Great Lakes

For nearly two decades, state law has forbidden environmental regulators from writing new water quality rules. Environmentalists contend that’s putting the public at risk. But business groups fear higher costs if Michigan reverses the ban.

Fish-leather purses and wallets may make their way into Great Lakes fashion with an initiative to use 100 percent of commercially caught fish by 2025.

Campsite reservations are 35 - 80 percent booked through July across Michigan’s state parks.

All of the Great Lakes are experiencing declining ice coverage in the winter, which could affect recreation and shorelines.

Less than one percent of the Great Lakes is currently covered by ice, a steep drop from historic levels. Climate change experts have been warning of its impacts for years, and this year we have El Niño as well.

"The compact is a step forward for the Great Lakes but it’s just the beginning of a long journey."

Michigan won't reach the phosphorus reduction goal by 2025 as planned. It's uncertain when it might attain that goal to help reduce cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Erie.

Ahead of a gathering to assess the health of Lake Erie, the state acknowledges it won’t meet a 2025 deadline to cut phosphorus runoff into Lake Erie by 40 percent. The goal is to protect Lake Erie and Michigan’s small farms.

The ruling puts Enbridge Energy a step closer to tunnel construction despite opposition from environmental and Native American groups and Democratic officials. Critics say they fear catastrophe if the pipelines remain in the Straits of Mackinac.

Tracking escaped goldfish in Hamilton Harbour could help control the invasive species.

The progeny of lake sturgeon from Michigan will be released into the Cuyahoga River at Cleveland, Ohio.

Global warming is the latest in a string of challenges to face the lakes in their young (geologically speaking) lives. More than 150 native fish species are at risk.

Government officials begin the grim task of prioritizing which cold lakes and rivers to sacrifice — or save — as the climate changes. Not all cold-water loving fish may survive in the northern Great Lakes region.

Fall colors may be slightly delayed in Michigan this year because of warmer weather patterns.

Phosphorus pollution feeds cyanobacterial blooms in the western basin of Lake Erie. Ohio submitted a plan to reduce phosphorus runoff, but many believe it will fail.

Communities in Michigan and elsewhere in the Midwest are taking steps to guard against groundwater depletion, including some surprising places near the Great Lakes.

As researchers learn more about the hazards of plastics and microplastics in the Great Lakes, it's becoming clear Canada and the U.S. need to cooperate in stopping the pollution.

Federal money can be used to restore wetlands, buy property to use as a buffer, and invest in nature-based infrastructure.

Almost a century later, frog-bit has become a formidable nuisance, especially along parts of Lake Huron and in southeast Michigan.

Shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway is continuing its long-term downturn, and changes in the region’s steel industry are largely responsible for the trend, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report.