Great Lakes Moment

In the Great Lakes basin, less lake ice cover is already having major impacts.

Humbug Marsh is an internationally important wetland because of its ecological impact on the Detroit River corridor and the Great Lakes Basin.

“Volunteers reported 17 bald eagles on the ice, an estimated 20,000 Canvasbacks, about as many Redheads, a smattering of other ducks, and Tundra and Mute swans.”

It can be quite unsettling to hear the unexpected “frahnk frahnk” of a startled great blue heron who just had its fishing expedition disrupted.

Windsor’s proposed Ojibway National Urban Park will not only reap such benefits in its metropolitan area but in the Detroit metropolitan area.

Researchers from the University of Windsor and Sheridan College have developed a new video game to train and empower youth to take on the challenge of ecological restoration.

In this Great Lakes Moment, author John Hartig previews one of his new books, this one about the destruction and recovery of the Rouge River in southeast Michigan.

“Although the rate that these contaminants are transported downstream is slow, the cumulative effect over years can cause measurable increases in fish and wildlife downstream.”

Sturgeon for Tomorrow and a team of U.S. and Canadian fishery biologists have been working together to help reintroduce lake sturgeon in Great Lakes tributaries where they once thrived.

Researchers see hope still for the Detroit River’s native freshwater mussels and say remediation efforts could be a big opportunity for the endangered mussels.

Otters, turkey, walleye and more have all made comebacks in the past few decades, thanks to the rewilding efforts of various organizations.

In this month’s column, John Hartig discusses the lessons that can be learned from the naturalization of Toronto’s Don River.