One of the Great Lakes region’s most critical pieces of infrastructure is in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on the St. Mary’s River, which connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron and eventually to the rest of the lakes.

The locks on the river handle up to 1,000-foot-long ships, enabling them to carry bulk freight from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan to ports throughout the Great Lakes region.

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Chequamegon Bay plays a significant role in our human lives, including past residents like the Huron and Ottawa; and current residents, the Ojibwe-Anishinaabeg, who have gathered and made history there for a millennia. An oblong, shallow bay (61 feet at the deepest point), on the south shore of Lake Superior, the water also holds dark history as a federal Superfund site.

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For National Park week, Ian Solomon recounts his time visiting Isle Royale for a much-loved episode of Great Lakes Now.

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By Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal

Emma and photographer Christopher Katsarov Luna spent four days in northwestern Ontario, including visits to White Lake and Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg.

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio

This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.

The gales of Lake Superior thrashed against the Western Reserve when it cracked in half with 28 souls aboard on Aug. 30, 1892.

The roughly 300-foot steel steamer had been considered one of the safest afloat when it was built in 1890, faster and stronger than wooden steamers common at the time.

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By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio

This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.

Wisconsin saw more visitors at sites managed by the National Park Service last year, and America’s national parks had a record number of visitors.

News of the growing demand at the parks comes as the Trump administration has cut staff to manage them.

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Just-announced staff cuts and hiring freezes from the Trump administration will jeopardize the ongoing success of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) decades-long battle against sea lamprey, according to officials. While states, provinces and U.S. and Canadian tribes are involved in the labor-intensive efforts, the USFWS performs most of the in-stream treatments in the U.S.

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Abdullatif Ahmed was just 23 years old when he first stepped foot on the Medusa Challenger, a 1906-built Great Lakes bulk freighter.

“Before I came to America in 1990,” he said, “I had never even seen the sea.”

Born and raised in Juban, a rural district in southern Yemen, Ahmed was drawn to the Great Lakes by family history and opportunity.

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By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio

This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.

A new study builds on previous research that shows winters on the Great Lakes are growing shorter due to climate change.

The Great Lakes have been losing an average of 14 days of winter conditions each decade since 1995 due to warming air temperatures, according to the study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters.

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“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.

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