The Fight for Lake Leelanau – Battling Eurasian Watermilfoil
No one was certain it would work in Northern Michigan two years ago. Everyone knew it would require special knowledge and skill to [...]
CategoryManaging Resources
Citizens rely on nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and governmental agencies to discover, research and respond to changes in the natural resources of Northwest Lower Michigan. In fact, there are dozens of nonprofit groups across the region dedicated to measuring, assessing, limiting and managing the impacts of development, invasive species, climate change and climate variability. The region’s land conservancies, watershed groups, conservation districts, hunting and fishing organizations and many others are playing critical roles in preserving our natural resources and preparing for what comes next.
These short multimedia stories explore some of the many ways public organizations are working to retain the regions abundant natural resources while helping to add resilience against the adverse impacts caused by invasive pests and diseases, development and disruptive climate changes.
The stories in this section answer the question: What are our nonprofit and public organizations doing to conserve, preserve and protect the natural resources, critical ecosystems and heritage landscapes of Northwest Lower Michigan?
Brookie Lessons
In this short video, we visit a little creek or “brook” in southern Leelanau County fed by groundwater springs and flowing toward Lake [...]
Who Protects the Public Trust?
Who Protects the Public Trust is a very short presentation by Professor Richard Norton, Taubman College, University of Michigan. Norton is an expert [...]
Why Shore Armoring Inevitably Fails
In this short film, Professor Guy Meadows (Great Lakes Research Center, Michigan Technological University) describes how high-water levels and waves are changing the [...]
Conserving Natural Resources in Leelanau County
Nature Change appreciates this video and short description submitted by Aime Merizon, Communications Specialist for the Leelanau Conservation District (LCD). We hope you [...]
Preserving Habitat – The Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network
Nature Change appreciates this article and accompanying video submitted by Emily Cook, Outreach Coordinator for the Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network. We hope [...]
Stopping Eurasian Watermilfoil
No one knows how it got there, but for several years a dangerous invasive aquatic plant has been infesting the shallows of beautiful [...]
Managing High Water: Part Two – Restoring Natural Lakeshores
Limnologist Ralph Bednarz moved to his new home on Rennie Lake in Grand Traverse County just a couple of years ago and already [...]
Managing High Water Impacts on Inland Lakes: Part One – Private Well & Septic Systems
The National Weather Service says we are in one of Michigan’s wettest periods in modern history. We see it in the record breaking [...]
Tough Times for Great Lakes Beach Walkers
The beaches along Michigan’s west coast have all but disappeared under the rising water levels of Lake Michigan. In fact, lake levels haven’t [...]
Assisted Tree Range Expansion
Over the past year, Forestry Assistant Maddy Baroli has worked with Kama Ross, District Forester for Benzie, Grand Traverse, and Leelanau Counties to [...]
Lake-Friendly Landscapes
For nearly 75-years, volunteers, members and staff of the Glen Lake Association have worked to preserve and protect the high quality of water [...]
The Invisible Secret to Life
In this short “explainer” video, we’re invited to take look at earth’s atmosphere and what Dan Bertalan suggests might just be the secret [...]
Year End Review – 2019
Thank you Nature Change viewers! Thanks for your support, time and attention throughout this very busy year! In 2019, Nature Change stories highlighted [...]
Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Beef Production
A special report recently release by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that big changes in global land use, agriculture [...]
Michigan Septic Summit – Protecting Fresh Water from Septic System Pollution
PLEASE JOIN US! This fall, Nature Change is joining with FLOW – For Love of Water, League of Women Voters of Leelanau County, [...]
Regulating Dam Safety Under Changing Conditions
Nature Change has published several stories about removing dams and culverts to return rivers and streams to natural flow conditions. But Michigan still [...]
Healing Habitat in Pigeon River Country
In the beautiful Pigeon River country of Northern Michigan, an old farmstead had fallen into disrepair. The land had been overgrazed by cattle [...]
Seven Mini-Docs on Climate & the Environment from the Young Documentarians
Are frog populations diminishing? Is the changing climate interfering with bird migration? Do the big storm and changing temperatures have any impacts of [...]
Flushing the Future – The Challenge of Failing Septic Systems
What risks do failing-septic systems pose to the health of people and the environment? How do we know if septic wastes are ending [...]
Beetlemania
Author, teacher and bioregionalist, Stephanie Mills offers readers another in her series of essays on natural resource experts and their work in Northern Michigan. In [...]
Preparing for Wildfire in Leelanau County
In this brief video, District Forester Kama Ross pays a visit to the Cedar Area Fire and Rescue Department in Leelanau County for [...]
Water & The Public Trust
This new video was submitted by FLOW – For Love of Water to help explain how the public trust doctrine applies to water. [...]
Local Governments Combating Invaders
The following article was submitted by Katie Grzesiak, Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network to help inform Nature Change readers about local government efforts [...]