The head of Macomb County’s government says the economic uncertainty felt in some sections of Michigan has yet to truly impact his area.

County Executive Mark Hackel summed up the situation in his annual State of Macomb County speech.

Hackel says the county is not just weathering the ebbs and flows of the overall U.S. economy but thriving in the midst of them.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Mark Hackel: With our financial situation, our economic foundation, we’re in a great place. I know the things that you’re hearing across the country are challenging. But there’s so many things that kind of help lift us up. We’re pretty diverse too, though we rely heavily upon the automotive and defense industries and manufacturing. But the reality is Macomb is in a very sound place.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: President Trump’s tariffs have impacted various segments of the U.S. economy, including the auto sector, which does have a pretty significant presence in Macomb County. Some of the prices for vehicles are starting to climb now. Do you have any concerns about how tariffs or the overall economic outlook are going to impact jobs or other parts of Macomb County’s economy?

MH: We’re always concerned about what happens at the federal and or state level that may have an impact on our economy. But look at what happened in 2010. There was a huge challenge with manufacturing, job losses, housing shortages that we faced back then. And we doubled down on manufacturing. By doing so, we’ve seen our economy continue to grow here.

Macomb County is a $54.2 billion economy. That’s bigger than the states of Vermont and Wyoming. We are right now at an all-time high. There’s never been a better time in Macomb County with our economy being as robust as it is right now. So whatever might happen with some of these tariffs or other economic concerns, we’re not seeing it directly have an impact right now. We’re in a good place with that.

QK: There is some financial stress in other parts of the country, other parts of Michigan, other parts of metro Detroit, for that matter. In your view, why is Macomb County doing well when some of these other places are having a bit of a struggle?

MH: We decided to double down on manufacturing. We retooled some of our manufacturing facilities. They’re different than they once were. We upgraded them. We really put a full-court press on making sure people understood that with our workforce, from concept to consumer, no one does it better than right here in southeast Michigan. And Macomb County is a major part of that. We are the defense capital of the Midwest. More contracts are awarded to Macomb County, as far as the actual number and the money associated with them, than anywhere else in the entire Midwest. So we keep promoting that, we keep pushing that.

And I think all the attention that we’ve been trying to drive has really helped us. We used a protecting growth strategy when we first got in and worked with the state on that. And we’ve done so well that we’re not really as worried about protecting anymore because we’re seeing that continuous growth. So we’re fortunate. Working with everybody has really had an impact on where we’re at today.

QK: In last year’s State of the County speech, you said that Macomb needed to focus on partnerships instead of partisanship. There was a line about not reaching across the aisle but getting in the aisle. How’s that bipartisan effort been going for you?

MH: Aside from a certain election here or there, for the most part, partisanship is not our conversation. None of that drives what we do here in Macomb County. People are willing to work with each other. You’ve heard that phrase, “Us versus everybody.” Some sports teams use it sometimes, municipalities or communities use it, as a sense of pride, a sense of esprit de corps. But when I look back on 15 years of how Macomb County has got to where it’s at and how we’ve evolved, we’ve kind of flipped the narrative on that. We look at it as, “Macomb with everybody.”

We’re trying to partner at the local, state and federal level. And never do we look at it as, “We can’t talk to them because they’re Democrats or Republicans. We can’t let their idea soak through or let them get successful because their party may get credit for it.” We don’t talk about that, don’t think about it. It’s a call for everybody who wants to come to be part of the solution. And if somebody looks more like they’re wanting to be part of the problem or be just a naysayer, we accept that. But the reality is we continue to forge ahead with people that want to provide solutions and help us get to where we need to go.

QK: When you talk about bipartisan cooperation, there are elections next year that could be pretty significant on a number of fronts. Michigan U.S. Rep. John James, for one, is running for governor and leaving a seat open that represents part of Macomb County. And there is a gubernatorial race underway. Whoever ultimately wins, what would you like to see from Lansing that you think could really affect Macomb County?

MH: That same willingness to partner and work with us rather than figure out how they could get credit by giving support to one particular area or segment of the state as opposed to somewhere else. Ensuring they are not ignoring any community within the state of Michigan. Specifically for Macomb County, whoever the governor is needs to realize they’re not the governor on behalf of the party, they’re the governor on behalf of the people. So govern on behalf of the people. That’s all I ask from whoever the next governor is. Work together on projects that matter, whether it’s in Macomb County, southeast Michigan or beyond.

