Old barns, quilt trails preserve heritage, boost economy

By JULIANA MOXLEY
Capital News Service
LANSING – Preserved barns help people remember rural history, save money and boost tourism revenue. They represent our heritage and hold a special place in our collective rural memory, said Steve Stier, former president of the Michigan Barn Preservation Network. Tearing down old barns or replacing them with new pole barns isn’t always wise, Stier said. Disposing of an old barn can cost several thousand dollars. “I tell folks that usually a barn can be repaired for about as much as it would be to dispose of it properly,” Stier said.

High tech studies Lake Huron shipwrecks

By JULIANA MOXLEY
Capital News Service
LANSING — Diving isn’t the only way to get an in-depth look at the mysteries beneath the surface of the Great Lakes. Lasers, underwater robots and other innovative technologies are simplifying the discovery of and research about hundreds of shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a part of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is a 4,300-square-mile shipwreck sanctuary in northwestern Lake Huron near Alpena. It has one of America’s best-preserved and nationally significant collection of shipwrecks. There are 92 known wrecks in the newly expanded sanctuary, and four have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Sarah Waters, the education coordinator at the sanctuary.

Last winter’s chilly legacy: fall colors slower to peak

By JULIANA MOXLEY
Capital News Service
LANSING – Fall colors aren’t exploding as uniformly in the Great Lakes region as they have in the past. Experts say that’s because of last winter’s extreme cold. NASA satellite images show fall colors beginning to appear in the Upper Peninsula in late September. Fall color tours are a tourist attraction promoted by the state’s Pure Michigan advertising campaign. About 2 million people traveled throughout the state for fall color tours last year, according to Michelle Grinnell, the travel public relations manager for Pure Michigan.