Recreation

Alpena, Mich. “Sanctuary of the Great Lakes”

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The Lake Huron city of Alpena, Mich. has adopted a new slogan to promote the community as a place of peace and rejuvenation for visitors. The slogan, “Sanctuary of the Great Lakes,” came out of an effort to develop a brand to attract more tourists, according to city officials. Alpena is home to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, an underwater preserve sheltering an estimated 116 shipwrecks dating from the nineteenth century to the present. “Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is unique in the world,” said Deb Pardike, executive director of the Alpena Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Echo

Young farmers struggle to buy Michigan farmland

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Tom Nugent, director of field operations for Michigan Farm Bureau, said its Young Farmers program, started in 1935, is designed to give beginners a solid foundation for a future in farming. Nugent said the program offers benefits and resources young farmers need to create a business plan and take steps to owning their own farm.

Echo

Sandy mean enough to spit Great Lakes bricks

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The remnants of Hurricane Sandy put Great Lakes freighters in port and surfers on the waves. And it caused Lake Erie to cough up Cleveland Stadium rubble. Tremont Electric reports that winds last week spit bricks “out onto the shore in Bratenahl.” When the stadium was demolished 15 years ago, the bricks  were dumped into nearby Lake Erie to create an artificial reef. Now apparently they are souvenirs, according to the New England Sports Network.

Echo

Photo Friday: The vanishing waters of Georgian Bay

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David Foote, who submitted these images, has a house in the Skerryvore community along the Georgian Bay, south of Pointe au Baril, Ontario and North of Parry Sound. The following pictures were taken in late October around the Skerryvore community. According to Foote, the area will match record water level lows set in 1964, by mid November. You can read more on the falling water levels of the Georgian Bay here.  

Photos by David Foote

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Skerryvore is on the eastern edge of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay. Explore the map below to get a closer look.

Water

“Sweet Seas. Portraits of the Great Lakes” documents Great Lakes life and industry

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Echo showcased the photography of Mark Schacter in our Flash Point feature last August. Next month, Schacter’s book “Sweet Seas. Portraits of the Great Lakes” hits bookstore shelves with its collection of 160 Great Lakes photographs. Check out the preview below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkw-NZzExf4

Schacter, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, specializes in landscape and industrial photography.

Echo

Tired of answering surveys? Here’s your chance to ask the questions

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I have a colleague who will teach survey methods in the pursuit of journalism next semester. He’s asked for ideas for an environmental story that might be based on a survey of scientists or government officials. That sounds good to me. Give it enough of a Great Lakes focus and such a story could well end up on Echo. But for now, I think I’ll punt the question to Echo readers.

Echo

Dog passes island sniff test

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Click this image for WZZM’s broadcast on using dogs to track down illegal sewage discharges. The setting is a recent Great Lakes Beach Association conference on Mackinac Island. That’s a smart dog and a smart way to track down pollution. Perhaps most impressive: The dog didn’t give the island’s road apples a second look.

Echo

Video details Great Lakes governors’ protection efforts

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A video featuring former governors, scientists and policy experts details projects financed by the Great Lakes Protection Fund. The fund has committed more than $63.9 million to 245 projects to advance conservation, produce sustainable technologies and restore ecosystems in an economically viable way. It was endowed in 1989 by former Great Lakes governors with an $81 million contribution of public funds. About $4 million a year is spent on projects, which are funded by the interest off the endowment, said Amy Elledge, communications director for the fund. Featured projects include scientists designing ballast filters and policy experts discussing ways to make sustainability marketable.

Echo

A dozen Michigan organizations receive specialty crop grants

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This October in Michigan the federal government awarded grants to a dozen food and agriculture organizations for projects that include improving fruit production, promoting cleaner soil and studying crop pollination. The $1.3 million is divided among 12 recipients, including the Michigan Vegetable Council in Erie, Michigan Farm Bureau in Lansing, Lakeshore Environmental Inc. in Grand Haven and Michigan State University in East Lansing.

These organizations and their projects were selected by the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to receive the federal grants.