Echo

See emerald ash borers in action; states still battling the bug

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Now is the best time to see the destructive, tree-eating emerald ash borer up close and personal. The inch-long green metallic beetles are most numerous from late June to mid July, according to the Emerald Ash Borer Information Network. But don’t be fooled by lookalikes. Here’s a guide for proper identification of the nasty nuisance. Officials have banned imported firewood, removed ash trees and even released tiny wasps to prevent them from overwhelming the region with little luck; the beetle has spread to all Great Lakes states over the past decade.

Echo

Growers smell trouble in stink bug invasion

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The name of the new invader is enough to make people laugh, but its potential peril is serious enough to make fruit growers weep.

The brown marmorated stink bug, which is notorious for wiping out horticultural crops, has been discovered in Southwest and central Michigan.

In 2010, growers in Pennsylvania lost an estimated 40 to 50 percent of their peach crop to the stink bug, according to Penn State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

Echo

Federal rules urged for ballast from ships using Great Lakes

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Several years after Michigan and other Great Lakes states imposed tougher regulations on ships, there’s still a call by environmental groups, biologists and shippers for federal rules.

State standards for ballast developed piecemeal, and Carl Lindquist, the executive director of the Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Trust based in Marquette, said they were a step in the right direction. But ballast water is still carrying invasive species, he said.

Echo

Great Lakes SmackDown!

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By Alice Rossignol and Rachael Gleason

Welcome to the Great Lakes SmackDown! Which invasive species is the most ecologically destructive to the Great Lakes? We pitted eight of the region’s most formidable aquatic invasive species against each other in “lake fights” in true March Madness form. We asked biologists, resource managers, invasive species experts and Echo readers to weigh in on each battle. Follow the links below to see how the contenders fared in three rounds of lake fights.

Echo

Carp bomb: Barrier break

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CHICAGO – A bighead Asian Carp was apprehended Wednesday after breaching a maximum security federal barrier, officials say. No one was harmed in the capture of the 20-pounder. Officials aren’t sure how the carp escaped, but they say he was just six miles from a clean getaway. Advocates of the watery prison say it keeps the public safe from the ferocious fish.  Opponents say the barrier isn’t a cure, but a band-aid over a larger ecological problem. Click here for more on how society is putting up with carp.

Land

Guilty secret: I owned purple loosestrife barrettes

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The term “invasive species”  is a new one in my life. I was raised to love nature. The idea that something that is growing out of the ground on its own has no business doing so was never considered. A case in point: The Purple Loosestrife Festival. This was something we looked forward to each year in rural Hillsdale County, in southern Michigan along the Ohio border.

Echo

Governors await date to discuss Asian carp

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(OH) The Toledo Blade – Great Lakes governors should learn this week when and where the Obama Administration plans to meet with them to address the Asian carp crisis.  

Nancy Sutley, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in a letter Wednesday to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle that she wants to convene a summit the first week of February in either the Great Lakes region or in Washington. More

Echo

Cox launches Web site on carp issues

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Attorney General Mike Cox has started www.stopasiancarp.com, a Web site urging Great Lakes residents to demand action against Asian carp. The site features reports and video about carp and a petition to Congress and President Barack Obama calling for the immediate closure of Chicago-area locks. More