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community weblog - [ Environment ]

Editorial: Quicker solution to Asian carp is now possible

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Let's talk sooner rather than later. That's the upshot of what should be viewed as a positive move by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week. As the Corps develops a recommendation to stop Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes, it will open up the process to the public much sooner than originally planned.

This is rather remarkable. First, the Corps seems to be conceding that the short list of ways to permanently protect the lakes can be compiled sooner rather than later. Second, it is letting the public, and Congress, dive into the decision-making discussion much earlier than it would have otherwise.  more...



Environment  

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Tours teach lake history, research

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PUT-IN-BAY --Tourists at Put-in-Bay can learn about Ohio history and the important Lake Erie research conducted at The Ohio State's Stone Laboratory by taking a tour of Gibraltar Island this summer.

Science and History Tours of the 6.5-acre island in Put-in-Bay harbor are from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays from June 20 through Aug. 15.

Groups will take guided tours of the island, including Perry's Lookout, the glacial grooves, Stone Lab buildings and the outside of Cooke Castle. The second part of the tour will focus on the Lake Erie research currently underway at Stone Lab.  more...



Environment  Other  

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Great Lakes lamprey will be baked into a dish fit for a queen

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Sea lamprey, above, are protected in England, so pie-makers for Queen Elizabeth II put out a call to the Great Lakes.Sea lamprey may be one of the most hated species in the Great Lakes, but it's a key ingredient in a traditional English pie that will be given to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee in June.

But because the eel-like creatures are now a protected species in England, the City of Gloucester, which has given the pie as a gift to the monarch since the Middle Ages, made a request for the lamprey to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which was only too happy to supply them. Unfortunately, the English need only a few to make the pie. more...



Environment  Other  

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Michigan city creek barrier to keep invasive eel out of Lake Michigan

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MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) — Efforts to keep an invasive species out of Lake Michigan will get a boost from a new barrier set up along a Michigan City creek.

The sea lamprey barrier installed along Trail Creek is a collaboration between the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The barrier is designed to keep sea lamprey from moving to spawning areas and will trap those that try to move through, The Times in Munster reported (http://bit.ly/HXr3Rs ).

The sea lamprey is native to the Atlantic but arrived in the Great Lakes more than 75 years ago via seaways. The eel-like fish attaches itself to healthy fish and sucks fluids from them.

One sea lamprey can destroy more than 40 pounds of fish during its lifetime.  more...



Environment  Other  

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Speaker to urge stronger water protections

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A prominent environmental lawyer who urges greater protection for our lakes and rivers will be keynote speaker Thursday evening at the local Sierra Club’s 14th annual environmental forum.Jim Olson, who practices law in northern Michigan, believes that threats to the Great Lakes and other waterways necessitate new state laws to protect them from commercial exploitation and pollution.  more...


Environment  Other  

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Lake's ecosystem continues to change

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I recently had a discussion with a few local anglers about salmon fishing in Owen Sound Bay. The theories and ideas among this small group of individuals had me pounding my head in disbelief. Excuses for the poor fishing ranged from cormorants to commercial netting. The fact is, to some extent they were all wrong.

The food web in Lake Huron has undergone a drastic change in recent years and the major reason for this can be directly attributed to invasive species. I recently attended a meeting between local and regional MNR representatives and a collection of sportsmen who make up the local Community Fisheries and Wildlife Involvement Program (CFWIP) clubs. Present at this meeting was MNR management biologist Arunas Liskauskas, who represents the Upper Great Lakes Management Unit. During the meeting, Liskauskas gave an informative presentation on the Huron food web and the impacts invasive species have had on the fisheries that we as local anglers have become accustomed to. I will try to summarize a few of the points to shed some light on the situation in Lake Huron/Georgian Bay.  more...



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Effort at Lake Superior beach aims to help Wisconsin's rarest bird

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If you build it, or at least keep dogs and gulls away, they will come.

That’s the hope along a swath of Lake Superior shoreline in Douglas County this summer under a federally funded program to restore piping plovers, Wisconsin’s rarest bird.

The St. Louis River Alliance is organizing the effort under a five-year, $250,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The diminutive shorebird is seen on occasion passing through the Twin Ports, but no confirmed plover nesting has occurred here in more than 25 years.  more...



Animals  Environment  Other  

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Michigan, Ohio officials to tackle Lake Erie algae threat to fish, tourism

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TRAVERSE CITY -- Officials in Michigan and Ohio agreed last week to cooperate more closely to find solutions to massive algae blooms in Lake Erie, a deadly threat to fish and a turn-off for tourists.

