A Larger Shiawassee Refuge and new Great Lakes Boating Forecasts

May 24, 2013 — jeffkart

Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart). As heard at 9 a.m. Fridays in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta Q-90.1 FM.

1 – The Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge just grew in size.

shiawassee refuge 180 acres

Wetlands and grasslands at the refuge’s 180-acre addition. Credit: Steven F. Kahl/USFWS.

The refuge, located in Saginaw County, is now 180 acres larger, due to funding from the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The new tract is located on the east side of Miller Road, from Hart Road to Swan Creek.

The area is made up of large, open grassland mixed with small wetlands and river-edge marsh.

Refuge managers will work to restore the habitat to a historic mix of emergent marsh and wet prairie.

The new land makes for a good location for observing wildlife, including grasshopper sparrows, short-eared owls, rough-legged hawks, sandhill cranes and white-tailed deer.

A parking lot is located at the south end of Miller Road on the Shiawassee River State Game Area.

See also: Dragons in Saginaw

2 -Boaters looking for lake-specific forecasts are in luck. 

The Great Lakes Observing System has launched an expanded, online Boaters’ Forecast Tool that covers the entire Great Lakes.

The tool provides information on water currents and depth, along with marina and boat launch locations.

The tool was developed by partners including the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab and Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystem Research, both located in Ann Arbor.

lake huron boating glosFor Lake Huron, the forecast also show data on waves, surface temperature and winds.

The Great Lakes Observing System, also known as GLOS, is one of 11 regional associations of the Integrated Ocean Observing System.

See also: Saginaw Bay Walleye Migrating Further, Earlier, & a Great Lakes Beach App

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Midland man to document Greenland warming, updates on energy forums and Bay City transport projects

May 17, 2013 — jeffkart

Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart). As heard in Bay City, Michigan, on Friday Edition – 9 a.m., May 17, 2013, on Delta College Q-90.1 FM

1 – Midland resident Peter Sinclair will join a scientific team on the Greenland ice sheet this summer.

greenland frozen meltpond

Via NASA

Along for the ride will be well-known climate activist and writer Bill McKibben, who will cover the journey for Rolling Stone magazine.

The effort is called the DarkSnowProject, and it’s being led by Jason Box, formerly of the Byrd Polar Center at Ohio State, now with the Denmark Geological Survey.

Box and the team will be sampling snow at key points on the ice sheet, to determine the causes of a decreased whiteness that has been observed in the past decade. A darkening of the ice causes more solar energy to be absorbed, and more melting.

Box recruited Sinclair to document the expedition in video and photos.

Sinclair produces a popular YouTube series called “Climate Denial Crock of the Week,” which pokes fun at those who doubt the science of global warming and climate change.

The expedition has been funded through private donations and via an Internet campaign.

The researchers will be on the Greenland ice during late June and early July.

2 - Earlier this year, state-sponsored forums on Michigan’s energy future were held throughout the state, including on March 4 at Delta College.

A recent analysis by the Michigan Land Use Institute says the seven forums drew big crowds and strong support for clean energy development.

All but two of the forums attracted full houses, and a total of almost 250 people spoke during the sessions.

A coalition that’s pushing for higher renewable and energy efficiency requirements in the state said a majority of commenters at each forum endorsed one or both of the goals.

State officials are now mulling more than 1,000 comments submitted as part of the sessions. They are to be presented to Gov. Rick Snyder this fall, and he plans to offer recommendations in December.

Michigan’s current standard requires utilities to generate 10 percent of their power from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2015.

3 – The Bay City Area Transportation Study is hosting an open house on May 30 in Bay City.

The Study helps channel federal money to road and transportation projects in the area. Bay County planners are seeking public comment on a proposed Transportation Improvement Program for 2014 through 2017.

The public open house will be held on Thursday, May 30, from 4-7 p.m. at the Wirt Library in Bay City.

All users of the transportation system in the Bay City Area, from pedestrians and bicyclists to bus riders, commuters, truckers and shippers are invited to attend.

There also are opportunities to review the plan and comment by phone, fax, mail and email until June 4.

