Echo
Downhill ski business booming in Michigan
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Last year, the U.S. ski industry had its fifth-busiest season and interest in the slopes shows no signs of slowing down in Michigan for the 2021-22 season.
Homepage Featured
Protecting Great Lakes requires more than policy changes, argues longtime Michigan environmental policy expert
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As the megadrought in the Western U.S. worsens, calls for freshwater diversions from the Great Lakes to the West have grown increasingly popular. Water diversion from the Great Lakes harms not only the ecosystem, but also the cultural significance of water, according to Michigan environmental policy expert.
Capital News Service
Projects aim to stop flooding of homes, businesses
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The Great Lakes Water Authority plans to increase the ability of its water and wastewater systems to cope with flooding and other severe weather conditions under a capital improvement plan to be carried out over five years. The investment will consist of 182 projects from 2023 to 2027 in the region at a cost of approximately $1.73 billion.
Capital News Service
Universities link Native American homelands to campus sites
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Acknowledging Native American ties to the land that Michigan universities occupy can make a powerful statement honoring the traditional history and culture. A land acknowledgment is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous peoples as stewards of the land where an institution is located. Acknowledgments are often executed through signs on campuses, email signatures and statements read before organized events.
Air
Chicago’s Southeast Side community holds its breath as new industry threatens to move in
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Despite having some of the worst air quality in Chicago, as documented in the city’s most recent Air Quality and Health Report, industry continues to relocate to the Southeast Side.
Echo
Detroit’s status as ‘food desert’ challenged
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Many people, including researchers, have regarded Detroit as a food desert. Yet the term food desert is no longer correct in describing all of Detroit. The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers a census tract to be a food desert based on its poverty rate and the proportion of residents living more than a mile from a supermarket or large grocery store.
Air
PFAS incineration and experimental science heighten concerns over environmental discrimination
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Just 2 miles south of Cohoes, New York, sits the Saratoga Sites public housing community and the Norlite Hazardous Waste Incinerator. Smoke and dust from Norlite’s hazardous waste incinerator cause daily problems for Saratoga Sites residents.
Echo
Backyard clean-up brings big bucks
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In some states, the Department of Natural Resources offers an annual seed collection program. Anyone with a dry container can collect pine cones and seeds from trees and redeem them at listed nurseries for cash. The program is available in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Requirements for collection vary by state and species, but all seeds must be collected from trees of natural origin, not planted.
Capital News Service
Dial-a-ride services struggle with driver shortage
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In the age of Uber and Lyft, public transportation is still the only viable option for many Michigan residents. But a driver shortage is hurting Dial-A-Ride services across the state, causing them to cut back on services. That often leaves the most vulnerable residents in rural Michigan with longer wait times and less access to public transportation.
Art
New book explores ecological odyssey of the Great Lakes
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A new book explores the interconnected layers of the Great Lakes, from the leadership of local native tribes to the concerning intensity of resource extraction. The book took several years to write to fully and accurately capture a cohesive picture of the Great Lakes and their histories.