Great Lakes Blogger

bad news and good for MN conservation

Bad --

A government report issued last week says it could take 150 years and billions of dollars for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect key portions of the Prairie Pothole region to sustain current duck populations.

Good --

Supporters of a constitutional amendment to dedicate a portion of the state sales tax for natural resources were encouraged to get assurance recently from legislative leaders that the issue will be taken up at the 2008 Legislature in February.

Last session, separate measures passed the House and Senate, and a conference committee worked out differences, but the session ended before a vote was taken.

If the Legislature approves the measure, it would be placed on the November 2008 ballot. Supporters are hoping for quick passage so they can launch a multimillion dollar campaign.

http://www.startribune.com/outdoors/story/1453087.html

the legacy of the governor of Michigan

As Gaylord Nelson said in 2000, "We have finally come to understand that the real wealth of a nation is its air, water, soil, forest, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity. Take this resource away, and all that is left is a wasteland. That's the whole economy."

Nelson was out front in this issue in the early 1960s and, as a result, he is remembered for it. It's not too late for Granholm to be remembered as a conservation governor, too.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070930/OPINION02/709300543/1068/OPINION

national scrutiny for falling lakes

Falling Great Lakes levels get attention from CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/09/30/obrien.great.lakes.cnn

turn out the lights, Michigan

With unemployment the worst in the nation, and the government on the verge of shutdown, it's time for my home state to drive toward a new way of life.

By Edward McClelland

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/09/28/michigan/index_np.html

waterspout over, earthquake under Erie

Friday's Lake Erie phenomena.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=51283

http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/UPDATES01/70928018

more rumblings on compact in Indiana

Businesses and environmental groups in Northwest Indiana have already said they oppose water diversions from the Great Lakes. But the strength of their support for the Great Lakes Compact may depend on whether Indiana makes it mandatory or voluntary for existing water users to conserve water.

http://www.post-trib.com/news/579007,glcmeet.article

Why is it so burdensome to save water, which can also reduce costs and increase profits?

close up of Lake Erie algae

From last spring...

Michigan's Great Outdoors suffering from budget cuts

• The Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environmental Quality have suffered a 62 percent decline in funding since 2001. This decline is not at all proportionate to overall declines in      statewide funds: for the same period, total general fund spending dropped only 6 percent.

http://www.michiganlcvedfund.org/

a new federal estuarine reserve in the Great Lakes?

Maybe. But while the subject's on the table, why don't the Great Lakes states do a more aggressive job of naming underwater reserves or freshwater sanctuaries? Michigan, for example, has a statute allowing these for a variety of reasons, including ecological ones, but only shipwreck sites have won the designation. Surely somewhere out there in 38,000 square miles of submerged Great Lakes land, Michigan has good reason to designate some critical habitats for research and conservation.

http://www.piercecountyherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=25908&section=homepage&property_id=9

The St. Louis River Estuary in Douglas County could be designated a National Estuarine Research Reserve...

Currently, there are 27 federally designated research reserves in the nation. All but one — Old Woman Creek Research Reserve in Huron, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie — are the typical estuaries where rivers meet the sea.

However, freshwater or Great Lakes-type estuaries are chemically distinct where the river and lake waters meet, according to NOAA. Unlike brackish estuaries, which are tidally driven, freshwater estuaries are storm-driven.

down under take on Great Lakes VHS

A good primer on Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia, although whether it's "on the rampage" or simply a grave concern is debatble.

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20072609-16377.html