Recreation

Winter Lake Superior surfers get Wave of the Week recognition

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Ahhh, winter in the Great Lakes states – hot cocoa, sledding, cuddling up by the fire and…surfing? Surfing isn’t your go-to activity in 20-degree weather? Well, me neither. But on Friday, Daily Surf Videos chose their Wave of the Week video featuring dedicated surfers trekking out in the winter months to catch some of the Great Lakes best waves. When a large storm crosses, it can make for double overhead surf, compared to 2- or 3-foot waves typical in the calm summer months.

Echo

Great Lakes songbird considered for Endangered Species List

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A western Great Lakes basin songbird may deserve federal protection as a threatened or endangered species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Golden-winged Warblers were once widespread in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario. But loss of breeding habitat, conflict with Blue-winged Warblers and possible parasitism by the invasive Brown-headed Cowbird have led to their steady decline for 50 years, according to a petition filed by a Pennsylvania State University environmental law student. Pending further review by the U.S. Fish and Wild Service, the warbler could become the first continental bird added to the Endangered Species List since 1995. It would join Great Lakes endangered birds such as the Kirtland’s Warbler and Piping Plover.

Echo

Lake Erie on Prozac

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Lake Erie is on Prozac, reports National Geographic. Tiny concentrations of fluoxetine, the active ingredient in Prozac, are killing off the E.coli bacteria in the lake, says scientist Steve Mauro, whose team made the discovery. While killing bacteria that could harm people might seem like a good idea, Mauro questions what happens to the other bacteria that are supposed to be a part of the ecosystem, National Geographic reports. The low levels of fluoxetine do not harm people but they damage the reproductive systems of mollusks and could even affect fish brains, says Mauro. He suspects the fluoxetine could combine with other chemicals and have an adverse effect on the lake.

Echo

Michigan companies join biobased bandwagon

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More than 60 companies in Michigan are participating in the federal BioPreferred Program to boost the manufacture and distribution of biobased products.

The federal initiative aims to increase the development, purchase and use of biobased products. They are renewable and environmentally friendly or organic products made from agricultural, forestry or marine materials. Products range from bed linens and towels to greases and cleaners.

Echo

Would you accept product placement in a news story?

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Echo readers were paid an indirect compliment this week. Two separate agencies contacted us about running advertising on our pages. That seems to imply you’re a demographic worth courting. But what does it mean to us? We’re a non-profit operation, but that doesn’t mean we’re not in need of revenue.

Echo

Beach cleanup program offers web-based training

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Volunteers can adopt a Great Lakes beach this year with help from web-based training. The Alliance for the Great Lakes program is in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota.  It hopes to soon include New York. Special events are scheduled throughout the region to increase public participation, but the majority of the program consists of participants volunteering on their own schedule. The year-round program launched in 2003 collects litter and assesses beach and shoreline health, according to program manager Jamie Cross. Last year, 10,700 volunteers removed 31,295 pounds of trash.

Echo

Bad company for Great Lakes

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At 8 p.m. this  Tuesday (May 24), WKAR public television will broadcast Bad Company, a one-hour documentary that  looks at how human-driven influences have altered the environment of the Great Lakes. Check your local listings. The project represents over a year’s work of effort by Lou D’Aria and many of his students enrolled in his video production classes at Michigan State University. D’Aria is a faculty member associated with the university’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, the same unit that produces Great Lakes Echo. The documentary will be offered to all PBS stations in the Great Lakes region.

Echo

Untested beaches in Canada

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Eleven small Canadian beaches will be dropped from those that are tested for water quality problems, the Niagara Falls Review reports. The beaches are located on lakes Erie, Ontario and the Niagara River in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada, according to the Niagara Region website. Public health officials in Ontario say they lack the time and resources to daily test every bit of the Great Lakes shorelines in the region, the paper reported. Officials said the move is an attempt to increase water testing at more frequently used beaches in Ontario.

Echo

Michigan tops in fly-fishability; where are other Great Lakes states?

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Kirk Deeter, who blogs for the Field & Stream website, recently named Michigan the top state in the U.S. for flyfishing. Deeter credited the state for an abundance of bass, pike, steelhead, salmon, panfish and fly-fishable lakes. He ranked New York twelfth. The only other Great Lakes states he mentioned were Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Wisconsin — and then only as an invitation to rebut his decision not to include them in the top 12. What do you think?

Waste

No nuclear waste through the Great Lakes

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The United Press International (UPI) reports that the Canadian energy company, Bruce Power, has decided against shipping steam generators loaded with nuclear waste through the Great Lakes region. U.S. Rep. Candice Miller received the information from Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, UPI reported.