Each week, MNA gathers news stories from around the state and country related to conservation and the environment. Here is what happened this week in environmental news:
Credit: Don Freiday/USFWS
Piping plovers make comeback in the Great Lakes (Great Lakes Echo): The piping plover, a shorebird once nearly extinct, is on the rebound. There were once only 12 pairs left in the Great Lakes region, but thanks to conservation efforts. scientists are seeing an upswing in the population. The plovers should arrive on the shores of the Great Lakes in the next couple of weeks.
Judges skeptical of challenge to proposed EPA rule on climate change (The New York Times); Lawyers for coal companies, two dozen states, and the Environmental Protection Agency argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals over a rule proposed by President Obama to curb carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. The rule would require all states to draft plans to restructure their electricity sectors and transition from coal power to cleaner forms of energy. The plaintiffs say the rule is wreaking economic havoc and that the EPA lacks the authority to issue the regulation. They have petitioned the court to block it from finalizing the rule.
New mapping of Great Lakes’ wetlands released (The Swamp School): A new and comprehensive map of the Great Lakes region’s coastal wetlands was recently released by the Michigan Tech Research Institute. The map is the first of its kind, with fluorescent bands of color outlining the Great Lakes. It displays both Canadian and U.S. wetlands along more than 10,000 miles of shoreline. The new coastal map is the result of years of work expanding on previous maps from the Michigan Tech Research Institute.
Endangered Wisconsin Kirtland’s warbler found in the Bahamas (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel): For the first time, scientists have found a Kirtland’s warbler from Wisconsin in the forests of the Bahamas. The bird was one of six warblers banded last summer in central Wisconsin. The state has a total population of fewer than 25 Kirtland’s warblers. It is estimated that there are about 4,000 total Kirtland’s warblers scattered in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario. The field crew in the Bahamas has found about two dozen total Kirtland’s warblers since mid-March.
Michigan Nature Association 