Governor signs lake safety bills

The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports on two water saftey bills recently passed into law:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Monday signed into law two bills making it a more serious crime in Michigan to steal or vandalize publicly owned marine-safety equipment.

If a stolen life ring is a contributing factor in a drowning, the thief now can be charged with a felony and, if convicted, sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison and fined up to $10,000.

Republican Sens. Wayne Kuipers of Holland and Jud Gilbert of Algonac each sponsored one of the bills.

"Warning people about tough penalties for stealing life preservers will help reduce the number stolen and vandalized each year," Kuipers said Monday in a statement. "Too often life preservers are taken as a prank or as a souvenir, but people need to know that removing them jeopardizes lives."

The lake safety laws are Public Acts 233-234.

The bald & the beautiful

The Detroit News Online carries this story on the progress the bald eagle has made in Michigan:

Thirty years ago, when Michigan's bald eagle nesting sites began to be inventoried by air, the numbers were depressing. There were fewer than 30 pairs of eagles in Michigan's Lower Peninsula, half as many as were hanging on in the more fertile eagle territory of Michigan's western Upper Peninsula. By 1979, the number had bottomed out: 84 nests, total, in the entire state.

The happy news almost three decades later is 1979's nadir has given way to about a 500 percent increase in bald eagles statewide. There were 427 nests in both peninsulas in 2004, the last year for which precise statewide data has been compiled.

This year, there are at least 303 nesting pairs in the Lower Peninsula, alone, which was the product of March's fly-over census conducted by Jerry Weinrich, a retired biologist from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources who lives in West Branch, and who annually oversees the Lower Peninsula count.

The increase can be traced to the same factor that sent numbers dwindling during the mid-to-late 1900s: industrial and chemical threats that killed birds and caused eggs to deteriorate began to be reined in with the 1970 ban on DDT, and with the 1972 Clean Water Act that helped restrict discharges of mercury, PCBs, and other toxins.

A tragic pattern of wildlife death and destruction has been reversed. It was from the Great Lakes shorelines that eagles first began disappearing when 20th century water ecology turned toxic. Now, the greatest number of renewed nesting sites exists along the Great Lakes, with the heaviest buildup along the Lower Peninsula shorelines from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan.

Bald eagles can live up to 25 years, and at about age 4 begin mating with a permanent partner. Most years, they return to the same nesting site and add another layer or level of construction to their nests, immense structures made from bases of tree limbs and branches that can be 2-3 inches in diameter. A bald eagle's nest can be 8 feet across and more than 10 feet deep.

They generally produce two eggs and hatchlings each spring, although one is relatively common, and three is not exceptional. The birds tend not to migrate in the conventional sense. They generally hang close to their nesting areas, although they will move to a home region's more food-rich areas if the cupboard is a bit too bare during winter.

American Steamship acquires six freighters for $120 million

The Buffalo News reports that American Steamship has acquired six freighters.

American Steamship Co. has bolstered its fleet by acquiring six vessels for $120 million. The Amherst-based company bought the vessels from Oglebay Norton Marine Services in Cleveland, expanding its fleet to a total of 18 vessels. American Steamship already had the largest U.S.-flag fleet on the Great Lakes prior to the deal.

American Steamship has been operating on the Great Lakes since 1907, transporting dry bulk commodities including iron ore pellets, coal and limestone aggregates. It has been owned by GATX Corp. since 1974.

The Lake Carriers Association reported that in 2005, U.S. flag vessels moved 107.7 million tons of dry-bulk cargo on the Great Lakes, down 3.3 percent from the previous year. Coal shipments were up, while limestone and iron ore shipments were down.

Cormorant Control

The Cheboygan Tribune reports on efforts in some Northern Michigan counties to control the cormorant population:

The control efforts are being initiated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources or the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services. DNR spokeswoman Mary Detloff said that cormorants have increased to record numbers in the Great Lakes region. “In response to the potential damage these high numbers could have on fish, wildlife and other resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorized the local control of populations in areas where cormorants are causing damage,” she said.

“It appears cormorants have the highest potential to cause negative impacts to fish or other natural resources in two situations,” said Raymond Rustem, Wildlife Division natural heritage unit supervisor. “The first is the migratory flocks of birds that move through Michigan. During this period, large flocks of birds may feed in shallow waters of lakes during the brief period they move through Michigan.”

He said that the second situation is when cormorants establish breeding colonies. “Research indicates that cormorant breeding colonies may play a role in reducing game fish populations in localized areas,” he said.

Detloff said that the DNR will be monitoring fish populations at sites with control actions to document how fish populations respond to cormorant control activities.

“Our goal is to use the best scientific data from both fisheries and wildlife to manage cormorants at biologically and socially acceptable levels,” said Bill Moritz, chief of the Wildlife Division.

Cormorant activity and heavy population areas can be reported online by going to www.dnr.state.mi.us/cormorantobs/ and filling out the online form.