Michigan Environment Watch

A new policy giving state beach managers power to ticket people who enter the water despite warnings during rough waves, bacteria outbreaks or other dangerous conditions. It is set to take effect in May.

A chemical mishap forced residents of a company town out of their homes. They may be away for weeks. And answers are scant.

An investigative report released Monday sheds light on the problems that left the dam vulnerable, from a failure to compact the soil during construction to missing drain tiles that the dam’s owner never addressed.

Once thought too cold for cyanobacteria to grow, Lake Superior in recent years has joined the other Great Lakes as a breeding ground for potentially-toxic algae as a changing climate warms its waters.

Visitors to public lands and outdoor recreation are overwhelmingly white. State land managers say they want to reduce this “nature gap,” while African-American and Latino groups are encouraging more exploration of Michigan waters and trails.

After years of collecting samples from killed deer that overwhelmed state resources while failing to provide the information biologists need to track chronic wasting disease, state officials are taking a more targeted approach.

Public health advocates and bipartisan lawmakers are advocating for new funding to fix the failing septics that leech fecal bacteria, viruses and toxins into Michigan’s waterways.

The massive storms that ripped through southeast Michigan this summer are likely the state’s new normal, but our aging infrastructure was designed for the climate of the past.

Wildfires consuming the west coast and Canada are troublesome and destructive, but they are also producing stunning panoramas through the hazy skies.

A federal study finds herds in Michigan and other states have virus antibodies in their blood. That’s more of an indication of its spread than cause for concern. The deer are doing just fine.

Natural populations of oil-degrading bacteria could help to clean up freshwater rivers and lakes after spills from pipelines and trains, but it’s not clear whether using bacteria could pose problems for the surrounding environment.

Not long ago, claims of cougar sightings were met with ridicule in Michigan. Now, some researchers believe the upper Great Lakes could be an important area for “cougar range expansion.”

A coalition known as Keep the U.P. Wild wants Congress to designate 51,000 acres in the Ottawa National Forest as a ‘wilderness.’ A logging representative asks ‘how many set-aside areas do we really need?’

The state has permission to kill up to 9,650 birds and destroy up to 1,400 nests, a move state wildlife managers hope will reduce pressure on fish populations valued by anglers. Opponents say the birds are scapegoated for a fish collapse they didn’t cause.

More than three-quarters of health department officials in Michigan agree that climate change will impact their jurisdiction in the next 20 years. But only a third identified climate change as a priority for their department.

The private timberlands that blanket Keweenaw County have been open for public recreation for generations. But with 32,600 acres now for sale by a New York hedge fund, some fear “no trespassing” signs may follow.

Yes, planting milkweed helps. But a new study by Michigan State University researchers links hotter, drier weather to monarch declines and raises questions about the iconic butterflies’ future as the climate changes.

A death at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is the most recent incident in a summer of tragedy in Michigan’s remote wildernesses. That’s stretched resources and has lawmakers thinking of new funding sources.

Line 5 sustained no damage during the incident, which occurred as a result of an equipment failure while crews were doing maintenance work on the dual-span pipeline at the bottom of the Straits.

It seemed like a good deal: The city offered free replacement of lead water lines to residents. But mistrust of the government, particularly in immigrant communities, and unclear messaging has made the operation a hard sell.