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Strategic plan targets invasive species
The Superior Daily Telegram (11/17)
Douglas County’s Land Conservation Committee is forwarding a plan to the county board that takes aim at invasive species.
Mich. Clean Marina Program: Public-private partners work together to improve water quality
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/9)
Partners from the public and private sector in Michigan are working together in a voluntary program to improve the quality of the Great Lakes.
Researchers seek funding for wind test site in Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/7)
In a recent article in The Muskegon Chronicle, it was reported that researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) cited a lack of year-around data (on wind platform testing) needed by prospective development companies.
COMMENTARY: Senate needs to pass clean energy act to help Michigan
The Grand Rapids Press (10/26)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was absolutely correct with his recent proclamation about the current condition of the Great Lakes State: "The State of Michigan," Reid declared from the Senate Floor, with a copy Time Magazine in his hand, "is in trouble."
First Nation women 'walk the environmental talk'
WeNews (10/23)
Tomorrow's global day of climate activism aims for media and political attention. First Nation women have another way. Since 2003, they've walked the shoreline of a Great Lake or major river, meditating on the needs of an unborn generation.
City making big push for water school
The Business Journal (10/23)
The push is on to convince the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that the best location for its new School of Freshwater Sciences is near the university’s existing Great Lakes Water Institute on East Greenfield Avenue.
What's going on in your neighborhood this month? Meet other people and learn together at recreational and educational events! Our new dynamic calendar is updated daily with current educational events.
4 | Native plant species of the Great Lakes region
Some common species...
White pine (Pinus strobus)
The white pine, Michigan's state tree, is considered to be the largest conifer in the northeastern United States. The needles are soft, bluish-green to silver green in color and are regularly arranged in bundles of five. The eastern white pine forests in the lower peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin were clear-cut for lumber from 1850 to 1890; standing over 200 feet (60 meters) tall, each tree could provide 6,000 board feet (10 cubic meters) of lumber. However, reforestation efforts are beginning the slow regrowth of this much loved tree.
Blue violet (Viola sororia)
The blue violet can be found throughout the entire Great Lakes basin, and is Minnesota's and Illinois' state flower. The violet's colors can vary, ranging from blue to yellow, white, lilac and even green!
White oak (Quercus alba)
The white oak, Illinois' state tree, is a flowering angiosperm that can grow to be 100 feet tall, three feet wide, and can live to be 400 years old! The tree has grayish-white bark, which gives its name, and green-brown acorns. In the fall, the leaves will turn a variety of colors including red, gold, yellow, or purple.
State lists of native plants:
Illinois |
Michigan |
Minnesota |
Ohio |
Wisconsin
... and some rare species
Houghton's goldenrod (Oligoneuron houghtonii)
This shoreline goldenrod grows nowhere else in the world but along the Great Lakes shoreline, mostly along the northern shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron. Increased human activity, such as foot and car traffic, along shorelines has caused Houghton's goldenrod to be listed as a threatened species.
American Chestnut (Castanea dentata)
The chestnut tree was once abundant throughout the eastern Great Lakes region as well as other areas in the eastern United States. However, a chestnut blight was introduced by the non-native asiatic chestnut in 1904, and within 50 years the disease has spread to the entire population of chestnuts. While chestnut sprouts can still be found today, the disease usually kills the trees before they are able to produce seeds.
State lists of endangered species
Graphics: Minnesota's largest white pine, standing at 112 feet tall, 173 inches wide, and approximately 275 years old, Lake Itasca State Park (credit: USDA Forest Service, St. Paul Office); blue violet (William S. Justice, USDA PLANTS database); Houghton's goldenrod (Roy. B. Clarkson, USDA PLANTS database); American chestnut, ca. 1912 (credit: University of Guelph)
