Ontario’s Ice-Fishing Extremes

SEGMENT 1 | Manitoulin Island, Ontario; Mitchell’s Bay, Ontario

The unseasonably warm winter this year created different economic impacts from ice fishing in different Canadian communities on the Great Lakes.

On Manitoulin Island, nearly 1,000 people competed for $50,000 in prizes during the annual ice fishing tournament, almost doubling the previous year’s attendance.

But just a nine-hour drive south, most lodges haven’t been so busy. Ice hasn’t formed in Lake St. Clair this season, in contrast to the 24 inches of ice that were on the connector lake in 2017.

Jim Williams, who owns Parkside Restaurant & Cabins in Mitchell’s Bay on Lake St. Clair, said customers have gone where the ice is.

“We have to adapt to the changes that have happened and move forward with it,” he said.

Here is other Great Lakes Now work about warm winter and the outdoors:

• What does a warming winter mean for Minnesota? Click HERE to read more.
• Read HERE about how the Lake Erie ice fishing industry is suffering with warmer weather.
• Warmer weather is changing but not stopping outdoor recreation for people HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about the way government and industry is trying to collaborate on promoting outdoor recreation.

The PFAS Problem

SEGMENT 2 | Rockford, Michigan; Belmont, Michigan; Lansing Michigan; Washington D.C.

In March 2019, Great Lakes Now released the documentary “The Forever Chemicals,” which examined the impact of PFAS contamination in west Michigan communities: Private wells that tapped into groundwater near the dump sites were delivering PFAS-laden drinking water to unsuspecting residents for years, until the contamination was detected and reported publicly.

Since then, lawsuits there have moved forward, Michigan’s political leadership changed, and other Great Lakes states are addressing their own drinking water contamination issues.

Here are some of the latest developments about how—without enforceable standards at the federal level in the U.S. or Canada—states and provinces around the Great Lakes are addressing PFAS in differing ways and on differing timetables.

Here is other Great Lakes Now work about PFAS in the Great Lakes region:

• What actions and standards are happening in each of the Great Lakes states and the two Canadian provinces? Read more HERE.
• Check out this map of the official government webpage for each state or province on PFAS HERE.
• Read about the documentary on PFAS, “No Defense: The U.S. Military’s War On Water,” from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sara Ganim HERE.
• Watch Great Lakes Now’s web extras on the PFAS struggles of two residents of Kent County, Michigan, HERE and on Michigan’s efforts to deal with PFAS HERE.