QK: In terms of the partnerships that you’ve had, are there specific projects that you would like to see either the state or the federal government partner with Macomb on? Or projects that you’re pleased that they have partnered with you on to date?

MH: I’ll go with the ones I’m pleased that they have done to date. We got some support from the state because they realized the importance of our new jail project. It isn’t just about a jail. It’s about dealing with people that are going to be assessed for mental health or substance abuse when they’re brought in at the first point of contact. Every municipality now is partnered-in on this particular facility. We make a determination whether there’s any substance abuse, then decide what we need to do. The state partnered with us with some financial contributions because it impacts the state prison system too. When people are leaving our facility and sentenced on a felony, they’re going to the state facility. We look at what happened with Mound Road, a quarter of a billion dollar project. We got some state funding to help support that as well as federal and local. And then look what happened with Selfridge Air National Guard Base and us pushing the defense industry here in Macomb County. We are the defense capital of Midwest. And I do declare that at some point in time we’re going to be the defense capital of America.

There’s so much happening and we’re so excited about that. But there’s more to be done. We’re partnering on trying to figure out how we retool a facility or find a new use for the Romeo Ford engine plant. We’re looking at the Romeo airport. There’s a lot more that we need to do with our water quality. The support we get from Candice Miller and her team at Public Works. I’m telling you, there’s another trusted voice and a fierce advocate for cleaning our waterways and making sure we’re addressing underground issues. So, a lot has been happening. We’re going to continue those conversations and hopefully wherever the next governor is, they’re willing to address the issues that we’re talking about as opposed to politics.

The whole issue of where we’re headed as a region and even as a state is incredibly important. The biggest thing is that we all need to come together because we need to be competitive with other regions around the globe. And southeast Michigan is a major player. But our biggest challenge right now is our workforce, making sure that we’re attracting people to this area so they take on these jobs. That provides better opportunities for these manufacturers or companies that do the things that they do here in southeast Michigan. Us all coming together to promote the region as one.

Residents in Saline Township are hoping to create a “critical mass” of concerned citizens  at a virtual public hearing Wednesday night over a proposed $7 billion data center backed by tech giants OpenAI and Oracle.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) is holding the hearing to review DTE Energy’s application to supply power for the 1.4-gigawatt facility. DTE is also seeking approval for an additional $300 million substation dedicated to the project.

Saline Township resident Tim Bruneau is helping mobilize local residents to stop the project’s construction. He says he fears the plan is being pushed through too quickly and worries about how the data center could influence future policy.

“This is going to affect every DTE customer and it might set a precedent for other utilities in our state and possibly even nationally,” Bruneau said.

Bruneau says he had a disturbing conversation with a DTE spokesperson at a recent Saline Township board meeting regardingt how the company would prioritize power during outages.

“He told me that number one priority is hospitals, fire and police stations, and number two would be senior citizen facilities,” Bruneau said. “I asked him if data centers would be number three and he refused to reply.”

In a press release, MPSC Chair Dan Scripps said Wednesday’s hearing will “add an important element of transparency in evaluating DTE Electric Co.’s proposed special contract.”

Find a link to join the virtual public meeting here.

Choosing the right tree to plant that will thrive long into the future just got easier.

Michigan’s tree canopy is changing due to climate change. Whether it’s due to invasive species, flooding and drought, or extreme heat, some species will do better than others.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently released a 57 page species selection guide that rates species for climate change resiliency and hardiness using characteristics like size, shade and rainwater absorption.

Lawrence Law is an urban and community forester and partnership coordinator with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He led the development of the Michigan Communities Tree Species Selection Guide.

He says some species that are ubiquitous in Southeast Michigan, like Silver Maple (rated 1 of 10), are poor choices compared to lesser-known ones like Kentucky Coffeetree (rated 10 of 10) due to climate adaptability.

“I have seen so many good examples of Kentucky Coffeetree in the area. It’s just a powerhouse. You can get cultivars that are seedless and it’s like boom, plant and forget, almost.”

Law spoke with David Leins on The Metro about how people can use the guide to choose the right tree for their yard or right-of-way.

WDET’s Detroit Tree Canopy Project is supported by a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. 

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The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has cleaned up most of the tree damage from last winter’s historic ice storm in the northern Lower Peninsula.

But crews are not done yet.

Many broken limbs still dangle from treetops, while fallen branches block backroads in many counties.

DNR fire management specialist Nate Stearns says debris shut down more than 3,000 miles of state forest roads at one point. Since then, they have fully or partially reopened most of them.

