Great Lakes Daily News

According to the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the severity of the harmful algal bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie is projected to be in the mild-to-moderate range this year. The prediction is for a bloom in the 2.5 to 4.5 range, which is milder than last year’s moderate prediction of 4.5 to 6 on the severity index. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.

Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, won’t receive federal funding for sand replenishment work on peninsula beaches in 2025. Some sand work will still take place this year on the beaches using state funds, but it won’t be as much as in most prior years. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.

While Great Lakes water levels were up in early May from the previous month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says they are all lower than their 2024 averages, by as much as 8 inches. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.

There is always room to improve program effectiveness and efficiency in government, as well as business, nongovernmental organizations and other institutions. However, the “chainsaw” approach of recent months to downsizing, defunding and dismantling federal environmental programs while degrading Great Lakes scientific capacity and deregulating environmental protections could have long-term consequences. Read the full story by The News-Herald.

In a recently published book, a maritime historian tells the stories of ships lost to fire, storm and human error in Lake Michigan across more than a century of maritime history. Read the full story by the Door County Pulse.

Vernal pools, Michigan’s fantastical temporary wetlands, are teeming with life. They’ve earned the nickname “powerhouse puddles” from state conservationists. They’re also sometimes referred to as Michigan’s “coral reefs.” Read the full story by MLive.

A stalemate between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker that threatened a $1.2 billion plan to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes appears to have been settled after the Trump administration offered assurances it will cover its share of the costs. Read the full story by The Associated Press.

Federal environmental regulators and a Canadian energy firm say data doesn’t support a northern Wisconsin Indigenous Nation’s claim’s that rerouting an oil and gas pipeline will violate water quality standards on its reservation. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.

As spring fishing ramps up on Lake Superior anglers are hitting the water in pursuit of salmonid species. Minnesota Sea Grant is distributing free identification decals for a second year to help anglers distinguish between steelhead, a species that must be released, and other salmon species while they’re out on the water. Read the full story by the Brainerd Dispatch.

An $80 million cleanup of Muskegon Lake, which connects the city of Muskegon, Michigan, to Lake Michigan, has prompted a wave of redevelopment and a debate about who benefits from publicly funded cleanups. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.