The final documents are here
Consent Decree [sans appendices]
Sixth Circuit Opinion — Denial of Motion to Intervene by Amici
Lake Michigan
Detroit News: “Manisteepee?”
From the Detroit News:
“In this tranquil beach community, the gentle lapping waves of Lake Michigan have brought ashore a brutish dispute.
Sports fishermen and charter boat operators are fighting a local American Indian tribe over its use of fishing nets in one of the top salmon spots in the nation.
The issue has led to vandalism, boycotts and charges of favoritism and racism. Some boaters refer to the town as Manisteepee.
‘It’s racial,” said Matt Stone, 28, an American Indian netter who has been called racist names. “I know it. I feel it. I see it. I hear it.'”
Jacque Leblanc hauls in chubs near Manistee. Fishermen and boat operations are at odds with a local Indian tribe over use of nets. (John L. Russell / Special to The Detroit News)
NYT Article on the Shrinking Great Lakes
From the NYTs:
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The water levels in all five Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario — are below long-term averages and are likely to stay that way until at least March, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. (The same is true at Lake St. Clair, which straddles the border between the state of Michigan and the province of Ontario and is between Lake Huron and Lake Erie; it is not considered one of the Great Lakes, although it is part of the Great Lakes system.)
“Most environmental researchers say that low precipitation, mild winters and high evaporation, due largely to a lack of heavy ice covers to shield cold lake waters from the warmer air above, are depleting the lakes. The Great Lakes follow a natural cycle, their levels rising in the spring, peaking in the summer and reaching a low in the winter, as the evaporation rate rises.”
NOAA: Climate Change Impacts
From NOAA:
- Overall, drought affected 46 percent of the nation, including the Upper Midwest, where persistently dry and warmer than average conditions have helped bring Lake Superior’s water level to its lowest point on record for this time of year, according to NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
- Levels of all the Great Lakes, which together make up about 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water, have been in decline since the late 1990s. Lakes Huron and Michigan were about two feet below their long-term average levels, while Lake Superior was about 20 inches off, Lake Ontario seven inches below, and Lake Erie three inches below normal in September.
New Study of Great Lakes National Lakeshores — Bad News
From Environment News Service:
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan is in danger of being loved to death. High numbers of visitors are trampling down vegetation and erosion is occurring in high traffic areas. Water quality and the ecological integrity of Lake Michigan at the Dunes is in poor condition due to invasive species such as quagga and zebra mussels, which have taken over most of the lakebed.
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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (Photo courtesy National Park Service) |
At Sleeping Bear Dunes, the toxic chemicals most present in the air are toluene, xylene-iso, benzyne, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene, xylene-m, and perchloroethylene. The sources of these pollutants have not been determined. Both sulfates and nitrates are found in concentrations higher than national averages.
Grand Traverse Band Marina Proposal
From the Leelanau Enterprise:
Tribal officials have unveiled plans to build a 129 to 135-slip municipal marina in Peshawbestown that could be open for business as early as the 2008 boating season.
The Tribal Council of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians took actions last week that could pave the way for the dredging and construction project to begin before the end of this year.
Turtle Talk 