Empowering The Public Lessons and Ideas For Communication In The Great Lakes' Areas Of Concern

2021 15th Annual Indie Excellence Juror's Choice Award Winner “The Best Part of Us by Sally Cole-Misch is a lush debut novel which explores nature, family, and land with nuance and patience.” —Affinity Magazine Beth cherished her childhood summers on a pristine northern Canadian lake, where she reveled in the sweet smell of dew on early morning hikes, the loons’ evening trills across the lake’s many bays, every brush stroke of her brother’s paintings celebrating their cherished place, and their grandfather’s laughter as he welcomed neighbors to their annual Welsh harvest celebration. Theirs was an unshakeable bond with nature, family, and friends, renewed every summer on their island of granite and pines. But that bond was threatened and then torn apart, first as rights to their island were questioned and then by nature itself, and the family was forced to leave. Fourteen years later, Beth has created a new life in urban Chicago. There, she’s erected a solid barrier between the past and present, no matter how much it costs—until her grandfather asks her to return to the island to determine its fate. Will she choose to preserve who she has become, or risk everything to discover if what was lost still remains? The Best Part of Us will immerse readers in a breathtaking natural world, a fresh perspective on loyalty, and an exquisite ode to the essential roles that family, nature, and place hold in all of our lives.

The stuff of nightmares in both their looks and the wounds inflicted on their victims, sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) are perhaps the deadliest invasive species to ever enter the Great Lakes. At the invasion’s apex in the mid-20th century, harvests of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), the lampreys’ preferred host fish in the Great Lakes, plummeted from peak annual catches of 15 million pounds to just a few hundred thousand pounds per year—a drop of 98% in only a few decades. Threatening the complete collapse of the fishery, the sea lamprey invasion triggered an environmental awakening in the region and prompted an international treaty that secured unprecedented cooperation across political boundaries to protect the Great Lakes. Fueled by a pioneering scientific spirit, the war on Great Lakes sea lampreys led to discoveries that are the backbone of the program that eventually brought the creature under control and still protects the largest freshwater ecosystem in the world to this day. Great Lakes Sea Lamprey draws on extensive interviews with individuals who experienced the invasion firsthand as well as a trove of unexplored archival materials to tell the incredible story of sea lamprey in the Great Lakes—what started the invasion, how it was halted, and what this history can teach us about the response to biological invaders in the present and future. Richly illustrated with color and black & white photographs, the book will interest readers concerned with the health of the Great Lakes, the history of the conservation movement, and the ongoing threat of invasive species.

This report outlines a strategy for improving the content and communication of Great Lakes water level information. It is hoped that by providing decision-makers with more helpful information, the social and economic disruptions caused by fluctuating lake levels can be mitigated. To define the water level information needs of the decision-makers, an assessment of user needs was conducted by phone interview. This was not a scientific survey, but an attempt to interview as many informed representatives of different water level information user groups as time allowed. Sixty-five interviews were completed during the fall of 1991. The user needs assessment revealed that unmet needs seem to be concentrated in certain user groups: coastal engineers emergency government workers, recreational boaters and marina operators, and riparians. Some of the needs expressed included better extreme level statistics, more storm surge information, better access to historical and real-time data, and a more understandable water level bulletin. According to our small sampling, there are many user groups that are satisfied with the water level information they now receive. The water level bulletins prepared monthly by the governments of Canada and the United States proved to be the most widely used decision-making tools. As effective as they are, it was also apparent that, even among frequent users, the bulletins are not completely understood. This suggested strategy for improving the quality and communication ofwater level information involves (1) developing better extreme level statistical decision-making tools, (2) proposing to the relevant agencies that subtle changes be made to the water level bulletins to increase their understanding, and (3) tailoring existing forecast and statistical information so that users can take better advantage of the wealth of Great Lakes water level information generated by governments. Authors of this report included J. Philip Keillor, Charles F. Southam, Murray Clamen, and Deborah H. Lee