Environment

Wetland restoration snags millions for two projects

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By XINJUAN DENG
Capital News Service
LANSING – Two federal grants of $1 million each will help restore wetlands and migratory bird habitats in Michigan. The projects include work on water control and distribution structures in the Saginaw Bay area, Southeast Michigan and the Lake Michigan area. Tom Melius, Midwest regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said, “Wetlands in the upper Midwest not only serve as indicators of water quality for our communities, but also serve as the breeding and resting grounds for hundreds of species.”
More than 3 million waterfowl annually migrate through or breed in the Great Lakes region, many in the corridor that extends from Saginaw Bay to western Lake Erie, including Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River. The corridor has vital breeding grounds for mallards and wood ducks, as well as American black ducks, redheads, shovelers and blue-winged teal.

Environment

Chemical levels in male walleye worry scientists

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By BRIAN BIENKOWSKI
Capital News Service
LANSING — Male walleye in Saginaw Bay contain three times more flame retardant chemicals than females, a new study shows, and animal tests suggest that the chemicals could damage people’s liver, thyroid and brain. The reason: Male walleye hang out in the wrong places. “Males use the Saginaw River and its tributaries to feed in and for habitat, while the females mostly stay out in the bay,” said Charles Madenjian, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey based in Ann Arbor, and the study’s lead author. The chemicals, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs), have been used in plastics, foams and fabrics as flame-retardants since the 1970s, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The river empties into the bay near Essexville.