Piping plovers are nesting in more places, and in slightly greater numbers.
Rural Michigan
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Grand Traverse group wins praise for preserving key land from development
Protecting some properties from development is critical to curbing climate change and preserving northern Michigan’s natural beauty. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy has become a national leader.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan’s northern state parks may add worker housing
Competition for workers and a lack of rental homes in the Upper Peninsula prompted the state to convert an unused building at Tahquamenon Falls. Next up: the Porcupine Mountains, with more housing options likely to follow in northern Michigan.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Fewer boaters and wine tasters. Will $5 gas sink Michigan summer tourism?
Fewer boats at a Rogers City marina. Wine-tasting crowd down in Leelanau County. New worries about travel costs Up North. This summer was supposed to be different. But warning signs mount for Michigan’s travel industry.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
As Saginaw Bay pollution grows, farmers urge other farmers to change ways
State officials this spring declared Saginaw Bay “impaired” due to nutrient pollution. Farmers like Steve Tait are now working to convince fellow farmers that no-till and other soil-conservation practices are profitable, along with good for the environment.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan deer hunters decline as pandemic boost in hunting wanes
Michigan’s deer hunting license sales that jumped during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic are slumping again.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Nuclear power is having a moment in Michigan after Palisades
Billions of federal bailout dollars, a climate crisis and experimental new technologies have prompted a political resurgence. But experts say it may be too late to save Michigan’s shuttered Palisades plant.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan Great Lakes: Expect lower waters, ample fish and a hot summer
This is why we love Michigan. What to expect in terms of weather, beach cover and water conditions on the Great Lakes.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
The bird flu: Clean your birdfeeder right now
Federal officials early this year detected highly contagious influenza in wild birds in over 30 U.S. states, the biggest avian flu outbreak since 2015.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Suicide stalks rural Michigan
The 15 Michigan counties with the highest suicide rates from 2005 through 2020 were all rural. Experts point to isolation, job loss and lack of mental health care as key contributors to rural despair.