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Posted in Global warming, Climate change, transportation, energy. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

Low-Energy Loons, State Forest Plans, and Woody Debris

May 9, 2013 — jeffkart

Mr. Great Lakes, Jeff Kart. As heard in Bay City, Michigan, at 9 a.m. Fridays on Delta College Q-90.1 FM.

1 – The Great Lakes Loons are using less energy.

robot bird loons baseball time

Credit: Steve Bowbrick

The Minor League Baseball Team has set a goal to reduce total energy use by 50 percent by 2020.

The team, along with Dow Diamond and its corporate partners, Dow Chemical and Dow Corning, also plans to cut water use and waste in half by the year 2020.

The sustainability goals were updated this week in a first-quarter report.

Highlights include a new composting program for food waste at Dow Diamond, and the installation of more efficient LED lighting.

The compost program will use the food waste to fertilize the grounds and flower beds at Dow Diamond.

The LED lighting installed in various areas of Dow Diamond is expected to cut energy by about 15,000 kilowatt hours and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 36,000 pounds.

The Great Lakes Loons are a Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

2- Public meetings are planned this month on regional state forest plans.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is hosting the meetings to discuss feedback from an earlier round of meetings that sought comment on draft versions of the plans.

The topics to be discussed at the May sessions include aspen and timber management; wildlife habitat and recreational trails.

The meetings include one on Wednesday, May 22, in Gaylord.

Following the sessions, the DNR will revise plans for each region, including the Northern Lower Peninsula, in preparation for final review at upcoming Natural Resources Commission meetings and approval by the DNR director. Final approval of the plans is expected in November 2013.

The plans are designed to help the DNR manage 4 million acres of state forest land in Michigan. Once finalized, the plans will guide DNR decisions about timber management and other activities on state forest land for years to come.

3 – Trees are making a splash in the Pigeon River.

The first trees have gone into the river as part of an instream habitat diversity project.

Stretches of the Pigeon and Sturgeon rivers are the focus of work planned for this year by Huron Pines, a nonprofit in Gaylord.

Large woody debris – like trees and branches – are placed in the river to improve habitat for fish, protect against streambank erosion, and provide habitat for bugs, turtles, birds and other wildlife.

Sites are selected to provide conservation value without interfering in river navigation.

See also: Flying Trees

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Posted in energy, fish, water. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Saginaw Bay Scavenger Hunt, Goodbye Winter, and Lake Huron Fish

May 3, 2013 — jeffkart

Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart). As heard in Bay City, Michigan, at 9 a.m. Fridays on Delta College Q-90.1 FM. Part of Friday Edition. 

1 – Calling all photographers. 

Ducks at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.

Ducks at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is holding a Saginaw Bay Photo Scavenger Hunt at Fish Point State Wildlife Area in Tuscola County, Nayanquing Point State Wildlife Area in Bay County, and the Shiawassee River State Game Area in Saginaw County.

Successful hunters in the Wetland Wonders Challenge are eligible for prizes, and there will be nature walks scheduled at each area to help people find items to shoot — with a camera.

To participate, sign up your team online by midnight on Wednesday, May 8.

The hunt list includes 90 items, and you have to find at least 65 to win.

You can find more information at the Facebook page for Michigan Waterfowl Legacy and via the Michigan DNR.

The Waterfowl Legacy program is sponsored in part by the Bay City-based Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network.

- Wetland Wonders Challenge II Saginaw Bay Photo Scavenger Hunt Rules

2 - Goodbye winter.

The U.S. Coast Guard and its Canadian counterpart recently concluded ice-breaking operations on the Great Lakes, including Lake Huron.

The efforts were dubbed as Operation Taconite and Operation Coal Shovel.

Operation Taconite began in December was carried out in Lake Superior, the St. Marys River, the Straits of Mackinac, and northern Lake Huron.

Operation Coal Shovel began in January was carried out in southern Lake Huron, the Detroit and St. Clair River systems, Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

A group of cutters spent more than 3,000 hours breaking ice, assisting with hundreds of vessel transits, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Ice-breaking enables commercial shippers on both sides of U.S.-Canada border to transport an average of $2 billion worth of cargo each winter, including heating fuel and food supplies.

