Come June, Lake Superior will be introduced to water samples from all four points of the compass as the result of a native movement to bring attention to water conservation.

Volunteers can adopt a Great Lakes beach this year with help from web-based training.
The Alliance for the Great Lakes program is in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota.  It hopes to soon include New York.
Special events are scheduled throughout the region to increase public participation, but the majority of the program consists of participants volunteering on their own schedule.
The year-round program launched in 2003 collects litter and assesses beach and shoreline health, according to program manager Jamie Cross. Last year, 10,700 volunteers removed 31,295 pounds of trash. They also …

The fruits of a national drive to promote healthy eating habits in children will soon be enjoyed by more Great Lakes schools.

Starting with the 2011-2012 school year, cafeterias will serve more fresh fruits and produce as part of a federal program.

A lot has changed since the Michigan Nature Association (MNA) started creating nature preserves in 1960, says Steve Kelley, the organization president.

Just more than 50 years since MNA bought its first property, the Louis Senghas Memorial Nature Sanctuary in St. Clair County, its holdings have increased to more than 10,000 acres across the state.

As scary as it is to think of an impaired bus driver shuttling your kids, wouldn’t you also want to know if someone might have been stoned while operating a nuclear power plant?

The federal government apparently doesn’t want you to know.

At 8 p.m. this  Tuesday (May 24), WKAR public television will broadcast Bad Company, a one-hour documentary that  looks at how human-driven influences have altered the environment of the Great Lakes. Check your local listings.
The project represents over a year’s work of effort by Lou D’Aria and many of his students enrolled in his video production classes at Michigan State University. D’Aria is a faculty member associated with the university’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, the same unit that produces Great Lakes Echo.
The documentary will be offered …

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s mission to guarantee clean and safe recreational water resources includes an assessment plan to make the public aware of problems.
DEQ said it has five related goals: 1) enhance recreational waters, 2) ensure edible fish, 3) protect and restore aquatic ecosystems, 4) ensure safe drinking water and 5) protect public safety.

Two years after implementing an online tool to reduce the impacts of excessive water withdrawal from the Great Lakes, funding that supports the Michigan project has dropped by more than 90 percent.

Need to find a beach near Lake Ontario where it’s safe to swim? There’s an app for that.
The Lake Ontario Waterkeeper developed the iPhone swim guide.

Eleven small Canadian beaches will be dropped from those that are tested for water quality problems, the Niagara Falls Review reports.
The beaches are located on lakes Erie, Ontario and the Niagara River in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada, according to the Niagara Region website.
Public health officials in Ontario say they lack the time and resources to daily test every bit of the Great Lakes shorelines in the region, the paper reported. Officials said the move is an attempt to increase water testing at more frequently used beaches in Ontario.