The Trump administration has reversed a purge of federal workers tasked with combatting one of the Great Lakes’ most damaging invasive species. But a month-plus delay in starting treatments may have consequences.
Michigan Environment Watch
Michigan Environment Watch examines how public policy, industry, and other factors interact with the state’s trove of natural resources.
Great Lakes News Collaborative
Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, The Narwhal and Michigan Public work together to report on the most pressing threats to the Great Lakes region’s water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. You can find all of the collaborative’s stories here.
Shockwave
The Great Lakes region is in the midst of a seismic energy shakeup, from skyrocketing data center demand and a nuclear energy boom, to expanding renewables and electrification. In 2026, the Great Lakes News Collaborative will explore how shifting supply and demand affect the region and its waters. Read the series here.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
US, Canada long managed Great Lakes together; that era could be ending
The Trump administration disinvited two Canadian mayors from a Great Lakes event in Washington and the president has mentioned “revisiting the sharing of lakes and rivers between the two nations.”
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Millions of walleye will soon head up the Detroit River
Some call it the best walleye fishing in the world when a portion of Lake Erie’s walleye head north during spawning season.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Trump's 'green bank' freeze puts Michigan climate, housing efforts in limbo
Michigan stood to receive hundreds of millions from a federal financing network that the Trump administration wants to abolish amid claims of a ‘far-left’ conspiracy. Michigan’s plans for the money included insulating old homes and building apartments.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Seven tribes in Michigan withdraw from federal talks over Line 5 tunnel permit
The tribes are concerned with an anticipated fast-tracking of the tunnel permit. The Army Corps of Engineers says it will consider comments from tribes as it prepares an environmental impact statement.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Study: Algae blooms on cold Lake Superior reveal impact of climate change
Agricultural runoff, less wintertime ice cover and strong storms that deposit nutrients into the lake are other possible reasons for a surge in cyanobacterial blooms.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Groups fight to preserve future of Michigan’s indigenous wild rice
To aid in restoration across the state, the Michigan Wild Rice Initiative, comprising tribes indigenous to the Great Lakes region, state officials, and academic experts, created a stewardship plan.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan's newest PFAS threat: Contamination from household septic systems
When PFAS began showing up in Cadillac residents’ well water, industrial polluters were a prime suspect. But state investigators say residents may have unwittingly tainted their own water, through years of flushing common products into household septic systems. It’s a risk facing millions of Michiganders.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Cougar cubs spotted in Michigan for first time in a century
The weeks-old cubs were spotted without their mother in Ontonagon County. State officials are celebrating the discovery, while cautioning that they don’t know whether the cubs survived.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Amid legal challenges, Michigan considers reinstating year-round coyote hunting
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission could vote as soon as next month on the proposed hunting expansion, which comes just a year after commissioners restricted springtime hunting to avoid orphaning newborns that depend upon their parents for survival.