By Annie Perry, MNA Intern
Every Friday, MNA highlights recent environmental news stories from around the state and country. Here’s what happened this week in environmental and nature news:
Unfinished business: skis and a sanctuary (Mining Gazette): Outdoors columnist Dan Schneider paid a visit to MNA’s Black Creek Nature Sanctuary in Keweenaw County. He wasn’t able to use his cross-country skis during his entire hike along Black Creek’s narrow, winding trails and varied terrain, but he called the sanctuary “a worthwhile hike in any season.”
Yes, beaver making a comeback along Detroit, Rouge rivers (Detroit Free Press): Beavers, once native to Michigan before they were nearly wiped out by fur trading, are making a comeback. A beaver was spotted at the DTE Conners Creek power plant in Detroit in 2009—roughly a century since the last beaver was seen in the state—and evidence suggests beavers are multiplying along several points of the Detroit and Rouge rivers and might be making a sustained comeback to the area.
Michigan Legislature OKs Ducks Unlimited license plate bills (MLive): Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation that allows the state to create specialty vehicle license plates to raise money for Ducks Unlimited and wetland conservation efforts. According to Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, “This bill will help continue Ducks Unlimited’s conservation mission by enabling the organization to raise funds to help with education and increase awareness regarding wetland habitat conservation in Michigan.”
Genetic mapping of sea lamprey may control invader and improve human health (Great Lakes Echo): A team of scientists are attempting to find another way to control the sea lamprey, an invasive species that has terrorized the Great Lakes since the 1800s. Sea lampreys are harmless during the early years of their life cycle, but as they mature, they turn into parasites that prey on large species of Great Lakes fish. By studying the sea lamprey genome, scientists are hoping to control the sea lamprey’s life cycle and prevent the lampreys from transforming into their harmful states. This research has potential benefits for humans, as well: it may also include a cure for biliary atresia, a rare disease in which affected human newborns are born without a bile duct.
Disappearing ice spells uncertain future for Lake Superior (Great Lakes Echo): A new study found that ice on Lake Superior has decreased by 79 percent since 1973, and overall ice on the Great Lakes has fallen by 71 percent in the last 40 years. Ice loss can contribute to lower lake levels, more lake-effect snow, higher shoreline erosion rates, and an overall increase in lake water temperature. There is no clear cause for this decline, but a variety of factors—such as global climate change—are considered likely.