Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/echo/page/133/)
An 11-year-old petition to protect the habitat of wintering populations of endangered Great Lakes’ piping plovers was rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this month.
The big Great Lakes Week 2011 just got a little bigger as the International Joint Commission has confirmed former vice president Al Gore as the keynote speaker. Gore will speak at the commission’s biennial meeting in Detroit Oct. 12-14. His address is slated for 1:15 p.m. on Oct. 13. The meeting is part of Great Lakes Week: Detroit 2011, which brings together U.S. and Canadian government officials with public and private groups to explore the lakes’ most pressing problems, potential solutions and on-going restoration.
Wetland specialists in Michigan are getting schooled in an obscure and unlikely area — gold prospecting.
With prices reaching all time highs – approaching $1,900 this summer – Michigan has seen a boost in ambitious hobbyists searching for gold.
Officials expect a great year for fall colors, so …
While the trees-are-a-changin’ throughout the Great Lakes region, we’d like you to snap a picture, or send one from a previous fall, and we’ll feature it on our weekly Photo Friday post.
Photo Fridays have been hijacked by the leafers! We kicked things off but during this fall we’ll be posting reader submitted pictures of brilliant autumn colors throughout the Great Lakes region. To submit an image to Great Lakes Echo Photo Friday, send photo, caption and your name to greatlakesecho@gmail.com.
Canadian and U.S. officials are working to update the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
But the region’s environmental groups are frustrated by the lack of transparency.
This year, Adopt-a-Beach will reach beyond the shore and into the web with a new online system that tracks litter and overall health of beaches. The system, monitored by the Alliance for the Great Lakes, allows volunteers to enter data on litter, beach conditions, water quality and recreation use for Great Lakes beaches. Data is collected during Adopt-a-Beach cleanup events, one of which is taking place on Saturday in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. The information is stored in a searchable database, allowing you to find and download the information from past cleanups. Only information from 2011 cleanups is available on the system, but the Alliance is working on adding earlier information.
Researchers have discovered a new strain of tick-borne bacteria in two Great Lakes states – Minnesota and Wisconsin.
For years there were sightings. Then in 2008, came the tracks. In 2009, came a photo. Now, there’s a video — a cougar roaming Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. (Video: Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
With a bit of help, farmers can now improve their land and reduce farm runoff into Lake Huron, one ton of soil a time.