“We’re at 366 miles of impassable roads and 169 miles of partially closed roads, so we’ve made some really good progress,” he says.

Fire danger looms in 2026

Fallen timber remains on the ground in some hard-to-reach areas, providing potential fuel for wildfires. Stearns says that hasn’t been a problem this year, but it could cause trouble next spring.

“As that dries out and starts to decay, it’ll be like tinder for starting a campfire,” he says. “And any fire that does start on state land could give responders a more difficult time with access and fire intensity.”

Stearns says property owners in the northern Lower Peninsula and the eastern U.P. should consider composting or chipping wood debris instead of burning it. He says that will reduce the risk of wildfires.

More work to do

The DNR took a break from cleanup during Michigan’s firearms deer hunting season. But crews will try to pick up as much debris as they can before heavy snow forces them to wait until the spring to resume.

The ice storm also caused widespread power outages in 12 counties. The Federal Emergency Management Agency granted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s initial request for disaster aid. In October, she asked for more assistance, but FEMA rejected it.

Last month, a highly invasive insect was spotted for the first time on the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s campus. The Environmental Interpretive Center (EIC) identified the spotted lanternfly, a sap-sucker that has been making its way across the U.S. since 2014. 

The first confirmed colony in Michigan was found in Oakland County in 2022. 

Program and natural areas manager for the EIC Rick Simek says that spotted lanternflies don’t usually kill their host trees outright, but as their numbers grow, so does the damage they can do to the environment as they feed.

Environmental harm

Infestation weakens the host tree’s ability to withstand disease, drought, and other pests.

“They have been known to kill off the saplings of a couple of native tree species,” says Simek. He lists black walnuts and maples as examples. 

Simek said that the spotted lanternfly’s dietary habits are especially hard on fruit-bearing plants, like the river grapes that provide nutrition for birds in the EIC’s natural area. 

The spread of the spotted lanternfly poses trouble for Michigan’s produce, predicts Simek. “Lanternfly infestations can cause real harm to grapes, both cultivated and wild… [which is] cause for  serious agricultural and economic concern.”

Thankfully, the spotted lanternflies do not bite or pose direct harm to humans. However, the sugary “honeydew” that they excrete attracts mold, wasps, and other pests. 

Squish and scrape

What should you do once you identify a spotted lanternfly?

“One of the control methods—I’ve seen actual videos on this, it’s fairly commonly practiced—is to squish them!” says Simek. “Just make sure to become familiar with what lanternflies look like before squishing, but they are easy to identify.”

Also, it’s good to remove their egg masses, which look a bit like chewed gray-brown gum, advises Simek. And definitely check for hitch-hiking lanternflies while entering and exiting natural areas. 

Fall is the season to look for and remove egg masses before they hatch in spring. 

Vigilance helps slow the spread

It’s important to reduce the spotted lanternfly’s ability to reproduce and spread as much as possible. 

“One of the things we don’t want to see here on campus, of course, is for it to become a breeding area that produces lanternflies that can spread around the area even more,” says Simek. Thankfully, the EIC is well maintained and better prepared for invasive visitors.

The spotted lanternfly’s preferred host, tree of heaven, has been regularly removed from the Environmental Interpretive Center’s grounds for years. Tree of heaven is a particularly entrenched invasive plant that comes from the same region as the spotted lanternfly. As a favorite food source, it is a marker of where to look for the insect. 

Additionally, birds and bats are beginning to recognize spotted lanternflies as a food source. The near 121 acres of the EIC’s natural center helps support those populations. Though, Simek notes, its being theorized that spotted lanternflies become less appetizing after eating tree of heaven. 

That’s one more reason to be diligent about removing the invasive plant. 

Report sightings

The spotted lanternfly’s impact on the tree canopy at large remains to be seen. 

The DNR says all sightings by the public should be reported. 

So far, spotted Lanternflies have been seen in Wayne, Oakland, Lenawee, and Macomb counties.

“It’s the new invasive kid on the block,” says Simek. “We’re probably going to see them more and more, and then we’re all going to find out what their impacts are.”

The Trump administration wants to cut the number of waterways protected under the Clean Water Act.

Some business owners and developers say the move would help them operate better because it would change which wetlands and streams legally count as an “official water of the United States.”

Those designations are covered by the Clean Air Act, which was originally written in part by the late Michigan Congressman John Dingell.

