Echo

Invader crusader billboard coming soon to regional highways

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Billboards in the Great Lakes region will soon feature a Louisiana high school senior’s prize-winning painting of a “silent invader.”

Monika Daniels’ painting of a largemouth bass swimming through zebra mussel infested waters will be used to remind Great Lakes boaters how to prevent the spread of invasive species. Daniels won an art contest held by Wildlife Forever, a Minnesota-based nonprofit conservation group that supports environmental education. This is the first year the group’s K-12 State-Fish Art Contest had a category dedicated to invasive species. Contestants also write an essay explaining what they’ve learned about how invasive species harm fish and their habitats and how that’s represented in their artwork. The group has a free lesson plan for educators called Fish-On!

Echo

Here’s a chance to check out your neighborhood from space

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Here at Echo we have a special fondness for satellite imagery. Sometimes outer space offers the best vantage point from which to get a sense of Great Lakes issues. Check out this view of the ice break up on Lake Erie and the subsequent agricultural runoff bringing the nutrients that feed the lakes algae headaches later in the summer. Want more? NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey are customizing local landscape images for six U.S. citizens who enter the “My American Landscape” contest.  Just send them an e-mail describing the landscape changes near you and what you hope to learn about them.

Echo

Feds to provide $10 million in funding for Great Lakes phosphorus reduction programs

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Federal officials are giving out $10 million in grants to reduce phosphorus in the Great Lakes. The element is tied to the production of algae, which can be toxic to wildlife and people. The funding is part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, launched in 2010 to tackle a diverse set of environmental problems.

High levels of phosphorus are often due to farm runoff and poorly treated sewage, according to the initiative’s action plan. The grants are aimed at farmers who are looking for more efficient conservation programs for their land and nearby water sources. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is the primary agency administering the grants aimed at phosphorus reduction.

Echo

Summer festivals increasingly go green

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More summer festivals around the Great Lakes are taking initiatives to protect the environment by going green. The festivals’ organizers highly encourage recycling and educate public on how to become echo-friendly.

Echo

Photo Friday: I Love the Great Lakes

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You don’t have to be from a Great Lake state to appreciate the lakes’ many attributes. Whether you’re just visiting or a long-time local, their beauty is mesmerizing. A lot of us love them. How much? Sierra Club launched the “I love the Great Lakes” project two years ago to visually illustrate the love people share for the lakes.

Echo

Vote for best named Great Lakes brew

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We culled through your nominations for the best name of a beer brewed in the Great Lakes watershed and put some of them on this poll. Our selection is arbitrary and of course misses many beers and breweries that were not nominated. And yeah, we get it about those of you who disdain creative names as something that fails to impress true beer aficionados. But sheesh…lighten up. Our bias is toward names that are particularly relevant to the Great Lakes environment or places.