Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes most unwanted: Top 10 invasive species

13 min read

Great Lakes most unwanted: Top 10 invasive species

Long after the Halloween season has ended, some of the Great Lakes’ most infamous invasive species remain a scary sight: blood-sucking parasites with suction-cup mouths, thousands of rotting fish carcasses washed ashore and sharp mussel shells that puncture the feet of unsuspecting beachgoers.

At least 188 nonnative aquatic species have been introduced to the Great Lakes, and over a third have become invasive, meaning they can have negative health, ecological and socioeconomic impacts when introduced to new ecosystems.

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Great Lakes Now Michigan

Great Lakes Moment: Mink thriving along the Detroit River | Great Lakes Now

7 min read

Great Lakes Moment: Mink thriving along the Detroit River

Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.

From a distance, I caught a glimpse of a relatively small elongated furry animal moving along the shoreline of the Detroit River.

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Great Lakes Now

Groundwater: Who’s in charge? | Great Lakes Now

6 min read

Groundwater: Who’s in charge?

In the early 2000s a movement to address the plight of the heavily polluted and long neglected Great Lakes started to gain traction.

The goal was to bring the gravitas of the federal government to the issue and in 2004 President George W. Bush signed an executive order declaring the lakes a “national treasure.” An interagency task force was established to bring together the disparate efforts of various federal programs who had been working independently on Great Lakes issues.

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Great Lakes Now Michigan

Who is working to preserve and restore wetlands in Metro Detroit? | Great Lakes Now

9 min read

Who is working to preserve and restore wetlands in Metro Detroit?

By Erica Hobbs, Planet Detroit

This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.

Wetlands don’t often come to mind when thinking about major metropolitan cities like Detroit. Bogs, marshes, vernal pools, and swamps contrast starkly with the city’s skyscrapers, roads, and industrial plants, and up to 90 percent of the area’s wetlands along the Detroit River have been lost since European settlement.

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Great Lakes Now Lake Erie Michigan

Great Lakes Moment: Ten natural wonders of The Great Lakes Way | Great Lakes Now

12 min read

Great Lakes Moment: Ten natural wonders of The Great Lakes Way

Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.

The Great Lakes Way is an interconnected set of greenways and water trails stretching from Port Huron, Michigan (at the head of the St.

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