Delegations from both states, including their top environmental protection officials, said Wednesday that they will push harder for reductions in phosphorus discharges from farms, waste-treatment plants and other sources while sharing ideas and supporting research. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pledged technical and financial assistance.  more...



Environment  Other  

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Shallow harbors are sinking Great Lakes tourism

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A $200-million backlog in unfunded Great Lakes dredging and maintenance projects has left many Great Lakes harbors so shallow, they create safety hazards and hurt Michigan's tourism industry.

Lack of regular maintenance could leave recreational boaters in search of a safe harbor or unable to get boats across a sand-filled harbor entrance.

Even if boaters aren't in peril, they tend to avoid shallow harbors where the depth is uncertain, causing serious financial losses to local businesses and the state's tourism industry in general, tourism officials say. more...



Environment  

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Buoy that could determine viability of offshore wind farm to head back out to Lake Michigan

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Wednesday state regulators and researchers will head about 35 miles west of Muskegon, near the Michigan-Wisconsin border in Lake Michigan. There they’ll survey the bottom of Lake Michigan to make sure there are no historic artifacts in the way when a floating research platform drops anchor there (likely) later this week.

Arn Boezaart heads the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center. Last year the center operated the buoy only 4 miles offshore. This year it’ll collect first of its kind data that’ll likely determine whether an offshore wind farm is viable in the middle of Lake Michigan. more...



Environment  Wind  

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More algae, more problems

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The mild winter could mean a spring and summer where algae blooms are a bigger problem than usual in Lake Ontario and other local waterways.

Last week, Color Brighton Green held a presentation on local water quality issues. Charles Knauf, the department's chief water quality analyst, told the crowd that algae tends to be worse in years when there are no big winter storms to disrupt algae growth.

"I got called out on two algae blooms already, and it's not even April," he said. Both involved inland water bodies.  more...



Environment  

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Lake Erie: can toxic algae blooms be limited?

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PORT CLINTON -- Toxic blue-green algae was so thick in some spots last year that Jerry Abele's boat slowed down at times when he was crossing Lake Erie.

Anglers had trouble catching fish through the masses of algae, said Abele, who owns Head Hunter Charters in Danbury Township. 2011 was the worst year on record for the toxic algae, and blooms stretched into the Central Basin, farther than ever found before.

Phosphorus running into the lake's tributaries is the culprit, and scientists have identified agriculture as the main source. Other sources include combined sewer overflows of untreated sewage dumping into the lake and its tributaries during big storms.  more...



Environment  

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Stop trying to control Great Lakes levels, panel says

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Dams and gates near the International Bridge control water flows from Lake Superior through the St. Marys River toward Lake Huron. Trying to control water levels would be expensive and damage the environment, a study said.A

U.S.-Canadian advisory panel ended a five-year study Wednesday with a recommendation against large-scale engineering projects to prevent swings in Great Lakes water levels, saying people across the region should adapt to nature's ups and downs.

The $14.6-million investigation concluded that trying to control levels by placing more structures at choke points such as the St. Clair River at the south end of Lake Huron would be too expensive and damage the environment.  more...



Environment  Other  

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Scientists play down price tag on invasive species in Great Lakes

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A new U.S. report says foreign species carried into the Great Lakes by ships are causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the ecosystem.

However, Canadian experts are questioning the figures, saying you cannot easily put a price on damages caused by invasive species. While they say the problem is real, the lakes are in no danger of dying anytime soon.

The report states that an average of $138 million in annual damages are made to the Great Lakes from ship-borne invaders, but that the figure could reach more than $800 million a year. These foreign species are said to originate from the ballast of ships — water that is taken aboard vessels to stabilize the load. more...



Environment  Other  

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With gobies on the menu, snake species rebounds

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Masters student Jenny Smith holds a male gobie at the University of Windsor Biology Building on Tuesday, March 20, 2012. The university is conducting research into scent male gobies use to attract females. The researchers are hoping to recreate the scent allowing them to trap the females.

Gobies, a despised invasive fish, are helping the endangered Lake Erie water snake make a comeback - by being dinner.

"I think it's kind of ironic," Ronald Brooks, of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, said Wednesday.

"Invasive species are considered to be a major threat to native species diversity but in this case it worked the opposite way."

Last year the snake, which is found only on a bunch of Lake Erie islands, including Pelee Island, and in Ohio, was removed from the U.S. endangered species list. It had been listed as threatened.

In Canada, COSEWIC reviews the status of species every 10 years and the last look at the endangered snake was in 2006.  more...



Environment  Other  

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