GLIN

Visitors to the sprawling dune-land property bordering a section of the Grand River channel near Grand Haven known as “the Sag” will have access to four miles of marked trails and catch-and-release fishing. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

Michigan state officials and the Department of Defense remain deadlocked over whether the Air Force should accept more responsibility for cleaning up and paying for the chemical contamination in Oscoda, MI after nearly a year in dispute resolution. Read the full story by The Detroit News. View the full article

Canadian energy company Enbridge Energy held an informational meeting on Wednesday in Michigan’s Bay County for residents and property owners with pipeline on their land. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

A white paper released by the Michigan Environmental Council details the ways in which coal-fired power plants have contaminated Michigan’s Great Lakes, rivers, streams, groundwater and drinking water with toxins like mercury, arsenic and lead. Read the full story by WYSM-TV – Lansing, MI. View the full article

Despite Davis Helberg having retired from the port authority in 2003, the imprint he left in his hometown of Esko, MN and the region, through storytelling and achievement in industry was cemented long before he left. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune. View the full article

Paul Kellner’s canoe vanished mysteriously more than a year ago, just steps from the beach near his Park Point home. He figured it was stolen, but he didn’t know the culprit and didn’t expect to see it again. Then on Wednesday, as a wild storm raged across the Duluth waterfront, the canoe returned home — just as mysteriously. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio. View the full article

The Senate’s passage of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 would authorize funding for a roughly $1 billion new lock at the Soo locks in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, if it is signed by President Trump. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio. View the full article

Despite the discovery of a 4-foot alligator in Lake Michigan this week, populations of these reptiles could never take up permanent residence in Michigan. However, Michigan still has its fair share of invasive species problems. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press. View the full article

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released an alarming report predicting that catastrophic consequences from global warming could come as early as 2040. Here’s what those consequences could mean for Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WTTW – Chicago, IL. View the full article

In Michigan, four environmental groups have filed a complaint against DTE Energy’s Fermi 2 plant for allowing the nuclear reactor to discharge waste into Lake Erie on what the groups called an expired permit. Read the full story by the Monroe News. View the full article

Wind gusts of 50 mph were common across Duluth and its surroundings on Wednesday as a strong fall storm caused power outages, swamped roads, and brought large waves and flooding along Lake Superior’s shore. Read the full story by Forum News Service. View the full article

This week scientists, resource managers, and policymakers discussed threats to water quality in Lake Superior at the 2018 State of Lake Superior Conference in Houghton, Michigan. Read the full story by The Daily Mining Gazette. View the full article

The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation’s recently announced decision to cut back on the stocking of Chinook salmon in Lake Ontario during 2019 by 20 percent is getting negative blowback from some charter boat captains and others. Read the full story by New York Upstate. View the full article

The Nature Conservancy of Canada and Ducks Unlimited Canada announced Wednesday that 93 hectares (231 acres) of coastal wetland and 2.5 kilometres of undeveloped Lake Ontario shoreline near Brighton is now protected. Read the full story by Global News Canada. View the full article

Water activists say the candidates for governor in Michigan are not proposing bold enough plans to fix the state’s water problems. Read the full story by Michigan Radio. View the full article

The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation will provide $3 million to the Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper to continue its efforts to restore the environment of the Buffalo waterfront, Waterkeeper announced today. Read the full story by The Buffalo News. View the full article

News Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) applauds today’s Congressional approval of water resources legislation that contains critical Great Lakes provisions, including authorization for a new large lock at the Soo Locks complex. The GLC has long called for an upgrade of the Soo Locks, and passed a resolution at its recent annual meeting urging the President and Congress to fully fund a new large lock. Currently only the Poe Lock can handle the largest vessels on the lakes, which carry nearly 90 percent of all cargo passing through the Soo locks. Earlier this year, a report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boosted a key cost-benefit score for the $922 million project, setting the stage for updated Congressional authorization for the lock which is vital to the economic security of the U.S. and Canada. There have been no comprehensive improvements to the Soo Locks facility in nearly 50 years and a 2015 Department of Homeland Security study projected that a six-month unplanned closure of the biggest lock alone would result in a nearly complete shutdown of national steel production, leading to eleven million job losses in the U.S. and five million in Canada and Mexico, a severe recession, and a $1.1 trillion decrease in national GDP. “The Soo Locks are vital to the entire North American economy, with all of the iron ore mined in the U.S. and numerous other important commodities passing through them,” said Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. “I look forward to continuing my work with our partners in the Congressional delegation and the other Great Lakes states to finally get this project done.” The legislation – formally titled America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 – also includes provisions that will support states and local communities in repairing, maintaining and upgrading wastewater, drinking water and stormwater infrastructure, consistent with the GLC’s 2017 Joint Action Plan for Clean Water Infrastructure and Services. “Access to clean water is fundamental to human health and our region is facing a water infrastructure crisis,” said John Linc Stine, chair of the GLC and commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “With nearly $10 billion needed annually to maintain, upgrade, and replace drinking water infrastructure in the region for the next two decades, the Great Lakes states and provinces applaud the passage of this legislation, which will take important steps toward a more sustainable water infrastructure future for Great Lakes Basin communities.” The legislation includes additional provisions to support efforts of states, provinces and other partners on key challenges facing the Great Lakes. For example, the Act: Directs the Army Corps of Engineers to undertake research on the management and eradication of aquatic invasive species, including Asian carp and zebra mussels; Directs the Army Corps of Engineers to implement a five-year harmful algal bloom technology development demonstration program; Authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to carry out a Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study; and Adjusts the cost share to 80% federal, 20% nonfederal for operating and maintaining measures to prevent the upstream movement of Asian carp through the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Chicago. The U.S. Senate approved the legislation today following adoption by the U.S. House of Representatives in September. The Act now goes to the president for his signature. ← Previous news release The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair John Linc Stine, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, is an interstate compact agency established under state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region and its residents. The Commission consists of governors’ appointees, state legislators, and agency officials from its eight member states. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.” The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission office is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at www.glc.org. Contact For questions or media inquiries, please contact Beth Wanamaker, [email protected]. Recent GLC News Great Lakes Commission applauds Soo Locks authorization, other Great Lakes priorities in water resources legislation passed by Congress Great Lakes Commission calls on President and Congress to provide full funding for new Soo Lock New study shows every dollar spent on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will produce at least $3.35 of additional economic activity in the Great Lakes region Concerned citizens can now directly invest in improving Lake Erie water quality Upcoming GLC Events 2019 Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast March 7, 2019 View GLC Calendar > View the full article

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is asking boaters to thoroughly clean their boats to help stop the spread of an invasive species, starry stonewort, found in seven Wisconsin lakes. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI. View the full article

The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to overturn the February ruling by Indiana’s highest court that Lake Michigan’s shoreline is open to all. The case has far-reaching ramifications, as the plaintiffs are asking the court to apply the water’s edge standard to all land adjacent to all five Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times. View the full article

Michigan’s Mackinac Island was listed as number six on Conde Nast Traveler’s Best Islands in the U.S. list, alongside tropical paradises like Maui and Oahu and picturesque getaways like Nantucket and Hilton Head. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

So far, the Northern Ohio chapter of the Ohio Surfrider Foundation has hosted beach clean-ups and a Cuyahoga River clean-up with the Port of Cleveland’s Flotsam and Jetsam boats, before the big Head of the Cuyahoga regatta. Read the full story by Cleveland.com View the full article

The Great Lakes Islands Alliance recently celebrated its second birthday at its annual summit meeting on Madeline Island in western Lake Superior. One of the alliance’s key goals, as established in its new charter, is to “amplify island voices to mainland audiences.” Read the full story by The Manitoulin Expositor. View the full article

Great Lakes water levels typically decline in the fall. All the Great Lakes are currently forecast to go down in the next month, but recent high precipitation levels may prevent that decline. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

There’s no single reason for the rise in Lake Superior’s temperature. Rather, it’s due to a combination of warming winters, more sunlight and increasing air temperatures. That was the conclusion a 2015 scientific study that looked at 235 lakes around the world. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now. View the full article

Bipartisan legislation has been proposed that would create a special postage stamp designed to raise money to support the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Read the full story by The Daily Telegram. View the full article