By Taylor Haelterman
Residents worry a lack of environmental education threatens Michigan’s defining feature, the Great Lakes, according to a recent study.
Focus groups from both peninsulas identified environmental threats for coastal communities and called for education on how to be better stewards of the Great Lakes, according to the study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Concerns varied by lake, but the two most common themes were rising water levels and lack of environmental education. Those surveyed also listed beach erosion, pollution, public access, invasive species and lake user’s safety as concerns, said Kenneth Levine an author of the study and adjunct professor in the Michigan State University communications department.