His wife, current U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, says protecting streams and wetlands helps stop pollution from flowing to large bodies of water like the Great Lakes.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell: People that are seasoned, like myself, know what our waters used to look like. And John Dingell was really the significant author of the Clean Water Act, along with the late former U.S. Sen. Ed Muskie. And he did it because the Rouge River caught on fire. Now, the consequences of what this administration is going to do would undermine the strong protections that have kept our water safe and healthy and have cleaned them up. So I’m very concerned that we not go backwards. We see the Great Lakes and our Detroit water system is significantly improved from where it was 30 years ago, 40 years ago. But we have to keep cleaning it up. And taking away those safeguards endangers our water.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Some environmental groups often raise concerns about runoff from farmland into waterways or companies dumping there illegally at times. Now they say this change proposed by the Trump administration could increase the chance of those types of activities happening. Do you agree with those kinds of concerns?

DD: I’m very, very concerned about what this means and what the real consequences are. Lake Erie has seen very significant experiences of algae blooms. People have actually been told not to drink tap water. So I think it’s very important that we make every effort to continue to clean up our water, protect our waters. And the administration’s announcement that they were going to roll back Clean Water Act regulations worries me greatly.

QK: On the other side, some business owners and farmers, among others, have said that they think the change will help them. It’ll limit the costs and regulatory red tape, they say, of having to check if a stream or other waterway on their property is covered under the Clean Water Act. They say it should be something that states regulate more than the federal government. What’s your reaction to those comments?

DD: We need to have federal regulation. Because here’s the reality. Water doesn’t say, “oops, I’m at a state line.” Do you think Lake Erie or the Detroit River know when they’ve crossed a state border? I think we should all be working together to keep our water safe. But when water runoff is going into major tributaries like the Huron River, the Rouge River, then goes into the Detroit River, which goes into the Great Lakes, there are consequences when there are things in those waters that are not safe. Things the public needs to be protected from. I want to reduce regulation. I want to look at how we can simplify. But undermining the goal of clean water is something that worries me greatly and something I will always fight for.

This past spring, the city of Rochester became home to a ‘micro forest,’ a dense grove of trees and shrubs planted in an area as small as 1,000 square feet. 

The micro forestry concept began in Japan and aims to support birds, insects, and other pollinators in heavily urbanized communities. Specifically helping to remediate degraded soil caused by human development. 

Rochester City Council member Marilyn Trent spearheaded the project with the help of volunteers, arborists, and city officials. 

“The response from the community was absolutely phenomenal,” she says. 

Trent based Rochester’s micro forest on the famous Miyawaki method of planting native plants, trees and shrubs thirty times as dense as usual, a very different method of helping water mitigation, pollinator species support, and carbon capture than re-foresting or rewilding land. “We’re not trying to replicate a forest,” Trent adds.  

Trent says other cities in metro Detroit have reached out with interest in replicating the project in their communities. With one growing season successfully over, she says the biggest lesson so far is be prepared to water, water, water. 

“Keep it watered…that is one thing. And thank goodness for the DPW [Department of Public Works] when the drought starts coming in July or August, you have to keep it watered,” she says.

This story is a part of WDET’s Detroit Tree Canopy Project

Michigan is racing toward the data center boom that powers artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Lawmakers have approved generous tax breaks, and utilities are courting multi-billion-dollar projects, including a proposed $7 billion “hyperscale” campus in rural Saline Township, backed by tech giants OpenAI and Oracle. 

Supporters promise investment and new tax revenue. But critics warn that these vast, windowless buildings could come with higher electric bills, heavy demands on local water supplies, and pressure to keep fossil fuel plants running long past Michigan’s clean energy deadlines. 

So who really pays for Michigan’s data-center gold rush, and who gets to decide?

Brian Allnutt, a senior reporter and contributing editor at Planet Detroit, has been following Michigan’s data center deals from the state capitol to township board meetings and courtroom settlements. He joined Robyn Vincent to help make sense of the choices Michigan faces.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

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Detroit has finally started to regain some population, but it has a long way to go. And that means there’s still a lot of vacant land — 18 square miles of it — that’s just sitting around. What should be done with it?

The local think tank Detroit Future City has an idea. 

They are creating a conservancy to protect and steward the land today and well into the future. The Detroit GreenSpace Conservancy wants to protect forests and meadows, and build walking paths and opportunities for agriculture. 

Producer Sam Corey spoke with Kimberly Faison, the vice president for thriving and resilient neighborhoods and Sarah Hayosh, the director of land use and design for Detroit Future City.

