In this episode of CuriosiD, we begin to answer the question:

What happens to the Campus Martius tree after the holidays? 

… By first looking into where our Christmas trees come from.  

At Hillside Christmas Tree Farm in southern Michigan, the work of growing holiday trees begins long before December.

Tony Stefani runs the multi-generation family operation, and also serves as president of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association. He first became involved with the organization more than a decade ago, after his father brought him to a growers’ meeting.

“I had no idea how large this industry truly is,” he says. “There’s a farm in Michigan that sells a million trees annually. It’s quite astonishing when you consider the scale of this business.”

What customers want to know

Customers at Hillside Christmas Tree Farm often ask how long their trees will last. Stefani says a fresh-cut tree should hold up through the holidays. “I’ve received photos in mid-February showing trees still standing and even beginning to sprout new growth,” he says.

Another category of questions has to do with ornaments. “I’m very detail-oriented,” Stefani says. “If you have heavy decorations, I recommend certain species based on their characteristics.”

Tree height is also a growing topic, especially as more homes are built with vaulted ceilings. He says, “There is a strong market for tall trees…but taller trees are generally older [and take] more time in the ground, more effort, and higher costs.”

Better for the environment?

Questions about sustainability are becoming increasingly common, and Stefani believes the benefits of real Christmas trees are clear.

“We offer a product that spends seven to ten years growing in nature, supporting various microecosystems, ” Stefani says. “One acre of trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people.”

He contrasts that with artificial trees, which are “manufactured on assembly lines from petroleum-based materials,” arguing that there’s no environmental case in their favor.

Real trees are also biodegradable. He says that after the holiday season, a tree can be recycled and mulched. “On our farm, we recycle the waste and return it to the land, something that can’t be done with artificial trees,” Stefani says.

A Michigan tree heads to the White House

This year, Michigan earned national attention in the industry. “For the first time in 38 or 40 years, Michigan won the national competition,” Stefani says. Corson’s Tree Farm  will send a roughly 15-foot concolor fir to the White House.

“If you win the state competition, you can compete nationally,” he explains. “And if you win nationally, your tree is presented to the president and the first lady.”

Beyond the holidays

Hillside has become a hub for other members of the community. Beekeepers place hives on the property during the summer. Search-and-rescue teams train their dogs on the acreage. Falconers and professional photographers also make use of the farm.

“We’ve hosted hives for supporting pollination,” Stefani said. “Search and rescue training, falconry activities, and collaborations with photographers seeking scenic backgrounds are also part of what we do.”

It takes time to grow 

Stefani says one of the biggest misconceptions about the industry is how much time it takes for a Christmas tree to grow to commercial height. “I wish people understood how long these trees are actually in the ground,” he said. “The trees we harvested this year were planted back in 2016.”

As president of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association, Stefani says many growers worry about how difficult it is to enter the business, mainly because trees take years to mature before they can be sold.

“Our biggest competitor is the artificial tree,” he says. “Entering this business can be quite difficult for new growers. You’re typically looking at a 7 to 10-year period before you start recouping your investment.”

As the holiday season approaches, he says one of the things he wants those searching for the perfect Christmas tree to understand is the time, energy, and effort it takes to bring this holiday centerpiece to your home.

Stay tuned for the next CuriosiD, where we answer what happens to our Christmas trees after the holidays.

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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.

The March of Dimes says Detroit has the most premature births among the 100 U.S. cities with the highest birth rates. The study found 1 in 6 babies in Detroit are born before the 37th week of gestation.

The organization points to high rates of chronic illness as one of the reasons for that high rate, as well as disparities in healthcare for Black people.

This summer, the National Institutes of Health canceled a study of premature births in Detroit as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.  

Additional headlines from Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Wayne County wrongful convictions

A new report released by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office details ways it can avoid wrongful convictions. 
The study specifically looks at the case of Eric Anderson—a Detroit man convicted of robbery in 2010 who was wrongfully imprisoned for nine years.

The report was conducted through the Wayne County Sentinel Event Review Team which is made up of law enforcement, judges and innocence projects at Michigan State and the University of Pennsylvania.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says the investigation was successful because it sought to find ways to avoid wrongful prosecutions, not hold anyone accountable. 

“This process was not a process that assigned and assessed blame or finger pointing. It was very important to me and I think everybody that that be done, so we can have honest discussions and have honest recommendations and honest vehicles to make these changes.”

The report lists 25 ways for police, prosecutors and judges to improve, including reducing reliance on a single eye-witness and improving funding for public defenders.

So far, 43 people have been released from prison based on the efforts of the Wayne County Sentinel Event Review Team, most of whom were sentenced to mandatory life sentences.  

Riverwalk construction

Part of the Riverwalk between Beaubien and Rivard will be closed Thursday through the spring for utility improvements on 1-375. Pedestrians and cyclists wit be rerouted to Atwater Street until mid-December. After that, they will be directed to Franklin Street.

The Michigan Department of Transportation says a new storm sewer along Schweizer Place down to the river is being installed. MDOT says the updates will support cleaner water being discharged into the Detroit River and relieve pressure on the city’s sewer system. 

Thanksgiving food collection

Midtown coffeeshop Simply Roasted and Mindful Bakery Yumaste are partnering with Gleaners to collect food ahead of Thanksgiving.

They invite the community to drop off unexpired and non-perishable food items at 4240 Cass Avenue through Thanksgiving Day. Canned chicken, tuna, beans, soups, vegetables and fruits as well as oatmeal and cereals are especially needed.

For information on how to give, other organizations collecting food and food distributions visit gcfb.org. 

Train party

Carbon Athletic Club is hosting its annual Holiday Train Party Saturday.

The CPKC Holiday Train starts its 27^th annual trek through Canada and the U.S. Wednesday and makes a stop in Windsor Saturday before passing through Detroit.

The Windsor event will feature live performances by Smash Mouth and JJ Wilde. The train does not stop in Detroit but is expected to roll by the Carbon Athletic Club sometime between 6 and 11 p.m. on Nov. 22.

The Carbon Athletic Club is a members-only social club founded in the Delray neighborhood in 1947. The Holiday Train Party is its biggest fundraiser of the year. Tickets are $10 and available at carbonathleticclub.com or at the door. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

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.

Detroit is undergoing changes. You can see it as you drive around. From the murals to the development and redevelopment of particular areas, Detroit can be the model for what it looks like to create a more inclusive city for all. 

And with Detroit being the only U.S. city with a UNESCO Design City designation, it’s natural for Detroit to be at the forefront of major changes that include a creative flair.

UNESCO or The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization promotes international cooperation in various fields to build peace and sustainable development worldwide.

Over the next month, Detroit Month of Design will celebrate 10 years as a UNESCO city of design, with more than 95 events featuring more than 500 creatives in the city.

SustainACity is one of those events. It’s curated by Asia Hamilton, the founder and director of Norwest Gallery of Art. Hamilton is also the Climate Resilience Program Manager for the City of Detroit. 

She spoke on The Metro about what a reimagined Detroit could look like with environmental health at the forefront.

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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