Solutions
Bill would ban ‘dog-scrimination’ by insurers
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By Justin Fox Clausen
A new bill in Michigan would prohibit home insurance companies from denying, canceling or raising premiums for homeowners and tenants based on the breeds of their dogs.
Agriculture
‘None of this is normal’ – Michigan watches winter drought ahead of growing season
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By Sonja Krohn
The dry conditions and drought that Michigan is experiencing this winter may adversely affect the upcoming crop growing season.
Recreation
Conservation, research and community collaboration aid in successful 2026 Black Lake sturgeon season
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The 2026 sturgeon season on Black Lake in Michigan lasted all of 48 minutes before the annual quota – six – was reached. There were 653 anglers competing for them.
Agriculture
Shifting farm economy means changes for rural communities
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By Lillian Williams
The shrinking number of farms in Michigan – down by about 1,300 between 2023 and 2024 – and the trend of existing farms to expand to survive is changing the culture of rural communities.
Cities & Suburbs
Climate migration may not dramatically reshape city growth, study finds
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By Isabella Figueroa Nogueira
A recent study featuring Grand Rapids, Michigan suggests that climate migration may not significantly change how some cities grow.
Agriculture
Michigan farmers face bankruptcies, other financial challenges
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By Bauyrzhan Zhaxylykov
Bankruptcies of Michigan farmers are troubling despite a dip in their Chapter 12 filings last year. Major reasons are higher expenses for inputs such as fertilizer coupled with flat commodity prices.
Solutions
Water is Life, Six Nations lead international approach to long-standing water insecurity
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By Mia Litzenberg
The Six Nations of the Grand River face ongoing water insecurity from pollution, climate change and corporate extraction. Many years of Indigenous water advocacy have led to the development of a new Haudenosaunee Environmental Research Institute as the next step to overcome these challenges.
Land
Fight climate change from your garden with ‘birdscaping’
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By Ada Tussing
If you’ve noticed fewer birds in the sky recently, they haven’t all flown south for the winter. The North American bird population has dropped nearly 30% in the last 50 years. Mariette Nowak’s book “Birdscaping for Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region” offers a solution: birdscaping.
Water
Research centers in the Great Lakes region change the scope of global freshwater ecology
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A new study examines the uniqueness of work that research centers conduct in the Great Lakes region, highlighting their importance amid dramatic changes in federal funding.
Transportation
Why Michigan’s rural residents are reluctant to drive electric vehicles
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By Bauyrzhan Zhaxylykov
New U-M survey finds only about 5% of rural Michigan residents say they would choose an electric vehicle as their next car. Researchers attribute much of that reluctance to misinformation about the availability of public chargers and the cost of EVs and replacement batteries. The Whitmer administration is pushing to expand electric vehicle use to meet climate and clean energy goals.