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Harmful algal blooms form in western Lake Erie every summer. Scientists monitor the water for toxic bacteria and caution people not to swim in areas where they see green scum on the surface.

Lake St. Clair has its own algae problem. It has fascinated scientists and frustrated lakeshore residents.

What is it?

Its scientific name is Microseira wollei, but folks in Macomb County have their own name for it—the “muck.”

M. wollei has been a problem in the lake since at least 2010. That’s when large mats of algae were seen floating on the surface of the water near the Lake St. Clair Metropark beach in Harrison Township.

It caught the attention of biologists, including Donna Kashian. She’s the director of Environmental Science at Wayne State University. Kashian and three other scientists went to the beach in 2010 to take water samples and study the algae, which had a different name at the time, Lyngbya wollei. Whatever one calls it, Kashian says it’s not hard to spot.

“It forms these little balls,” she says. “When you’re walking along the beach, you’ll see these ribbons, essentially along where the water’s washing up, where you’ll see the muck accumulating.”

How bad is it?

The muck has spread to other parts of Lake St. Clair over the last 15 years. Steve Dobreff owns the Freedom Boat Club in Harrison Township. He says it has grown so thick in some places that people can’t use their docks.

“That guy over there has a boat launch,” Dobreff says, pointing to an area on Campau Bay near the boat club. “This guy over here used to have a dock…that’s gone.”

Dobreff says the muck has even fouled the water near the lakeshore neighborhood where he grew up near L’anse Creuse Bay. 

“This was beautiful water, and it was all sandy beaches,” he says. “This is where we spent the majority of our time growing up right here on this dock and hanging out right here in this area.”

Now, Dobreff says, the muck has made it unswimmable.

How did it get here?

But where did the muck come from? Prof. Kashian says the explanation is murky. She says it turned up in Lake Erie years before appearing upstream in Lake St. Clair, which is kind of backwards.

“Usually things move downstream, not upstream,” she says. “So we don’t know if it was transported by boats or it was possibly there at some low level.”

However long it’s been there, Kashian says removing the muck won’t be easy. She says warmer water, more frequent storms, sewage discharges, and fertilizer runoff are all variable factors in its growth.

“I think we’re going to see patterns where some years we have more of it, and then other years we won’t see it,” she says.

Cutting off its “food” might help

One way to see less muck might be to reduce combined sewer overflows into the lake. Kashian says the algae trap E. coli, a common cause of beach closures.

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller says her department has reduced CSOs by half since she took office and will expand its infrastructure in 2026 to keep more sewage out of the lake.

“We’re going to be announcing another project, which will take us really just about to 0%,” Miller says. “I mean, you might have an occasional discharge, but we are doing pretty darn good.”

Miller says she’s working with state and federal agencies to solve the muck problem. The Michigan Legislature set aside $800,000 in its 2026 budget to start the process.

State Representative Alicia St. Germaine sponsored that appropriation. She says that’s how Alabama tackled the problem in its lakes.

“They removed it and then treated it with an algaecide, and they mitigated it by more than 80%” St. Germaine says.

What’s being done about it?

The Army Corps of Engineers published a study in 2023 showing that algaecides are effective at controlling M. wollei. But eradicating the muck is unlikely because it’s so widespread. Instead, the corps has proposed a plan to manage the algae growth and limit its effects.

Rep. St. Germaine says the sooner officials can attack the muck, the sooner people in her lakeshore district can get some relief.

“I have visited several constituents who can’t even go outside and sit on their patio because this algae, this toxic algae, is smelly and gross and even hard to look at,” she says.

Like the algae that grow in Lake Erie, M. wollei can produce toxins that can cause liver and neurological damage. Prof. Kashian says she and her colleagues looked for the gene that produces those toxins and did not find it in this strain of algae.

For now, the muck has given Kashian and her classes at Wayne State plenty to study.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is giving money to 25 communities and organizations to help grow local urban tree canopies.

Awardees include the cities of Oak Park, Ferndale, Port Huron, and St. Clair Shores, as well as non-profit groups like Arboretum Detroit and Detroit Horsepower.

Kerry Gray, who works with the DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry program, explains that these grants are part of a long-standing partnership with the DTE Energy Foundation.

“The DNR has worked with the DTE Energy Foundation since probably almost 30 years now, providing grants to communities and organizations for tree planting to help expand their tree canopy and strengthen local green infrastructure,” Gray says.

She says one goal of the grant is making sure the new trees are species diverse to help prevent problems like the widespread tree loss caused by invasive pests.