3 - A follow-up on those Lake Huron fishery workshops held last month (April) in Ubly, Oscoda and Cedarville.

According to a summary from Michigan Sea Grant, this year researchers had mostly positive news to share regarding the status and trends of fish populations and fishing on the lake.

The overall message was that Lake Huron is proving to be resilient and still offers a diverse and valuable fishing experience, despite drastic ecosystem changes driven by invasive species.

Fisheries researchers and managers have gained a better understanding of how invasive species have re-designed Lake Huron’s food web, and explored new research and management strategies over the past several years.

Findings presented at the workshops include a healthier population of naturally reproducing Chinook salmon, and an expanding number of native species including lake trout and walleye.

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Posted in fish, invasive species. Tags: , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Saginaw River Dredging, Better Birding, and a local 350 March

April 26, 2013 — jeffkart

Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart), at 9 a.m. Fridays. As heard in Bay City, Michigan, on April 26, 2013, Delta College Q-90.1 FM.

1 – A $1.7 million dredging project is due to start next month (May) on the Saginaw River and Bay.

early bird catches worm

The early bird. Credit: ellenm1

The work will be done by Luedtke Engineering of Frankfort, with funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps says the dredging will help ensure that marine commerce keeps moving in and out of the Saginaw Bay Region. The Saginaw River is used for hauling cement, coal, limestone, salt, potash and grain.

Luedtke will dredge more than 200,000 cubic yards of mud from two portions of the river, according to the Corps.

This includes more than 150,000 yards of material to be dredged along a three-mile area between the Independence Bridge in Bay City and the mouth of Saginaw River. The spoils will be taken to Channel Island, a Confined Disposal Facility located two miles out in the bay.

Luedtke will dredge another 50,000 cubic yards of material upstream in Saginaw County. Those spoils will go into a Dredged Material Disposal Facility that straddles the Bay-Saginaw county line.

The dredging is slated to start in early May and finish by late June.

(For more, see pdf of Operational Management Plan for Upper Saginaw River DMDF).

2 – The Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy is pursuing a Birding Trail project.

The conservancy, with an office in Bay City, will use a $1,000 grant from the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network.

The conservancy was the winner of an Earth Day Facebook contest put on by the Network. The conservancy’s Birding Trail project garnered more than 300 votes to win the prize.

The Saginaw Bay Birding Trail runs for more than 140 miles and features 50 sites from Port Austin to East Tawas. The grant will be used to add new signs to the Trail. More than 200 species of birds can be spotted along the stretch, including warblers, plovers and waterfowl.

The conservancy is partnering on the project with Michigan Audubon. It also will include a website, a “hub” location in Bay City, and a free field guide.

3 – A Bay City-area environmental group will hold its third clean energy event on May 18.

The Lone Tree Council is planning a “350” march and walk over the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Bay City and into Vets Park, featuring students and others. Electric and hybrid cars also will be on hand.

The Saginaw Valley Sustainability Society is participating, and area residents are invited to attend.

The 350 event, on May 18, is meant to oppose the burning of fossil fuels for electricity and transportation, which contributes to climate change. This is the fourth annual 350 event in Bay City. Similar events are being held in the United States and abroad.

The number 350 refers to the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The current level is above that number, and scientists say it needs to be reduced to below 350 to avoid serious consequences.

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Posted in birds, Climate change, energy, land conservation, Saginaw River. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Great Lakes Restoration Funding for 2014, Lots of Atlantic salmon, and new Michigan Green Schools

April 12, 2013 — jeffkart

Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart). The Environment Report for April 12, 2013. As heard in Bay City, Michigan, on Fridays at 9 a.m. Eastern, Delta College Q-90.1 FM.

1- The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would be kept alive under a 2014 budget released by President Barack Obama.

The proposed budget, out this week, maintains support for the Initiative at $300 million.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, the program has spent more than $1 billion during the last three years to clean up toxic pollution, combat invasive species, restore habitat, and prevent runoff from cities and farms.

The Initiative has funded more than 20 efforts in the Saginaw Bay area, including a project to prevent E. coli bacteria from getting into the Kawkawlin River.

