News
Bipartisan Great Lakes Restoration Bill Wins Environmental Support
Bipartisan legislation that promises the largest federal investment ever to clean up the Great Lakes - $650 million annually for the next five years - has been introduced in the Senate and in the House to applause from environmental groups.
Stabenow spearheading Asian Carp control bill
With a $7 billion fishing industry and a $16 billion tourism and boating industry in the Great Lakes, Asian Carp are a potential disaster to Michigan but a long-term solution may be in the works. Asian Carp can weigh up to 100 pounds and, according to scientists, they don't have a functional stomach so they eat all the time. The problem is they eat up all the food, the plankton at the bottom, so that the other fish have nothing to live on.
United front urged over wind farms
Area municipalities and the Essex Region Conservation Authority should develop a regional response to the 700 offshore turbines proposed for lakes Erie and St. Clair, Kingsville council agreed Monday.
Small Harbors Coalition requests local support for resolution
Many shallow draft harbors used by Lake Erie’s recreational boaters and charter fishing fleet are sorely in need of dredging and infrastructure maintenance to be continually safe and reliable. However, current funding for such projects is dependent on Congressional “earmarks,” and is therefore inconsistent. In an effort to change this system, the Great Lakes Small Harbors Coalition is asking local port authorities, municipalities, and coastal townships to adopt a resolution that will be used to petition the federal government for sustainable, needs-based funding.
Soo Locks 2010 shipping season will open early this year
On March 21, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will open the Poe Lock, part of the Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., at 7:00 a.m. This event signals the beginning of the commercial shipping season, allowing Great Lakes freighters to pass around the falls in the St. Marys River 24 hours a day, seven days a week until next Jan. 15.
Staff prefers harbor site for UWM water school
The people who will work at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's new School of Freshwater Sciences want the school to stay on the Lake Michigan harbor and not be moved inland to the Reed Street Yards.
How to Catch Big Game Fish—From a Kayak
Sitting sideways in a kayak, I cast a plug into the inky-black dark of a south Louisiana salt marsh. It’s a half-hour to sunrise, but I’m already a mile out after following five other kayak anglers to a tiny island set deep in the wetlands. Now we’re catching spotted sea trout as fast as we can cast. All around me I hear lures plopping into the water and my fellow anglers whooping and hooting.
Proposed legislation introduced to incentivize US offshore wind
Senators Tom Carper (D-DE), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced legislation to provide tax incentives for the production of offshore wind energy. The proposed bill, S. 3062, would specifically apply the production tax credit (PTC) pursuant to Code Section 45 to offshore wind facilities and would provide for a January 1, 2020, expiration date of this PTC. The investment tax credit pursuant to Section 48 would also be amended to apply to offshore facilities placed in service after 2008 and before 2020.
Great Lakes algae: Not so good to be green
Algae is a growing problem in the Great Lakes region — literally. The Great Lakes states have come a long way in tracking and reporting E. coli levels at beaches, but the same isn’t true about algae levels.
Ned Dikmen Appointed to Server on Sport Fishing & Boating Partnership Council
Ned Dikmen, Ph.D, publisher of Great Lakes Boating magazine and chairman of the Great Lakes Boating Federation, was recently appointed to the Sport Fishing & Boating Partnership Council (SFBPC), by Ken Salazar, U.S. Secretary of the Department of the Interior.
Warmer weather means ice hazards; icebreaker coming to Sandusky Bay
Deteriorating ice conditions will increase this weekend and make recreational ice activities more dangerous than usual, the Coast Guard reports.
The combination of the warmer temperatures and shifting winds, along with expected sunshine, will cause hazardous conditions on the ice. The Coast Guard cautions the public about venturing out on the ice. If you decide to go out, officials recommend taking these precautions:
Great Lakes protection bill introduced
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28) announced that she introduced H.R. 4755 the Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act which will put the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative into law. In February, the Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with other federal agencies, released the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan, a 40-page document which demonstrated a renewed commitment to the Great Lakes and laid out plans to restore and renew the Lakes.
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