New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released the 2020-2022 Great Lakes Program Report that highlights collaborative efforts to conserve, restore, protect, and enhance New York’s Great Lakes land and water resources. [Read more…] about Great Lakes Health Report Issued
Lake Erie
First Evidence of Natural Lake Trout Reproduction in Lake Erie
The Journal of Great Lakes Research has recently published “Evidence of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) natural reproduction in Lake Erie,” a new article on Lake Erie lake trout restoration. [Read more…] about First Evidence of Natural Lake Trout Reproduction in Lake Erie
DEC Releases Draft Great Lakes Action Agenda
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released the draft New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda 2022-2030, a multi-year action plan to guide restoration and conservation, and foster sustainable, resilient, communities in New York’s Great Lakes region. [Read more…] about DEC Releases Draft Great Lakes Action Agenda
Joseph Davis State Park’s Watchable Wildlife
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and New York State.
Located on the banks of the Lower Niagara River, the Joseph Davis State Park’s diverse habitats enable visitors to enjoy the natural world. Wetlands, successional shrublands, fields, meadows, forest, and open waters attract an abundance of wildlife species. The park has a nature trail, as well as cross-country skiing/snowshoeing and snowmobiling trails. [Read more…] about Joseph Davis State Park’s Watchable Wildlife
Lake Trout Breeding in Lake Erie After More Than 60 Years
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced a significant milestone for lake trout rehabilitation efforts in Lake Erie following the confirmed identification of wild fry collected by DEC’s Lake Erie Fisheries Research Unit this spring.
The discovery of wild lake trout fry is a historic restoration indicator for a population that was once plentiful, but collapsed due to overfishing, habitat degradation, and invasive species. [Read more…] about Lake Trout Breeding in Lake Erie After More Than 60 Years
Lake Erie Steelhead: Spring Fishing Forecast
For those impatiently waiting for the opening of the trout fishing season on April 1st, you might want to consider making a trip to one of New York’s Great Lakes tributaries, where the spring steelhead season is already in full swing. [Read more…] about Lake Erie Steelhead: Spring Fishing Forecast
2020 Lake Erie Fish Survey Reveals Some Interesting Finds
Every September for the past 40 years, DEC Lake Erie Fisheries Research Unit has set gill nets to assess the warmwater fish community. The primary goal of the survey is to collect abundance and age structure information for Walleye, Yellow Perch, and Smallmouth Bass – the three most targeted fish species by anglers in New York’s portion of Lake Erie. [Read more…] about 2020 Lake Erie Fish Survey Reveals Some Interesting Finds
The Patriot War: Republic of Canada
A nineteenth century invading army’s journey into battle had two options, by land or by water. In the winter of 1838 the patriot army, which sought to invade Canada from New York State and overthrow the British Crown, saw a third alternative – by ice.
With Lake Erie covered with ice, “a band of the invaders determined to make it an avenue of passage across to Canada at a point where discovery would be improbable,” according to Our County and Its People, A History of Erie County published in 1898. [Read more…] about The Patriot War: Republic of Canada
The Heroic Age of Diving: America’s Underwater Pioneers
In The Heroic Age of Diving: America’s Underwater Pioneers and the Great Wrecks of Lake Erie (SUNY Press Excelsior Editions, 2016), Jerry Kuntz shares the fascinating stories of the pioneers of underwater invention and the brave divers who employed the new technologies as they raced with – and against – marine engineers to salvage the tragic wrecks of Lake Erie.
Beginning in 1837, some of the most brilliant engineers of America’s Industrial Revolution turned their attention to undersea technology. Inventors developed practical hard-helmet diving suits, as well as new designs of submarines, diving bells, floating cranes, and undersea explosives. These innovations were used to clear shipping lanes, harvest pearls, mine gold, and wage war. [Read more…] about The Heroic Age of Diving: America’s Underwater Pioneers
The Angola Horror:The Train Wreck That Shocked the Nation
On December 18, 1867, the Buffalo and Erie Railroad’s eastbound New York Express derailed as it approached the high truss bridge over Big Sister Creek, just east of the small settlement of Angola, New York, on the shores of Lake Erie.
In a dramatic historical narrative, Charity Vogel tells the gripping, true-to-life story of the wreck and the characters involved in the tragic accident in The Angola Horror: The 1867 Train Wreck That Shocked the Nation and Transformed American Railroads (Cornell University Press, 2013). [Read more…] about The Angola Horror:The Train Wreck That Shocked the Nation