Conservation Plan & EA For Great Lakes Wildlife Refuges

Aug 24: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announced in the Federal Register [77 FR 51552-51553] the availability of a draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental assessment (EA) for the Great Lakes Islands National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) for public review and comment. The group of five national wildlife refuges includes Gravel Island and Green Bay National Wildlife Refuges, Door County, Wisconsin; Harbor Island National Wildlife Refuge, Chippewa County, Michigan; Huron National Wildlife Refuge, Marquette County, Michigan; and Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Charlevoix, Arenac, and Alpena Counties, Michigan. In this draft CCP/EA, the Service describes the proposal to manage the refuges for the next 15 years. To ensure consideration, the Service said it must receive written comments by September 24, 2012. Open house-style meetings will be held during the comment period to receive comments and provide information on the draft plan.

    Access the FR announcement (click here). Access the draft CCP/EA, information about the planning process and a summary of the CCP (click here).

 

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Annual Great Lakes Areas Of Concern Meeting

Sep 4: The annual Areas of Concern (AOC) meeting will be held in Cleveland, Ohio on September 12-13, 2012, as part of Great Lakes Week 2012, and will convene federal, state and local participants from the 30 U.S. and Binational AOCs to review accomplishments to date, as well as recent developments affecting the AOC program. Discussions at the conference will include: Recent achievements from around the Great Lakes basin to remove Beneficial Use Impairment (BUIs) and delist AOC's; Best practices to achieve BUI restoration targets; How to build state and local capacity to implement on-the-ground and in-the-water restoration actions; How to plan and implement AOC restoration priorities under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; How to improve linkages and develop better integration between the AOCs, LaMPs and other Great Lakes programs; and Potential actions that could strengthen the U.S. and Canadian AOC programs.

 

    Access a posted announcement and links to registration and additional information (click here).

 

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GLMRIS Releases Latest Newsletter

Aug 23: The Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) established under the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 has released its latest newsletter. The purpose of GLMRIS is to determine the range of options and technologies available to prevent aquatic nuisance species transfer via aquatic pathways between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. The newsletter reports that Project Manager Dave Wethington will be on assignment to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Headquarters in Washington, D.C. until January 2013, and Nicole Roach will be lead GLMRIS Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) Project Manager in his absence. Additionally, the newsletter provides more about the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, and an update on other ANS efforts.

 

    According to the recently revised project schedule, an "Array of Alternatives Report" will be available in December 2013 and will outline an assortment of alternatives that meet the established planning objectives. At least one of these alternatives will include a full hydrologic separation scenario. A draft Feasibility Study & Environmental Impact Statement is now anticipated by early 2015 [See WIMS 5/24/12].

 

    Access the latest newsletter (click here). Access the GLMRIS website for complete background and details (click here).

 

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Great Lakes: Climate, Energy & Economy Teleconference

Aug 17: For the past three years from their base in Traverse City, Circle of Blue has reported extensively on the critical water-food-energy "choke points" in the U.S., China and Australia. This month they are exploring the Great Lakes in transition -- climate, energy and economy. The reportage will be published this week. Circle of Blue has scheduled a special MaestroConference call for Tuesday, August 21, 10:00 - 11:00 AM (EDT). An announcement indicates that "this is a participatory event, so bring your questions."

 

    MaestroConference is the leader in Social Conferencing technology that allows people to participate in large-scale, truly interactive virtual events featuring real conversations. Using social conferencing, thousands of people can convene around a topic or cause, engage in small group conversation to learn and share, and inspire one another to action and change.

 

    According to the announcement, "The Great Lakes and Great Lakes states are in the midst of a remarkable and confounding ecological and economic transition related to climate change and the fossil energy sector that industries and scientists are busy trying to anticipate and understand. Be part of the conversation with experts in an interactive Maestro conference call about the Great Lakes and their ecological and economic transition related to climate change and fossil fuel."

 

    The announcement indicates, "Real and swift changes are occurring on waterways carrying less coal, pipelines transporting more corrosive fuels, refineries expanding and modernizing, coal plants shutting down, and natural gas wells supplying more gas-fired power plants. The shift in fuel sources has helped to reduce air emissions, but also increased water pollution events. It's also helped Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan become top generators of new jobs over the past year. Meanwhile, the effects of climate change and erratic weather appear to be eroding infrastructure at big ports and influencing waterborne transport as Great Lakes water levels drop. Sediment levels are increasing. Ships carry lighter loads. Docks and other infrastructure are decaying. A wealth of new science also is revealing disturbing trends about the effects of warming air and water on the intensity of storms, ice cover, erosion, stormwater overflows, sea lamprey reproduction, and other events."

 

    Hosts for the event include: J. Carl Ganter, Managing Director, Circle of Blue; Keith Schneider, Senior Editor; Circle of Blue; Ed Wargin, Photographer, Fresh Coast Project; Deborah Lee, Chief, Water Management Division, Great Lakes and Ohio River

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Michael Murray, Staff Scientist, National Wildlife Federation; Victoria Pebbles, Program Director,

Great Lakes Commission.