“I think we’ve all seen the devastation that happened when the emerald ash borer came in and attacked [a] species that we had an overabundance of, which was ash,” Gray says. “We really focus on making sure that all of our grantees are using a diverse palette of species…we work with them and provide support to help them select species that are suitable for their sites and locations.”

More information about Michigan’s tree canopy initiative can be found through the Mi Trees program, which aims to plant and care for 50 million new trees across the state by 2030.

This story is part of WDET’s ongoing series, The Detroit Tree Canopy Project.

The Huron River is one of the most prominent in our state, and 650,000 people live in the watershed. But you can’t eat fish from the Huron River. After years of unregulated industry, dumping and pollution, PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’ are part of the Huron.

There’s also a toxic Dioxane bloom moving through groundwater towards the Huron River—the source of drinking water for Ann Arbor.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Awareness about PFAS is increasing, and so are the solutions that can improve river health. Some are policies being introduced at the state level, like so-called “Polluter Pay Laws” introduced by Michigan Democrats and supported by environmental organizations.

On Wednesday, November 12, the Huron River Watershed Council will host a one-day conference, “State of the Huron” to discuss the health of the Huron River and chart its next chapter.

Rebecca Esselman, Executive Director of the Huron River Watershed Council, joined the Metro to talk about the present and future health of the Huron River.

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In the interior arch of Michigan’s “thumb” lays the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy, a group dedicated to protecting and restoring surrounding natural areas. 

The conservancy currently owns and manages 9 properties in the region. One property, the Sand Point Nature Preserve, was recently recognized by the Old Growth Forest Network for its potential. 

As a well-established woodlot with trees over a hundred years old, Sand Point hosts migratory birds and and diverse species. Its wetlands aid in flood management. The property also has a rare grove of hemlock trees. 

Although the Old Growth Forest distinction doesn’t immediately grant the property strong legal protections, it does aid the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy when they work to apply for grants and the like. And any additional support to protect the unique ecosystem right off the shores of Lake Huron is welcome. 

Beyond the ecological, the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy continues to protect the surrounding areas for the community to have access to the green space. Executive Director of Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy, Zachary Branigan emphasizes the importance of preserving nature.

“ Having access to high quality outdoor recreation spaces is important, for any community. You know, that’s one thing that, that the highest quality communities in the nation have in common,” says Branigan. And nature preserves like Sand Point provide a space for hikers and dog-walkers, as well as a glimpse into more heavily wooded past. 

Exploring Sand Point

The Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy gained ownership over the 220 acres of undeveloped land through a series of land acquisitions between 2008-2012. 

Sand Point is the largest of the properties they oversee, and includes a wide range of features that make it a gem in the region that was hit hard by deforestation in the logging boom. Program Director Trevor Edmonds highlights some of the features on property.

 ”There’s some pretty dense mature forests. Like kind of open meadow areas, and then some, various types of wetlands on the property. There’s a lake, there’s kind of like a seasonal pond, on the property as well,”” says Edmonds. He adds that because of the diverse array of habitats, there’s diverse fauna, including reptiles and amphibians.

As a part of their mission to maintain high quality natural areas the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy takes inventory of signs of health and potential threats to the established landscape. 

Signs of ecological health at Sand Point include different species of trees—Edmonds points out maple, black cherry, and paper birch in the immediate area. He also looks for indicator species, which foreshadow what kinds of vegetation will thrive in the future. 

Understory vegetation is another noted feature. “There’s a very robust canopy throughout much of this preserve’s acreage, which really kind of speaks to the overall health of the forest on this preserve.”

Caretaking in nature

Edmonds then got into the weeds of property management at Sand Point. 

Since acquiring the property in full, the conservancy has become experts on the wetlands and woods that make up Sand Point, as well as the pests, diseases, and invasives that threaten them. 

The most present invasive on the property is phragmites, which Edmonds generally treats with hand-swiping—placing herbicide on a glove and targeting the undesirable plants in order to leave “the lightest touch possible” on the landscape. 

A deep knowledge of the environment helps Edmonds monitor for invasive species and disease in the areas they are most likely to appear in, and the places they can do the most harm. 

Eastern Hemlocks

One of the key features that garners attention at Sand Point is the Eastern Hemlocks. They aren’t a common tree throughout Michigan, and especially not in the thumb. Part of that is because they need a healthy tree canopy above them to grow. 

Branigan describes the hemlock groves as dark and brooding, and Edmonds say that they’re a part of why Sand Point is his favorite property— in addition to its reliable five lined skink sightings. 