The 2014 federal budget also includes more than $1 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund – more than $400 million of which would help communities in Michigan and other Great Lakes states to fix old sewers to prevent sewage overflows.

The Federation is part of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, which consists of more than 100 environmental, conservation, outdoor recreation, and other organizations.

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, whose district includes Bay City, is one of those urging fellow legislators to continue funding the Initiative at $300 million.

  • Read the proposed budget on Scribd
  • Search GLRI projects at glri.us

2 - About 100,000 Atlantic salmon are coming to Lake Huron. 

atlantic salmon yearlings

Via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources plans to release the yearlings into the lake and two of its tributary streams this spring.

DNR officials say that after two years of working through disease problems and investing in equipment to control disease outbreaks, the production of Atlantic salmon yearlings in 2013 has been “exceptional.”

Yearling Atlantic salmon will be stocked in the Au Sable River, along with St. Marys River, Thunder Bay River, and in Lexington Harbor in southern Lake Huron.

Stocking locations were chosen based on variables like stream temperatures, public access, and the ability for the DNR to evaluate returning adults.

Officials also focused on locations that would optimize the chances of success and provide angling opportunities for the public.

3 - Four Bay County schools have officially gone green.

The schools are now part of the Michigan Green Schools program.

The four schools — Auburn Area Catholic, the Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center, St. James Catholic, and Bangor John Glenn — all qualified as green schools for various environmental stewardship efforts.

To earn a Michigan Green Schools Designation, schools must conduct activities in categories that include recycling, energy, and environmental protection.

The program is open to all public and private schools.

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Posted in fish, GLRI, Lake Huron. Tags: , , . 1 Comment »

Get Paid for Solar Generation, and Take a Look at Michigan’s Land Management Plan

April 5, 2013 — jeffkart

Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart). As heard in Bay City, Michigan, at 9 a.m. Eastern Fridays on Delta College Q-90.1 FM … The Environment Report for April 5, 2013.

public land map bay region mich dnr

Public land map, Bay Region. Via Michigan DNR.

1- Attention Consumers Energy customers: If you’re interested in generating solar energy and selling it back to the utility, here’s your chance.

Consumers Energy is taking residential and non-residential applications until May 8 for its Experimental Advanced Renewable Program (EARP).

The contract program allows electric customers to sell the output of solar generating systems to Consumers Energy for a fixed price over a contract length of up to 15 years.

Qualified applicants will be selected by lottery (pdf).

To quality, you must own or lease the solar photovoltaic system, and install it at your billing address or on an adjacent property you own or lease.

This is the 11th and 12th phase of the program. In 2011, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved an expansion of the program in line with state energy standards.

2 - Public outdoor recreation improvements are coming to the Saginaw Bay area, courtesy of more than $23 million in Natural Resources Trust Fund grants awarded statewide.

Gov. Rick Snyder approved the grants recently, for 76 recreation development projects and land acquisitions in 43 Michigan counties (pdf).

In the Saginaw Bay area, the city of Saginaw will receive $67,000 for a boulder climbing garden and multi-use pathway extension in Celebration Park. The pathway extension will connect the park to the Saginaw Riverwalk and adjacent recreation facilities.

The city of Zilwaukee also received more than $254,000 for improvements to Riverfront Park, located on the Saginaw River. The proposed development includes a playground, benches, paved parking lot and walkway, fencing and a seawall to improve bank fishing opportunities.

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund is made up of  oil, gas, and other mineral lease and royalty payments made to the state.


3 - The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is seeking public comment on a draft land management plan at regional open houses.

The plan outlines a strategy for DNR-managed public lands.

The regional meetings include one on April 25 from 6-8 p.m. at the Delta College Planetarium in downtown Bay City.

The draft land use strategy would, for the first time, set a standard for public access to the Great Lakes and rivers. It also calls for improved access on DNR-managed public lands, according to the agency.

The draft plan also includes a new strategy for the possible disposal of about 250,000 acres of DNR-managed public lands.

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Posted in delta college, energy, land conservation, solar. Tags: , . 1 Comment »
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