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

After 10 million pieces of beach trash, Chicago advocates push for sustainable packaging | Great Lakes Now

6 min read

After 10 million pieces of beach trash, Chicago advocates push for sustainable packaging

Plastic is the dominant source of beach trash in the Great Lakes region.

That’s the finding by the Chicago-based non-profit Alliance for the Great Lakes in a recently released report that analyzed beach litter picked up by its volunteers over the past 20 years.

“Twenty years of data collected by volunteers shows that 86% of the trash was either fully or partially made from plastic,” the Alliance said in a press release.

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Great Lakes Now Michigan

Storied Two Hearted River gets 21st century update in new book | Great Lakes Now

6 min read

Storied Two Hearted River gets 21st century update in new book

For Traverse City’s Bob Otwell, part of Michigan’s allure is its abundance of special places, and primary among them is the Upper Peninsula’s “wild and isolated” Two Hearted River watershed.

That’s where Otwell and family have had a cabin called “Boggy’s Camp” for over 30 years.

In a newly released book, The Real Two Hearted: Life, Love, and Lore Along Michigan’s Most Iconic River, Otwell chronicles his decades of paddling, hiking and mountain-biking along the Two Hearted and meshes those activities with raising a family along the way.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Great Lakes Now Michigan

Storied Two Hearted River gets 21st century update in new book | Great Lakes Now

6 min read

Storied Two Hearted River gets 21st century update in new book

For Traverse City’s Bob Otwell, part of Michigan’s allure is its abundance of special places, and primary among them is the Upper Peninsula’s “wild and isolated” Two Hearted River watershed.

That’s where Otwell and family have had a cabin called “Boggy’s Camp” for over 30 years.

In a newly released book, The Real Two Hearted: Life, Love, and Lore Along Michigan’s Most Iconic River, Otwell chronicles his decades of paddling, hiking and mountain-biking along the Two Hearted and meshes those activities with raising a family along the way.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.