Land

Commentary: Michigan joins federal program that collects native flora and champions restoration

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By Elinor Epperson

Of all the things I could step in while wandering the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Northeast Michigan, vulture vomit was not on my list. My hosts, a team of scientists looking for native plant seeds, warned me to avoid it. Elizabeth Haber is a lead botanist with Seeds of Success, a federal program that conserves and restores native flora. She and her team are combing through Michigan prairies, wetlands and forests looking for native plant seeds. “A lot of our days are just wandering around, using our intuition of where we think cool things might be,” she said.

IMAGE: Deaf and hard-of hearing youth prepare seeds for a new community garden. Image courtesy of Jurmel Mitchell Sr.
Climate

Deaf and hard of hearing kids have a role in climate resilience

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By Jada Vasser

Six years ago, the Association for the Advancement of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing was founded by four mothers who wanted to create change and educational programming for their deaf children and community. “We are dedicated to improving the educational and occupational outcomes of deaf/hard of hearing youth and young adults by creating more accessible educational and occupational experiences,” co-founder and chief operating officer Toni Cannon-Mitchell told Planet Detroit. Now, with the support of a $5,000 City of Detroit grant, Cannon-Mitchell is expanding that mission to include climate equity, with a focus on healthy eating and growing one’s own food. The grant supports community projects that advance the city’s climate strategy by creating climate resilience, energy efficiency and food waste reduction. The project will create a community garden that produces cleaner air and food.

Land

Great Lakes Echo founder retires

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Dave Poulson, the founder and editor of the Knight Center’s award-winning environmental news service, has retired after more than 21 years on the MSU Journalism School faculty. We at the Knight Center miss him already. Poulson, a professor of practice, spearheaded the center’s initiatives to boost diversity among environmental journalism students and practitioners, securing grant support from the Mott Foundation and Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments program. “Dave has been committed to the notion that knowledge about the environment belongs in the hands of everyone. He’s been a powerful science communicator – through Great Lakes Echo, the Knight Center and other news outlets – and a terrific science educator, helping those with scientific knowledge communicate that insight to the public,” J-School director Tim Vos said.

Bee City USA sign in downtown Detroit. Courtesy photo
The Buzz

Detroit is the place to bee! How Detroit Hives is helping Detroit fight climate change through pollination 

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By Jada Vasser

Detroit resident Timothy Paule Jackson’s fascination with bees began in 2016 when he discovered the benefits of using honey to combat the common cold. He began researching the components in honey that provide medicinal benefits for the immune system. Soon, he and his partner, Nicole Lindsay, enrolled in beekeeping classes. They launched Detroit Hives was 2017 after the couple bought their first vacant lot in Detroit and set about keeping bees on the property. As native Detroiters, they saw the potential in beekeeping to transform vacant and blighted lots and inject energy into underserved communities.

ty Center is run by Community Action Network in partnership with the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The center’s solar power system is part of the agency’s growing renewable energy projects in the city’s underserved communities. Image: Elinor Epperson
Energy

Ann Arbor ballot proposal promises affordable access to renewable energy

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By Elinor Epperson

Ann Arbor proposed sustainable energy utility could save residents and commercial customers money on their electricity bills, according to a new report commissioned by the city. Residents of the Southeast Michigan city will vote in November on whether to establish an optional public utility that would use exclusively renewable energy generated by local systems. The project is part of its A2Zero program, which aims for carbon neutrality by 2030. If the proposal passes, it will be the first sustainable energy utility in Michigan. Similar utilities have operated in Delaware since 2007 and Washington D.C. since 2011. The report calculated cost savings based on how much it will cost the city to set up the utility and how many customers participate in the utility.

Water

From pet to ‘monster.’ The battle to rid Michigan’s Glen Lake of giant koi

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By Gabrielle Nelson

Robert Karner and the Glen Lake Association are on a mission to preserve the crystal-clear waters of Glen Lake next to Sleeping Bear Dunes and protect its ecosystem from invasive species. That includes Eurasian watermilfoil and one that’s gaining attention, Japanese koi. In May, bowfishers partnered with the association, a preservation and protection organization for the 46 square miles of the Glen Lake/Crystal River watershed, caught and removed four invasive koi from Little Glen Lake on the Leelanau Peninsula. “Not all invasive species are actionable,” or able to be removed, once they are introduced to a lake or river, said Karner, a biologist at the Glen Lake Association. “But a big fish like Japanese koi, at least that’s something we think is manageable.”

The removal is part of a three-year effort to remove invasive koi from the lake to protect native plants and animals.

Beth Hudson, a left below-knee amputee, can enjoy one of her favorite pastimes, cycling, with her modified tricycle that has a small motor activated with a throttle. Image courtesy Beth Hudson
Land

Disability rights advocates ask Mackinac Island to allow Class 2 e-bikes

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By Gabrielle Nelson

The only things that rival the popularity of bikes on Mackinac Island are horses and fudge. M-185 stretches around the island, hugging the coast with a clear view of Lake Huron’s crystal blue waters. The 8.2 miles is a perfect bike trail because it boasts a unique feature: It’s the only state highway in the country with no motorized vehicles. And that includes e-bikes that riders can operate without pedaling by engaging a throttle. To preserve the no-motor tradition, Mackinac Island placed a ban on throttle assisted e-bikes, but is now facing backlash from e-bike users who say the ban discriminates against people with disabilities who can’t use the iconic road.

: A Blanding's turtle stands at the edge of a wetland. Image: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Water

Michigan and Ohio receive $500,000 to study rare turtles

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By Ruth Thornton

State wildlife agencies in Michigan and Ohio have received nearly $500,000 in federal funding to study rare turtles. The grant is part of more than $7 million distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to benefit rare and declining fish and wildlife and their habitats across the country. Other states receiving funding under the program this year include Minnesota, Iowa, Hawaii and North and South Carolina. Michigan’s work will focus on Blanding’s and spotted turtles, two rare species that often occur in wetlands. The funding will allow researchers to understand how the populations of both species are doing, especially the survival of nests and baby turtles.

An Isle Royale wolf. Image: National Park Service
Wildlife

Wolves hit Isle Royale campgrounds in search of food

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By Gabrielle Nelson

A warning for campers on Lake Superior’s Isle Royale National Park: Wolves are venturing into campground trash cans for easy meals. The park reminds visitors to secure and monitor food and trash to keep people and wolves separate and safe. “Wolves are very opportunistic and will utilize just about anything as a food source, and obviously getting in the garbage is an easy one,” said Brian Roell, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’s large-carnivore specialist. Liz Valencia, who manages cultural resources for the national park, said a couple of wolves started knocking down trash cans at the Rock Harbor campground, one of the park’s busiest areas. Rangers’ efforts to secure trash cans and scare away the wolves failed, she said, and the wolves keep coming back.

Electronics contain critical minerals such as copper, nickel, gold, lithium and cobalt needed to make batteries for electric vehicles and to electrify Michigan’s energy grid. Image: Gabrielle Nelson
Energy

The electric energy future could be wasting away in a junk drawer

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By Gabrielle Nelson

Lily Wilkin has four old phones tucked away in her closet — and no plans to recycle them. “I keep them for nostalgia,” she said. Wilkin works at Best Buy, the nation’s largest retail collector of electronic waste — from CRT TVs to hard drives to fans. Wilkin said at least two customers drop off electronics for recycling every day at the East Lansing Best Buy. Even though she knows about the e-waste collection program, she’s choosing to keep her old electronics.