News stories tagged with "great-lakes"

(11/08/11) Officials from New York and Vermont took part Monday in the opening of the new Lake Champlain Bridge, nearly two years after the old span was demolished.

The opening ceremony for the 70 million dollar bridge took place on the bridge linking Crown Point and Addison, Vt--Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is there, as is New York Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy.

The original span was closed in October 2009 after inspectors deemed it unsafe. The 80-year-old bridge was destroyed by a controlled explosion in late December 2009. Construction on the new bridge began the following spring.

New York state transportation officials originally set the opening of the new bridge for October, but flooding in the spring caused a delay.

Brian Mann talked with Nora Flaherty from the bridge about the opening, on his cell phone:

(07/07/11) Where do all the seagulls come from? Martha Foley talks with Dr. Curt Stager about the population boom of seagulls in the last few decades, particularly ring-billed gulls found in the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes region.

(03/10/11) A new report calls on the U.S. and Canada to do more to protect human health and water quality in the Great Lakes. The International Joint Commission's biennial report says beach closures, contaminated groundwater, and invasive species continue to be significant problems in the region. Todd Moe reports. more

(07/01/10) Environmental groups are blasting the US Corps of Engineers and urging President Obama to do far more to stop the spread of an invasive fish into the Great Lakes.

Scientists say the aggressive Asian carp -which can weigh up to 100 pounds--could wipe out natural fish stocks in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

As Brian Mann reports, some lawmakers want new, permanent barriers that would prevent the fish from spreading. more

(06/28/10) Two New York lawmakers are demanding that U.S. officials shut two Chicago shipping locks to prevent an invasive fish from getting into the Great Lakes. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter said Friday they are concerned about the recent discovery of a 20-pound Asian carp in Chicago's Lake Calumet, six miles from Lake Michigan. David Sommerstein has more. more

(02/10/10) The invasive Asian carp and its potentially devastating impact on the Great Lakes were the focus of a Congressional hearing in Washington yesterday.

The agressive fish has already infested the Mississippi River basin, and traces of its genetic material have been found in Lake Michigan for the first time.

Illinois temporarily closed navigational locks near Chicago to keep Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes. Representatives of the states surrounding the lakes are pressing the federal government to do more, faster. Martha Foley has more.

(02/02/10) Invasive species - from zebra mussels and round gobies to the bloody red shrimp discovered three years ago - are one of the top threats to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. They've done billions of dollars in damage to the region's economy and environment. Most entered the Great Lakes through the ballast water of foreign ships on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Jeff Alexander has reported on invasive species for 25 years. He's also written a book about how most of those critters got here - hidden in the ballast of foreign ships on the St. Lawrence Seaway. The book is called Pandora's Locks: The Opening of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway. Alexander is the keynote speaker at the Save the River Winter Weekend, Saturday, February 6 at the Clayton Opera House. Alexander told David Sommerstein he first training his reporting in invasive species in 1989, when zebra mussels shut down the municipal water system in Munroe, Michigan.

(01/19/10) A big monster of a fish is at the center of a US Supreme Court case. Asian Carp are making their way up the Mississippi towards the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Michigan's Attorney General - along with New York and several other Great Lakes states - filed a lawsuit asking the Court to close a Chicago canal in order to keep the carp out. The shipping industry says the consequences would be devastating. Jennifer Guerra has a closer look at what's at stake. more

(01/19/10) Birders looking for the best birding spots along the big waters of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River have a new resource. The Seaway Trail Foundation has published a new birding theme guidebook to help birders find their favorite raptors, songbirds and waterfowl. Todd Moe talks with ornithologist Gerry Smith, author of Birding the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, about some of his favorite birding hot spots.

(12/08/09) For decades now, invasive species have been one of the biggest threats to the health and economy of the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes regions. More than 180 invaders have snuck into the watershed, most hidden in the ballast tanks of foreign Seaway ships. Things like zebra and quagga mussels, the round goby, and the sea lamprey crowd out native species, disturb the ecosystem, and have cost the region billions of dollars. But scientists and shippers are cautiously optimistic they're on the right track to keeping new invaders out of the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes. David Sommerstein reports.