Ten years to save the planet from climate change. PFAS, microplastics, and invasive species. Wetland destruction and failing, polluting septic systems. Sometimes it seems as though the only environmental news is bad news.
Here’s an antidote, borne in a glass half-full.
Great Lakes Piping Plover
An endearing, small shorebird that nests on Great Lakes beaches, the piping plover is on the federal endangered species list. Its preferred habitat is also a lure to people and their dogs. But thanks to intensive recovery efforts by federal and state government officials and citizen volunteers, the population of Great Lakes piping plovers has rebounded from 13 nesting pairs in 1990 to approximately 65-70 nesting pairs today, and the outlook is favorable.
Protecting Wetlands
Wetlands are important because they filter water pollutants, store floodwaters, and provide habitat for fish and wildlife. Yet they were regarded as wastelands from the time Europeans arrived to the 20th Century. Draining and filling cost Michigan 4.2 million acres of its original endowment of 10.7 million acres of wetlands. But the passage in 1979 of Michigan’s wetland protection law has made a dramatic difference. It has sl
owed the rate of wetland loss to less than 2000 acres a year, from a former pace of tens of thousands of acres a year. Meanwhile, private groups are working to restore wetlands.
Michigan’s Recycling Rate Improving
For years, Michigan’s recycling rate was the lowest in the Great Lakes region. But things are changing. Michigan has significantly improved its recycling rate from 14.25% prior to 2019 to 19.3%, based on an analysis released by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) earlier this year. An EGLE survey found that Michiganders’ understanding of recycling best habits has increased in every corner of the state. The recycling rate translates to 110 pounds per capita each year.
Public Drinking Water
The twin lead-in-drinking water disasters in Flint and Benton Harbor have raised public doubts about the safety of community drinking water systems. The good news is that community systems in Michigan and the Great Lakes region generally maintain a high degree of compliance with federal health-based drinking water standards. Of the 19.5 million U.S. residents served by public water supplies that rely on the Great Lakes as their source water, 99.1% had drinking water that met all applicable health-based standards in 2020. In the Province of Ontario, approximately 60% of the population is supplied with treated drinking water from the Great Lakes. In 2020, 99.8% of municipal residential treated drinking water quality tests met Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards.
Defending the Monarch Butterfly
The exquisite monarch butterfly is in trouble, but the Village of Elk Rapids has stepped up to do something about it, recently becoming the second Monarch City USA in Michigan. The designation commits the Village to several actions, including:
Converting abandoned lands to monarch habitat- Integrating monarch conservation into the Village’s future land use conservation
- Working with garden clubs and citizens in planting milkweed and nectar gardens
- Building sanctuary sites, installing signage and hosting an annual Monarch Butterfly Festival
The population of migratory Eastern monarchs (those east of the Rocky Mountains) declined 90 percent during the last 20 years. If more communities follow the lead of Elk Rapids, the monarch butterfly has a chance.