 

    Access the announcement with links and registration details (click here). [#Access the Circle of Blue website for more information (click here). Access more information about MaestroConference (click here). [#GLakes]

 

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Instant Text Access To Great Lakes Buoy Data

Aug 8: A new text message service is now available to boaters, fishermen, and others to access the latest weather observations from dozens of buoys and other shoreline stations around the Great Lakes. The text message service accesses the latest observations of wind speed, air temperature, water temperature, and wave height from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and relays it back to the user in a simplified text format. The new service allows for instant access to observations from approximately 40 buoys and 100 shoreline stations from all five Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair from any cell phone with text message capability. The beta service can be accessed by sending a text message to (734) 418-7299 with only the station I.D. in the body of the message. A full list of available stations and a map version are available from the contacts below. Station id's for buoys contain all numbers and shoreline stations begin with a letter. 

    The service is provided free of charge. However, users may be charged a fee by their cell phone provider to send and receive a text message. LimnoTech, an environmental engineering consulting firm located in Ann Arbor, developed the beta service to increase access to marine weather conditions for the Great Lakes boating and fishing community. LimnoTech has been involved with the recent deployment of weather buoys in both St. Joseph and Holland, MI and is working on other projects around the Great Lakes to increase access to real-time observations.

 

    Access a posted release (click here). Access the list of Great Lakes sites (click here). Access the a map version of sites from NDBC (click here).Access the LimnoTech website for more information (click here).

 

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Agencies Partner To Assess Asian Carp In Lake Erie

Aug 1: In a joint release, Michigan and Ohio Departments of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced they are collaborating to assess the current status of bighead and silver carp within western Lake Erie bays and select tributaries. Laboratory results received earlier this month indicated the presence of Asian carp environmental DNA (eDNA) in 6 of the 417 water samples collected in August 2011. Four samples from Sandusky Bay, in Ohio waters, tested positive for bighead carp eDNA, while two samples from north Maumee Bay, in Michigan waters, were positive for silver carp eDNA. The findings indicate the presence of genetic material left behind by the species, such as scales, excrement or mucous, but not the establishment of Asian carp in Lake Erie.

    Initial surveys began this week and are focusing on the collection of water samples for eDNA analysis. Electroshocking and netting survey efforts will also be conducted starting next week. The eDNA surveys will occur in the Sandusky River and Bay, and the Maumee River and Bay. Samples will be collected in the areas where positive eDNA samples were collected in 2011 and at additional locations believed to provide suitable bighead and silver carp habitat. MDNR Research Program Manager Tammy Newcomb said, "Our coordinated sampling efforts with partner agencies are very important in order to revisit areas where positive samples were collected last year, and to expand sampling to areas that may be reproductively favorable for bighead or silver carp. These are the areas where we can be most effective in preventing expansion of these species should they be present."

    MDNR and ODNR requested assistance from the USFWS to develop and implement this assessment effort. The USFWS is contributing significant technical and logistical expertise, as well as personnel, survey equipment and vessels. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will analyze the collected eDNA water samples.

    Access the joint release with additional details and links to information including videos and images (click here). [#GLakes]

 

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Groups Call For Return Of Nuclear Task Force

Jul 24: Key environmental groups in Canada and the United States, that deal with Great Lakes water quality and environmental issues, are calling on their respective governments and the International Joint Commission (IJC) on Great Lakes Water Quality to bring back a Nuclear Task Force that will report on nuclear contamination and dangers in the Great Lakes. The groups that include, among others, the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Great Lakes United, Sierra Club, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes are pressing the IJC to reinstate a Nuclear Task Force that last reported in 1997.

    John Jackson, interim executive director of Great Lakes United said, "New potentially calamitous threats to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River are now being promoted, including proposals to bury radioactive wastes near the shores of the Great Lakes, and to transport radioactive contaminated materials on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The International Joint Commission must get involved now to assess existing and potential threats and impacts and to recommend aggressive actions by the Canadian and U.S. Governments."

 

    Lorraine Rekmans, of Serpent River First Nation said, "Even the IJC's earlier reports call for much greater follow up on the many concerns of the first Nuclear Task Force. This still needs to be addressed with the same type of vigor as earlier work by the IJC.  This is no time to be lax about radioactive contamination in the Great Lakes, given the aging nuclear reactors we are dealing with on both sides of the border." Attorney Terry Lodge of the Toledo Safe Energy Coalition said, "The IJC cannot ignore chronic harms of radio-nuclides from 33 reactors on the shores of the Great Lakes or potentially catastrophic radiological risks such as currently posed by the Lake Erie David-Besse reactor's severely cracked and degraded shield building and the Lake Michigan Palisades plant's irradiated water leak."

 

    According to a release, currently, the IJC receives reporting from the national agencies governing nuclear industries, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the US, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Gordon Edwards, President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility said the "oversight is too cursory" and is calling for a more comprehensive overview of radioactive threats to water quality. He said, "The existing nuclear regulatory agencies (NRC and CNSC) cannot be expected to provide the kind of comprehensive and detailed information specific to the Great Lakes. As national agencies, their mandates are much too broad for this type of focus. Risks to water quality are downplayed or overlooked. We have professionals who are currently focused intently on monitoring radioactive releases and assessing risks and impacts that nuclear facilities are having on our water supply. These professionals must be allowed to contribute to IJCs work."

 

    The groups said they, ". . .have contacted IJC and requested a re-instatement of the Nuclear Task Force. However, IJC, has said that its terms of reference established jointly by the US and Canadian governments."

 

    Access a release from the organizations with contact information (click here). [#GLakes, #Haz/Nuclear, #Energy/Nuclear]

 

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