However, hemlocks face a threat in the hemlock woolly adelgid. 

 Edmonds shares how the conservancy monitors for the threat. “You’re actually trying to look specifically at like the undersides of the needles. And if you actually see, like at the base of the needles where they connect to the branches, it basically will look…almost like kind of a white cottony mass that starts to like develop at the base of the needles, under the branches.”

Thankfully, Sand Point hasn’t caught any sign of the harmful pest so far. Edmonds says that its more present in the west side of the state. 

But, if woolly adelgid does appear, there are ways to treat it if its detected early. “You can do like a treatment around the base where the, the roots will bring it up into the canopy of the tree and basically like eliminate the infestation.”

For now, he and other conservationists in the area maintain a careful watch. 

Safeguarding access to a healthy environment

Conserving a large undeveloped land like Sand Point provides space for recreation, mitigating effects and causes of climate change, and a place for wildlife to thrive. 

It’s also an education in nature. Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy’s restoration and conservation efforts uplift their preserves as healthy ambassador landscapes, environments that serve as an example of what natural areas should be at their best. “While it does obviously serve an important purpose in and of itself, hopefully the people that come and visit our properties, across all the counties that we work in… take a little something home from that as well,” says Branigan. 

Additionally, it provides another place for people to fall in love with the environment.

Edmonds reflected on what it means to him as a new parent to see his daughter’s connection to nature grow. Although it’s more common to fall in love with the outdoors in one’s youth, he notes that it’s never too late for someone to click with nature. 

“Nature’s always here, and we want to be an entity that makes it be the case. We want nature to be here for people and then when they’re ready to receive it and you know, be a part of it and do what they can to protect it, then like that’s on them. But we just want to be facilitators for those times when they become receptive and ready for it.”

This story is a part of WDET’s Detroit Tree Canopy Project

In this episode of CuriosiD, we answer the question:

Why isn’t Lake St. Clair considered a Great Lake?

An easy way to remember the names of the five Great Lakes is by thinking of HOMES—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. Add St. Clair to the list, re-arrange the first letters, and you get “SCHMOES.” Any schmo knows St. Clair is not considered a Great Lake. But why not?

Bryan Champine of Pittsburgh grew up on the lake in Chesterfield Township. He wants to know why the lake doesn’t get the same recognition as the others that surround Michigan.

“I always call it the ‘not-so-great’ lake,” Champine says. “It’s such a contributor to the overall health of the Great Lakes system, I want to see it get more appreciation.”

So, let’s dive into his question: Why isn’t Lake St Clair one of the Great Lakes?

Size matters

Donna Kashian has thought about this a lot. She’s a professor of biological sciences at Wayne State University. She’s also the president of the International Society for Great Lakes Research. Kashian and her students have studied Lake St. Clair for years. She offers what seems like the obvious answer to the question.

“I do think it’s solely on size,” Kashian says.

One look at a map supports the professor’s hypothesis. Each Great Lake dwarfs Lake St. Clair, which covers 430 square miles. That’s less than a tenth the size of Lake Ontario, the smallest Great Lake in terms of surface area. In terms of depth and volume, Lake St. Clair is shallower and holds 99 percent less water than Lake Erie.

While it may not be great in size, Kashian says Lake St. Clair’s impact on the rest of the lakes is huge.

“I look at it as the heart of the Great Lakes, because it’s even shaped like a heart,” she says.

The fishing is great

That heart pumps billions of dollars a year into Macomb County’s economy alone, providing the lifeblood for recreation, such as sport fishing.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy says nearly a third of all sport fish caught in the Great Lakes basin every year come out of Lake St. Clair. The Bassmasters professional fishing tournament happens on the lake every summer.

Amateur anglers can charter a fishing boat or find a secluded spot on shore, like Tom Anderson of St. Clair Shores did. He fishes the Clinton River for perch, pike, and walleye, but rarely keeps anything he catches.

“I’m just out here to have fun,” Anderson says. “I really don’t care to have to clean them.”

Boaters love it

Boating is big business on Lake St. Clair, but it’s also a lifestyle. Steve Dobreff calls Harrison Township “Boat Town USA.”

“We have more boats per capita than anywhere else in the world in this little square mile territory,” he says.

Dobreff is a lawyer, but his passion is boating. He owns the Freedom Boat Club on South River Road. The club offers members the benefits of using a boat without the hassle of owning one.

“We own the boats, we do all the maintenance, all the work that you don’t want to do as an owner,” Dobreff says. “And our members get to use the boats here on Lake St. Clair.”

