Michigan Environment Watch

Drownings in the Great Lakes are down this year, with half of them occurring in Lake Michigan. Meanwhile, the number of drownings in inland lakes isn’t known and some sheriffs are cutting back marine patrols amid a funding shortage.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is auctioning off 124 properties state officials say are better managed by private hands. Lakefront properties, vast forestland and an island are all up for grabs.

The Great Lakes piping plover recovery effort has been ongoing since the mid-1980s when the population got as low as a dozen nesting pairs. This year, the number reached 85 nesting pairs for the first time.

Plans to build climate resilience hubs across the state have come to a halt after the Trump administration abruptly canceled nearly $88 million in federal grants meant for Michigan nonprofits. Now, organizers are suing for their money back while scrambling for alternative funding.

Michigan game regulators tore into Ted Nugent’s June testimony at the state Capitol, calling his comments underinformed and disrespectful to conservation officers.

Amid a population crash of Michigan’s staple lake whitefish, fisheries experts told regulators that more research needs to be done to discover how to stem the scourge of invasive mussels. Without that, they said, efforts to limit fishing are futile.

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission on Thursday will hear a presentation on the looming collapse of whitefish in lakes Michigan and Huron. Bridge Michigan is spending the summer exploring the ramifications.

In nature, a lot can change on a largely uninhabited Great Lakes island over the course of a century. And a lot can stay the same.

Experts told Bridge Michigan that if the bill passes, utilities will likely slow their investments in renewable energy and prolong their reliance on natural gas, while automakers may again extend EV production timelines.

As climate change pushes the native growing range of Michigan’s most economically productive trees further north, one MSU researcher is hoping to discover genetic traits that could help them survive in hotter climates.

It’s nothing to sneeze at: Rising temperatures brought on by climate change could be causing fungal allergy season to start more than three weeks ahead of schedule.

For six years, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Enbridge have been fighting over which court should rule on a lawsuit Nessel filed in 2019. The lawsuit seeks to shut down the petroleum pipeline that runs in the open water of the Great Lakes.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth found the previously-undiscovered microorganisms hiding in the tar-like goo oozing out of a research vessel’s rudder shaft.

Electric vehicle registrations doubled in Michigan over the past two years. But the 85,666 registrations are still a fraction of the 2 million EVs Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hopes to see by 2030.

The rocker turned conservative activist appeared before Michigan House committees as the chamber’s Republican leaders push to change state policies governing fish and wildlife management.

The Trump administration’s emergency order keeping a Michigan coal power plant open is generating optimism from some Republicans and angst from environmentalists. Both camps wonder just how long the plant stays open — and if others are next.

Extreme erosion along the Great Lakes coasts grabbed lawmakers’ attention and inspired proposals to pull development back from the shoreline. Five years later, regulatory gaps still leave some communities more vulnerable than others.

The Great Lakes survivors are vanishing before our eyes. What do they mean to your family? Let Bridge know.

Globally, 1 million species are on the brink of extinction. Experts say to avoid further losses, society must begin to prioritize the planet’s long-term health over near-term convenience and profits.

Michigan has rhapsodized about the hardy fish for centuries. Celebrations continue, but they are taking on a melancholy tone for the fish 'synonymous with Great Lakes living.’