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On Thursday a 1,000-foot freighter became stuck in the ice outside the Presque Isle channel in Lake Erie but freed itself before a Coast Guard ice breaking vessel was scheduled to arrive. Read the full story by Erie Times-News. View the full article

Wisconsin conservationists are expressing opposition to a proposal to draw 7 million gallons of water daily from Lake Michigan for the manufacturing plant Foxconn Technology Group plans to build. Read the full story by the Associated Press. View the full article

The Nature Conservancy of Canada have added two Bruce Peninsula conservation areas to its mix of properties. They feature the jack-pine treed alvar and the dwarf lake iris, both only found in the Great Lake region. Read the full story by Owen Sound Sun Times. View the full article

A recent University of Michigan study showed that weather extremes can slow the growth of maples. That’s bad news for the Great Lakes region, which produces a lot of maple syrup. Read the full story by Great Lakes Today. View the full article

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has decided to include Western Lake Erie in a list of impaired waters, due to the harmful algae blooms that plague the region every year. Read the full story by AP News. View the full article

The color of the treated sewage discharged from the Niagara Falls wastewater treatment plant can be “tweaked,” but it cannot be made clear, an engineer said Tuesday at an environmental conference in Buffalo, New York. Read the full story by The Buffalo News. View the full article

Crumbling barrels of paint waste and solvents containing potentially toxic chemicals have been uncovered in the dirt and mud along the Detroit River during excavation for the new Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge visitor center in Trenton, Michigan. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press. View the full article

The Canadian Coast Guard says their spring icebreaking operations will start this weekend on the Georgian Bay, on or about March 24. Read the full story by the Midland Mirror. View the full article

Water is being let out of Lake Ontario at record rates, but it’s doing little to relieve high water on the south shore, in New York. Read the full story by WXXI – Rochester, NY. View the full article

Madeline Island Ice Road, a slick two-mile thoroughfare on the world’s largest fresh­water lake, allows islanders to leave whenever they want without the usual expense and schedule limitations of a ferry. Read the full story by the Star Tribune. View the full article

As the clock ticks past midnight on March 25, the Soo Locks will open for the 2018 commercial shipping season, and the Visitors Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, will temporarily open to celebrate. Read the full story by The Sault News. View the full article

A group opposed to the golf course the Kohler Co. wants to build along Lake Michigan in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is pleased with a state agency ruling this week, which authorized an extensive hearing on a previously-issued wetlands permit for the project. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio. View the full article

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ just-released 3-year fish stocking plan calls for increases in steelhead and brown trout, maintaining salmon quotas, stocking larger fish that survive better, contracting private fish farms to help meet stocking needs, and enhanced data collection. Read the full story by WBAY-TV – Green Bay, WI. View the full article

A must-pass bill to keep the federal government running through September would fully fund the Great Lakes cleanup program targeted for cuts by the White House. Read the full story by The Detroit News. View the full article

Darren Nichols has been hired as executive director of the Great Lakes Commission. Read the full story by the Associated Press. View the full article

Michigan regulators are cracking down on municipal sewage plants in a bid to curb the amount of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances called PFAS or PFCs passing through wastewater facilities into landfills and waterways that feed the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

The National Park Service announced that starting this autumn, it plans to gather 20 to 30 wolves in the Great Lakes region and move them to Lake Superior’s Isle Royale over a period of two to three years. Read the full story by MinnPost. View the full article

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a vital component helping to maintain the health of the Great Lakes, and a bipartisan coalition of U.S. House members are fighting to ensure the program remains fully funded in the federal budget. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer. View the full article

This spring Huron Pines, a non-profit organization in Michigan focused on hands-on land restoration projects, would like Alpena residents to help the organization reach a goal of planting 300 feet of native greenbelt to help control erosion and pollution entering Lake Huron. Read the full story by The Alpena News. View the full article

The Marquette County Board of Commissioners approved a grant application that will fund an expansion at the Big Bay Harbor of Refuge in Marquette, Michigan. Read the full story by WBUP – Marquette, MI. View the full article

A pair of fully-electric ferries will soon connect two of the largest islands in Lake Ontario to the mainland. Read the full story by The Kingston Whig-Standard. View the full article

A year ago, kayaker Traci Lynn Martin set off from Lighthouse Beach in Port Huron, Michigan, on an epic journey that would take her around three of the five Great Lakes. She’s returning to share her experiences and plans to try again in 2020 to circumnavigate all the lakes. Read the full story by The Times Herald. View the full article

News Washington, D.C. – Great Lakes Commissioners from the U.S. and Canada traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to urge Congress to protect the Great Lakes, which hold one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water supply. Commissioners encouraged elected officials to protect the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), which was recently cut by 90 percent in President Trump’s proposed FY2019 budget, and to include funding for Great Lakes conservation programs and rural communities in the Farm Bill, which will be up for congressional reauthorization later this year. Commissioners were in D.C. for the 2018 Great Lakes Commission (GLC) Semiannual Meeting, which was held Tuesday and Wednesday. Delegations from the Great Lakes states and provinces, as well as observers, federal, state and nongovernmental partners attended the meeting, which featured keynote remarks from U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) focused on the economic impact of the lakes on Indiana, the region, and the nation. “As Congress debates an infrastructure package, we have to remember that infrastructure includes locks and ports like the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor,” said Senator Young, who serves as vice chair of the bipartisan Senate Great Lakes Task Force. “We can’t overlook the economic significance of the lakes.” Cathy Stepp, newly appointed administrator for U.S. EPA Region 5, also spoke at the meeting. She reaffirmed the EPA’s commitment to the GLRI, which has funded nearly 4,000 Great Lakes restoration projects since 2010. “We are really fortunate that in Region 5 we have legislators on both sides of the aisle who support this funding,” Stepp said. In 2017, the bipartisan Great Lakes congressional delegation reinstated full funding of $300 million for the GLRI after it was zeroed out by the president in his budget. At the meeting, Commissioners endorsed a resolution reaffirming the GLC’s support for NAFTA and the importance of trade between the U.S. and Canada, and encouraged both governments to avoid disrupting current trading patterns and creating uncertainty in markets as re-negotiations continue. The GLC also passed a resolution encouraging the governments to work together to help further grow the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence cruising industry. “On behalf of the leaders of all our states and provinces, the Great Lakes Commission is proud to come together and speak with one voice on behalf of the Great Lakes,” said GLC Chair John Linc Stine, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The GLC will next convene October 2-3, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Additional information will be available at www.glc.org. ← Previous news release The Great Lakes Commission, led by chairman Jon Allan, director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, 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 offices are 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 calls for full funding of GLRI; reaffirms commitment to NAFTA and U.S.-Canada trade Great Lakes Commission names Darren Nichols new executive director Great Lakes Commission calls for full funding of GLRI; reaffirms commitment to NAFTA and U.S.-Canada trade Coalition of states, cities, tribes, business, industry and conservation organizations release joint priorities for the Great Lakes Upcoming GLC Events 2018 Great Lakes Commission Annual Meeting October 2 - October 3 View GLC Calendar > View the full article

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service were seeing a lot of activity on their radar equipment across Michigan last weekend, but it wasn’t rain or snow: it was bugs and birds. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

The Great Lakes 2018 shipping campaign sailed into action on Tuesday and, no, the first vessel didn’t get stuck in the ice. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune. View the full article