Latest news with #LakeMichigan
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘The sand had moved on': Sleeping Bear Dunes platform removed
The platform off the Lake Michigan Overlook, also called the Number 9 Overlook, along the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. (Photo: Ed Ronco/IPR News) This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization. The Sleeping Bear Dunes have been active systems for millennia, shifting with the weather or fixed by vegetation. But changes can seem sudden, especially when measured against human infrastructure. That was the case with a popular wooden viewing platform at the Lake Michigan Overlook's stop #9 along Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The platform rested on the dune some 450 feet above the lake. When National Park Service staff arrived at the site this spring, they found some of its pilings were no longer touching the ground. Winter storms, wind and rain had eroded the sand underneath. 'The western portion of that overlook was freestanding. It was free-hanging. The sand had moved on,' said Scott Tucker, superintendent of Sleeping Bear Dunes. Tucker estimated roughly half a million people visited the stop every year. Some would venture out onto the platform. Now, it's gone. Staff dismantled it earlier this month because it wasn't safe. As the glaciers retreated at the end of the Ice Age, they shaped this area's geography. Wind and water have changed the lakeshore and the dunes along it for millennia. But human-caused climate change is also influencing erosion in the Great Lakes. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, warming temperatures contribute to lower ice cover and water levels, which in turn can make coastlines vulnerable to erosion and flooding. Underneath the park's Facebook post announcing the news, people reacted with stories and memories of past visits, from engagements to shared moments with loved ones who have passed away. The platform was installed in 1986, further back from the edge of the dune and firmly anchored in the ground. But in the nearly four decades since, the dune has retreated. Tucker said in a given year, the dune face moves about 1 to 3 feet east, away from the lake. These dunes move with the prevailing winds. In this case, the sand is being blown from the overlook and deposited across the Sleeping Bear Plateau, said Tom Ulrich, a former deputy superintendent of the park who retired about a year and a half ago. 'The dunes are inexorable,' Ulrich said. 'They will move, and you cannot stop them from moving, and you're foolish if you think you can.' It's been a chaotic time for national parks. The Trump administration froze federal hiring earlier this year before lifting it for the National Park Service in March. Many federal employees have lost their jobs, left, or been caught in a state of limbo since January. And the proposed federal budget, which narrowly passed the House, would mean major cuts to the agency. Sleeping Bear Dunes has around two-thirds of the staff typically there this time of year, according to the Glen Arbor Sun and WLUC-TV. Tucker, the superintendent, didn't elaborate. 'It's a very complex system right now, and I'm really focused on opening up the lakeshore for the summer,' he said. As for the future of the overlook, he said, in 2028 the park will look at planning and design for that location as part of a five-year recreation fee plan. The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive was the last area of the park to open for the season. And while the platform is gone, people can still visit the stop along the drive and take in the vast landscape. 'The view is exactly the same,' Tucker said.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Coast Guard recovers all missing Lake Michigan pyrotechnics
The Brief All four phosphorus pyrotechnics missing from a late-May military exercise on Lake Michigan have been recovered, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday night. One device was found by a lifeguard at Montrose Beach in Chicago on May 26; the locations of the other three have not been disclosed. The flares, used in a joint exercise near Milwaukee, failed to activate and can emit red smoke and flames of up to 2,900°F. CHICAGO - All four phosphorus pyrotechnics that went missing during a military training exercise on Lake Michigan have been recovered, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday night. What we know Officials have not released further details about where three of the devices were recovered. One was found by a lifeguard at Montrose Beach in Chicago on May 26. The devices, which produce red smoke and flames reaching temperatures of up to 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit, were part of a joint military exercise held offshore near Milwaukee in late May. The four pyrotechnics were deployed during the exercise but failed to activate upon entering the water, the Coast Guard said. We'll provide updates as more information becomes available. RELATED: Coast Guard warns Lake Michigan beachgoers of unaccounted pyrotechnics
CBS News
3 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Coast Guard locates 3 missing phosphorus flares that were left in Lake Michigan
The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday that it has now located all the phosphorus flares that were lost in a military exercise earlier this month. Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan said the flares were used for a joint military exercise with the Air Force back on May 5 offshore from Milwaukee. Four phosphorus pyrotechnics failed to activate as they were supposed to when they hit the water during the exercise, the Coast Guard said. The flares activate when they hit the water or when a cap and screw are removed, and produce a red smoke and flame that can reach 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit, the Coast Guard said. One of the four flares washed up on Montrose Beach on Monday. The other three were still missing when the Coast Guard announced one of them had been found at Montrose Beach. But on Wednesday, the Coast Guard said all four had been located. The Coast Guard did not specify where the other three flares were found. The Coast Guard said once the flares are put in the water, it is dangerous to pick them up and put them back in the vessel, so they leave them.
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Missing military flares prompt urgent warning for Lake Michigan beachgoers
The U.S. Coast Guard is warning beachgoers to "remain clear" if they come across a silver-shaped cylinder along the shoreline, as it could be an armed flare. Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan said in a statement three phosphorus pyrotechnic flares were unaccounted for after a joint military exercise with the Coast Guard and Air Force earlier this month offshore Milwaukee. During the exercise, four phosphorus pyrotechnics that were deployed did not activate when entering the water, according to officials. One phosphorous pyrotechnic was located on Montrose Beach, Illinois, by a lifeguard on May 26. However, three phosphorus pyrotechnics are still unaccounted for. The missing pyrotechnics are still considered armed when they do not activate. Phosphorus pyrotechnics produce a red smoke and flame that can reach temperatures of 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit, according to military officials.
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Coast Guard warns there are three unexploded devices somewhere in Lake Michigan
The Coast Guard has warned three unexploded flares may be somewhere in Lake Michigan, after a fourth was found by a lifeguard at a beach on Memorial Day. Officials revealed Tuesday three still-armed explosives are missing following a joint military exercise with the Coast Guard and the Air Force earlier this month. During the exercise near Milwaukee, four red-hot flares were deployed, but did not explode upon entering the water, the Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan warned in a press release. One of the flares was found by a lifeguard on Montrose Beach, Illinois, about a 20-minute drive north of Chicago, on Memorial Day. Local restaurant worker Zach Alberts recalled the moment that the flare was found. "These people just started running towards us,' Alberts told ABC7 Chicago. 'They thought it was a bomb, and we kind of starting thinking, we've got to shut stuff down.' "If I saw that, I think I would have walked right past it,' he added. With three unexploded flares still unaccounted for, the Coast Guard notified beachgoers to 'remain clear and contact 911 should they locate a silver shaped cylinder.' The flares produce red smoke and flame that can reach up to 2,900 degrees. Lieutenant Joe Neff, public affairs officer for the Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan, told the public, according to WISN, if someone finds the flares on the beach, 'we don't want you to pick it up.' He continued, 'If it is still armed and it were to activate, 2900 degrees is pretty extreme.' Farheen Hakeem, a mother who was at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee on Tuesday, told WISN, 'It's very nerve-wracking, actually, because my child is running around playing, having fun. You know, you can easily pick that up, just out of curiosity.' 'If you told me this two hours ago, I wouldn't have come here with her,' she added.
