Group kicks off planting of ancient tree clones

A team led by a nurseryman from northern Michigan and his sons has raced against time for two decades, snipping branches from some of the world's biggest and most durable trees with plans to produce clones that could restore ancient forests and help fight climate change.

As Great Lakes plummet, towns try to save harbors

ONEKAMA, Mich. (AP) — For more than a century, easy access to Lake Michigan has made Onekama a popular place for summer visitors and a refuge for boaters fleeing dangerous storms. Now the community itself needs a rescue, from slumping lake levels that threaten its precious link to open water.

U.S. cities struggle to control sewer overflows

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Twice in recent summers, visitors to parts of Michigan's western coast were greeted by mounds of garbage strewn along miles of sandy beach: plastic bottles, eating utensils, food wrappers, even hypodermic syringes.

Scientist: Asian carp may have been planted in Lake Calumet

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Scientists say an Asian carp discovered near Lake Michigan may have been planted there, instead of evading an electronic barrier meant to keep the species out of the Great Lakes.

Great Lakes groups study how to stop invasive species

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Groups representing states and cities in the Great Lakes region kicked off a $2 million study Thursday of how to slam the door on exotic species such as Asian carp by cutting links between the lakes and the Mississippi River watershed.

Supreme Court stays out of Asian carp dispute

LANSING, Mich. | After striking out with the U.S. Supreme Court, the state of Michigan and others favoring separation of the Lake Michigan and Mississippi River watersheds to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes must devise a new strategy.

Supreme Court stays out of Asian carp dispute

LANSING, Mich. | The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday not to get involved in a dispute over how to prevent invasive Asian carp from making their way into the Great Lakes.

Study: Closing Chicago locks would cost billions

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Closing shipping locks in Chicago waterways to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes would cost the area economy about $4.7 billion over two decades, according to an analysis released Wednesday.

6-wk search finds no Asian carp in Chicago waters

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | A six-week search has turned up no Asian carp in Chicago-area waterways beyond an electric barrier designed to keep the despised fish out of the Great Lakes.

Feds plan: $2.2B to restore Great Lakes

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | President Barack Obama's administration has developed a five-year blueprint for rescuing the Great Lakes, a sprawling ecosystem plagued by toxic contamination, shrinking wildlife habitat and invasive species.

Feds outline plan to nurse Great Lakes to health

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | The Obama administration has developed a five-year blueprint for rescuing the Great Lakes, a sprawling ecosystem plagued by toxic contamination, shrinking wildlife habitat and invasive species.

Environmentalists want stronger carp plan

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | A federal plan aimed at preventing Asian carp from gaining a foothold in the Great Lakes needs more details, deadlines and a promise eventually to separate the lakes from the Mississippi River system, several environmental advocacy groups said Friday.

Environmentalists want stronger carp control plan

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Cargo and passenger vessel operators begged federal officials Friday not to close Chicago shipping locks to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, but others said there was no good alternative and demanded quick action.

Mich. AG says no deal with feds on Asian carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Michigan's attorney general says the Obama administration offered to settle a legal dispute over how to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, but no deal was reached.

Michigan renews push to close Chicago ship locks

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Michigan wants the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its refusal to close Chicago-area shipping locks in hopes of keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

Congress to seek more money to fight Asian carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Members of Congress say they'll seek $20 million to study using poisons to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes.

U.S. Supreme Court won't close waterway locks

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to order the immediate closure of shipping structures near Chicago to prevent Asian carp from infesting the Great Lakes, before authorities said DNA from the ravenous invaders had been found in Lake Michigan for the first time.

Official: Asian carp DNA found in Lake Michigan

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | A federal official says DNA from Asian carp has been detected in Lake Michigan for the first time -- but it's still not certain whether the fish themselves have entered the lake.

Court won't close shipping locks to keep out carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to order immediate closure of shipping locks near Chicago to prevent Asian carp from infesting the Great Lakes.

Michigan files suit in U.S. high court over Asian carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Michigan asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to sever a century-old connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system to prevent Asian carp from invading the lakes and endangering their $7 billion fishery.

Mich. files suit in US high court over Asian carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich | Michigan asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to sever a century-old connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system to prevent Asian carp from invading the lakes and endangering their $7 billion fishery.

Lawmakers seek emergency steps to halt Asian carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Members of Congress are demanding emergency action to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes and devastating their $7 billion fishery.

Asian carp may have breached electronic barrier

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Asian carp may have breached an electronic barrier designed to prevent the giant invaders from upsetting the ecosystem in the Great Lakes and jeopardizing a $7 billion sport fishery, officials said Friday.

Poison to be used in fight against Asian carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | Thousands of fish may die when poison is dumped into a canal near Lake Michigan, but it's necessary to prevent an onslaught of Asian carp that could devastate the $7 billion Great Lakes sport fishery, officials said Monday.

Report: Great Lakes toxic cleanups lagging badly

A federal report says the government is moving so slowly to clean up the most polluted sites in the Great Lakes that it will take 77 more years to finish the job at the current pace.

Obama appoints Cameron Davis as Great Lakes czar

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | President Barack Obama has named Cameron Davis, president of a Chicago-based environmentalist group, to oversee the administration's initiative to clean up the Great Lakes.

Obama wants to pump $475 million into Great Lakes cleanup

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | A budget proposal from the Obama administration would spend $475 million on beach cleanups, wetlands restoration and removal of toxic sediments from river bottoms around the Great Lakes.

Obama proposes $475 million for Great Lakes restoration

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | A plan hatched more than three years ago to heal the battered Great Lakes would get its first big infusion of federal cash under President Barack Obama's proposed budget.

EPA chief promises attention to Great Lakes

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | The Obama administration will reconsider a federal permit for oceangoing ships that critics say fails to prevent invasive species from entering the Great Lakes, the new chief of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.

Study: More species invasions in Great Lakes

TRAVERSE CITY | Government scientists say dozens of foreign species may invade the Great Lakes in coming years, despite policies aimed at keeping them out.

President Bush signs Great Lakes water compact

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- President Bush on Friday signed a long-debated compact designed to prevent Great Lakes water from being sent to thirsty areas while requiring the region's eight states to regulate their own water use.

Congress now focus of Great Lakes compact

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. | A year ago, it seemed a proposed compact designed to prevent raids on the Great Lakes might be sunk by squabbles in the states with jurisdiction over nearly one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water.

Changes in mighty Lake Superior frustrate boaters, puzzle scientists

MARQUETTE, Mich. | Deep enough to hold the combined water in all the other Great Lakes and with a surface area as large as South Carolina, Lake Superior's size has lent it an aura of invulnerability.