It’s a vital shipping route

Pleasure boats share the water with much bigger vessels, namely freighters carrying ore and other cargo. Lake St. Clair connects lakes Erie and Huron, creating a critical link in the multi-billion-dollar Great Lakes shipping industry.

The Lake Carriers Association says ships carry more than 160 million metric tons of commercial cargo across the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair every year.

Policing the lake is a big job

The Macomb County Marine Division watches over boating and other recreational activities on Lake St. Clair. Its commander is Lt. Gary Wiegand. He says deputies patrol the water to ensure are boating safely.

“Life jackets are a big concern,” Wiegand says. “We’re also available for any kind of search and rescue or recovery operations.”

The marine division employs eight full-time sheriff deputies year-round and 70 reserve officers in the summer. Wiegand says law enforcement is their primary mission, but education is part of the job, too.

“We teach boater safety year-round at no cost to the public,” he says.

The lake is central to the environment

Lake St. Clair features the largest freshwater delta in North America. Much of that water flows through an area called “the flats” on Harsen’s Island. This creates a large habitat for all kinds of animal life, especial waterfowl.

John Darling is a wildlife technician for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He oversees the managed hunting unit at the Lake St. Clair Flats State Wildlife area on the island. He says this is a vital hub for bird migration.

“We are at the point where the Mississippi Flyway and the Atlantic Flyway for waterfowl come together,” Darling says. “We get crossovers from both flyways with birds heading to the Atlantic Coast birds that are heading down to Mississippi.”

As water flows from the St. Clair River into Lake St. Clair, Darling says the wetland acts as a filter.

“It’s slowing down that water, it’s allowing sediment to drop out,” he says. “It’s absorbing some of the pollution that’s coming downstream.”

Millions get drinking water from the lake

Removing pollutants is critical because Lake St. Clair provides drinking water for more than four million people in southeast Michigan. Candice Miller is the Macomb County Public Works Commissioner. She’s lived her entire life near the lake and says protecting it is a big job.

“I look out there and I think about how I’m trying to do whatever we can in our department to impact the water quality and the quality of life for people that live around the lake,” she says.

Making a small lake great (again?)

Miller’s previous job was representing Macomb County in Congress. The first resolution she introduced in the House in 2003 called on Washington to preserve and protect Lake St. Clair as a vital part of the Great Lakes System. If she had a vote today, Miller says she’d give the lake a promotion.

“In my mind it is a great lake,” she says. “I don’t care if anybody says anything different, we love it.”

And there is precedent. In 1998, the federal government designated Lake Champlain between upstate New York and Vermont as the sixth Great Lake. That lasted about two weeks after states bordering the other five lakes objected.

Congressman Shri Thanedar, whose district includes part of Lake St. Clair, says he would not make it an official Great Lake. But he agrees with Candice Miller it’s worth protecting.

“It supports 18,000 jobs, it contributes almost $2 billion in economic activity annually, so it means a lot,” Thanedar says.

The Detroit Democrat says he has sponsored efforts in both the U.S. House and the Michigan Legislature to clean up pollution in Lake St. Clair.

“A lot of the resources have to come from the federal government,” Thanedar says. “We need to make it a priority to clean our water.”

WDET’s CuriosiD series answers your questions about everything Detroit. Subscribe to CuriosiD on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

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More CuriosiD

Southeast Michigan’s streams and rivers are studded by shadows of our industrial past. Henry Ford brought mass production of vehicles to the world, and he needed energy to power his industry. 

Old hydroelectric dams are still installed along the Rouge and Huron Rivers, but they’re crumbling and it’s becoming time to repair them, or remove them. 

In Michigan, the fate of these aging dams is still hotly debated in town halls and city council meetings. One of those place is Flat Rock, MI, where residents and local officials urged Huron-Clinton Metroparks not to remove the dam.

While the fate of Flat Rock Dam is still uncertain, 120 dams have been removed in Michigan, according to a database published by American Rivers, a river restoration nonprofit.

And dam removal brings a number of benefits for the waterway and surrounding areas, including: biodiversity and fish passage, water quality, and mitigation of catastrophic flooding in the case of dam failure.

So, what’s next for Michigan’s dams and rivers? What options do residents and lawmakers have? And, what opportunities are ahead for the Great Lakes state?

Elizabeth Riggs, the Great Lakes Regional Director for American Rivers, joined Robyn Vincent on the Metro to discuss.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

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