending of any sort let alone environmental projects.

Echo

Great Lakes region dominates best lake vacations list

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Beautiful beaches, quality fishing, and windiness helped five places in the Great Lakes region earn spots on CNN’s list of 10 of America’s best lake vacations. CNN said  that Lake Superior is a prime spot for vacationing anglers, and Lake Michigan’s long shoreline provides “beaches for nearly every taste.”
Lake Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes was already recognized last year by  Stephen Leatherman, also known as Dr. Beach, as the Great Lakes best beach. Lake Kabetogama in Minnesota  “offers more than two dozen wilderness campsites that can be reached only by boat,” the review said, making it the best for kayak or canoe camping. The publication also recognized Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago for it’s prime windsurfing conditions and the Finger Lakes of New York for best “wine tasting.”

Other lakes on the list included Oregon’s Crater Lake, Lake Clark in Alaska and Florida’s Chain of Lakes. Lake Powell, which bridges Utah and Arizona, and Lake Tahoe, which straddles California and Nevada, also made the list.