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A summary of issues, activities and events at the Great Lakes Commission |
August 16, 2011 |
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GLC Annual Meeting will be part of Great Lakes Week confab in Detroit
Registration is now open for the Great Lakes Commission’s 2011 Annual Meeting which will be held this year in conjunction with Great Lakes Week in Detroit, a first-time event that will also include meetings of the U.S. EPA, International Joint Commission, and the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, among others. Topics slated for discussion at the GLC meeting include the Great Lakes as engines of economic recovery, Great Lakes ports in the 21st Century, and lessons learned from algal blooms and dead zones in Lake Erie. Attendees will also receive updates on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, renegotiation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and the proposed ecological separation of the Mississippi and Great Lakes watersheds to thwart the spread of Asian carp. The GLC Annual Meeting will be held at The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel (1114 Washington Blvd.; Detroit, MI 48226), an Italian Renaissance–style hotel included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Book Cadillac was the tallest building in Detroit and the tallest hotel in the world when it was completed in 1924 and has been restored to its original splendor. The meeting will be held on the afternoon of Oct. 11 and the morning of Oct. 12. A dinner and boat tour of the Detroit River restoration is planned for the evening of Oct. 11. Meeting registration is available online at www.glc.org/meeting. A block of rooms has been reserved at The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel at the reduced rate of $134 per night; reference to the Great Lakes Commission should be made when making reservations. Contact the Westin Book Cadillac directly at 1-800-937-8461 by Sept. 19 to get the reduced rate. Space is limited so early reservations are encouraged! Contact: Tim Eder teder@glc.org. |
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Smartphone app provides real-time data on Great Lakes beaches
Great Lakes beachgoers with smartphones can now instantly access current information on their favorite beaches, such as water quality advisories and weather and water conditions, using a new smartphone application developed by the Great Lakes Commission and the engineering and water resources firm LimnoTech. Funded by the U.S. EPA-led Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the myBeachCast application, or “app,” provides real-time information on public beach conditions, including closures, in a form that is location-aware and easy to access. Smartphone users can identify beaches closest to the users’ location, save information on favorite beaches for future reference, and quickly locate other nearby beaches in the case of water quality advisories or beach closings. To download the myBeachCast app, go to http://beachcast.glin.net. Currently in the beta testing phase, the app retrieves advisory and closure data from the states of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, all of which utilize BeachGuard, a centralized reporting database for monitoring data collected by health departments across each state. Data from the other Great Lakes states will be incorporated in time for the app’s full launch in May 2012. A mobile-enhanced website available on the Great Lakes Information Network will offer complementary information for other mobile devices. Funding is being sought to develop a corresponding native app for the iPhone. Comments and feedback on the beta app can be sent via email to mybeachcast@glin.net. The development team encourages the Great Lakes community to download and use the app through conclusion of the 2011 beach season and provide input and suggestions. Contact: Christine Manninen, manninen@glc.org. |
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Sample screen views from the new myBeachCast smartphone app. |
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Saginaw Bay watershed initiates sediment reduction efforts
Pinnebog River watershed stakeholders kicked off a large-scale sediment reduction project on Aug. 11 in Elkton, Mich. The Pinnebog project received $745,000 in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funds from the Great Lakes Commission and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). The project is one of nine GLRI watershed grants awarded under the Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control, totaling more than $4.3 million, to reduce sediment pollution in priority watersheds.
The Pinnebog River watershed, which empties into Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron, consists of nearly 125,000 acres, 85 percent of which is agricultural land. The major source of sediment in this watershed is cropland and stream bank erosion. At the end of the three-year grant, at least 20,000 tons of soil and sediment deposition will be eliminated annually through the installation of the Best Management Practices funded through this project.
Contact: Gary Overmier garyo@glc.org.
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The Pinnebog River large-scale sediment reduction project kickoff event in Elkton, Mich. Speakers at the event included State Representative Kurt Damrow (District 84), district staff from the offices of Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Candice Miller, and state and local conservation officials. |
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New online tool identifies best practices for development of wind energy in Great Lakes states
A new online guide to advancing wind energy while protecting the environment and addressing community concerns has been developed by the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative (GLWC), a public/private coalition of interests advancing sustainable wind energy development within the Great Lakes region. Best Practices for Sustainable Wind Energy Development in the Great Lakes Region highlights policies and practices to promote environmental protectiveness, sensitivity to community concerns and maximization of the economic potential of wind energy. Best Practices addresses such issues as turbine siting, noise, environmental impacts and financial mechanisms and covers all phases of developing a wind energy project, from initial planning to operations and eventual decommissioning of spent turbines. Each of the 18 sections of Best Practices features a case example of a practice in action in the Great Lakes region or across the country. The best practices were identified through a year-long process that included a literature review, online survey and interviews under the guidance of a Great Lakes Wind Collaborative workgroup that included environmental groups, industry, academia, and federal, state and local government regulators. The project was coordinated by the Great Lakes Commission. Best Practices for Sustainable Wind Energy Development in the Great Lakes Region can be found on the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative web site at www.glc.org/energy/wind/bestpractices.html. A limited number of hard copies of the publication are also available through the Great Lakes Commission. Contact: Victoria Pebbles vpebbles@glc.org. |
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Great Lakes Commission welcomes Cassie Bradley as 2011-12 Sea Grant Fellow
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Upcoming Events
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Great Lakes Commission |
Cassie Bradley has been named the Great Lakes Commission’s Sea Grant Fellow for 2011-12. The one-year Sea Grant fellowship is an ongoing cooperative program between the Commission and the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network. Project areas in which Cassie will be working include the Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species and the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative. A Kalamazoo, Mich., native, Cassie holds a B.S. in zoology from Michigan State University, and an M.S. from the College of William & Mary School of Marine Science. She most recently worked as a research assistant at the Community Ecology/Marine Conservation Biology Labs of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, Va. Cassie can be contacted at