GODERICH, ON – Industry leaders are attending the Huron Marine & Economic Forum to discuss global trade on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, Thursday. The one-day event takes place at the Goderich Columbus Convention Centre. Jason Card is Vice President of External Affairs for the Chamber of Marine Commerce, a marine industry association with more than 100 members, in Canada and the U.S. He joined CBC Radio’s Afternoon Drive guest host Stu Mills to talk about the future of shipping on the Great Lakes. The following has been edited for clarity and length.

Stu Mills: People don’t always think of the Great Lakes as mainly a shipping corridor. Can you give us a snapshot to bring that into focus? What’s on the move in the Great Lakes at the busiest ports?

Jason Card: We have the numbers that show tha

t marine shipping on the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway contributes $66.1 billion annually to the North American economy and supports about 360,000 jobs.

I often refer to us as the plumbers of the North American economy because we do our thing and no one notices. If we were to stop, everyone would notice all at once.

Our members are moving the bulk commodities upon which society is based. So, your grain that underpins the food supply, the iron ore that makes steel, the road salt that protects municipalities and keeps everyone safe driving in the winter and the cement for construction.

We do our very best to move it as efficiently and as inexpensively as possible because when you start adding costs to what we do, you see the cost of living go up almost everywhere.

A professional headshot of a man with a beard, wearing a black suit jacket, white button-up shirt and a red, black, silver and white striped tie.

SM: We’re always worried that the economy isn’t growing fast enough or that it’s stagnant. I wonder if for this part of the economy, the marine shipping economy, is this the Golden Age or was it ever busier?

JC: We could see a doubling of traffic on the on the seaway infrastructure and they could still handle it without having to add anything new. There’s a lot of high and heavy project cargoes that are moving right now with data centres and windmills, that kind of a thing. They get efficiently moved on our vessels. And of course, we can’t forget critical minerals.

SM: What would you say is the biggest challenge facing shipping companies who operate on the Great Lakes?

One of the things that I would point out would be investment in infrastructure. More than 80% of what you need comes to vessel. We are the primary conduits for trade and when it comes to our members, we’re the primary conduits for Canada, U.S. trade in in many regards. So we would like to see some bespoke funding, particularly for our port infrastructure, given their importance.

About 30% of the Mariner workforce is going to retire by 2029. We need to get people into those jobs. We need to build capacity at the few schools that do the training because they’re fabulous careers.

We also need to attract talent from other countries. This is a global issue in terms of needing more Mariners and we we’re finding that the government is now catching on to this. We know that the provinces have been after this and working with the schools and their backyards to try to develop the capacity.

There was a commitment in last year’s budget to name two more ports, the first arrival in Quebec City and Hamilton. They made good on Quebec City and we’re expecting that they’re going to make good on Hamilton- Oshawa Port Authority soon. But we’d like to see more support to ports.

SM: Where do you see the industry heading next?

There’s a lot of opportunity. We’re looking at getting in on what’s happening with critical minerals. There’s a desire to move more petroleum, and to different nations. We’re arguing that we can move down the Great Lakes. Why build a pipeline when you can take boats that are double hull protected and designed to carry these kinds of cargoes effectively?

To succeed in that regard, we need to have seaway extension and we need to see more ice breaking. That would extend the season. Instead of operating nine to ten months of the year, we’d be operating for 11.

We’d become an even more attractive means of moving things for the Canadian economy.

CBC News

FRIDAY 9 a.m. UPDATE: Please see the attached Boatnerd AIS images for vesels at anchor on the St. Marys River Friday morning.

ORIGINAL REPORT: As a powerful fall storm system brings widespread rain and potentially hazardous winds to Michigan, with gale warnings issued for all Great Lakes waters surrounding the state, some vessels have sought shelter to wait out the storm. On the hook Thursday evening in Goulais Bay , on the Canadian side above the Soo Locks, was the Two Harbors-bound James R. Barker. Above DeTour were the saltie Charlie (with a Burns Harbor destination), Flevoborg and Indiana Harbor (headed to Gary). On northern Lake Michigan, Great Republic, WIlfred Sykes, Herbert C. Jackson and American Integrity, all bound to southern Lake Michigan ports, were at anchor.

Strong northerly winds will develop Friday as the storm system deepens while moving through the Lower Great Lakes. Lake Superior could see sustained winds near gale force with gusts reaching 45 to 50 mph Friday morning, creating significant wave heights between 15 and 20 feet along southern lakeshores. On Lake Michigan, northwest winds will quickly ramp up between 35 and 40 mph Friday with waves building between five and eight feet. Gale watches are in effect for all Michigan waters of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron from Friday morning through Friday night. Land areas across Michigan can expect wind gusts in the 30 to 40 mph range Friday afternoon.

Temperatures will drop significantly behind the cold front. Highs Friday will only reach the upper 40s to low 50s across most of the state, with some areas experiencing near-steady temperatures through the day. Friday night into Saturday morning will bring the coldest conditions, with lows dropping into the mid to low 20s across interior locations. Some lakeshores may reach freezing for the first time this fall season, with frost and freeze conditions likely Saturday morning.

NWS, Boatnerd AIS and MLive

  Lower St. Marys River

Goulais Bay

TOLEDO, OH – In honor of the 51st Anniversary of the loss of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10, 1975, the National Museum of the Great Lakes is offering a weekend of special tours. Take a guided tour of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship, using our lake freighter and its similarities to the Edmund Fitzgerald to discuss the events of November 10, 1975, theories surrounding the sinking and stories about the 29 crew members who were lost. This tour is approximately 75 minutes long. Tours take place every 30 minutes, with the first tour starting at 10 am and the last tour beginning at 3:30 PM.

Tickets are $25 for NMGL members and $40 for non-members. Each tour will be limited to 12 people. Guests will also receive a museum store discount of 10% (non-members) / 20% (members) off in-store purchases. Your tour purchase includes admission to the National Museum of the Great Lakes.

Due to its historical accuracy, the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship is not ADA accessible. Narrow, steep staircases are common throughout the Schoonmaker and may provide difficulties in accessibility for some. The Schoonmaker is also not heated and much of the tour is on uncovered decks. We encourage you to dress appropriately for the weather. If we determine that the weather has made these tours impossible, we will provide a refund of the ticket price (minus fees). If the program is cancelled, we are not planning a make-up date.

NMGL

Find out more here.

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, MI, on Oct. 8, 2026. [Robin Bravender:Michigan Advance]

So far, the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory has survived the administration’s attempt to eliminate it entirely, and it’s continuing to operate with its federal funding largely intact thanks to members of Congress who defied the White House’s wishes.

But the lab is running at a fraction of its former capacity after early staff purges from the administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency effort aimed at squeezing the federal workforce. Former lab employees and allies of the research hub say the scaled-back organization is suffering from a loss of talent and institutional knowledge and is losing its ability to foresee disasters that could hurt the lakes and the communities that rely on them.

“The science allows you to look forward, predict and anticipate problems and crises to help us get ahead of those,” said Deborah Lee, the former director of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, or GLERL. Lee retired from her position in February 2025 as the DOGE operation was getting under way.

Supporters of the lab say that scientific work is suffering after a wave of firings in early 2025, followed by voluntary departures from staffers who opted to accept the administration’s incentives for federal employees to retire early or resign.

“The big takeaway is that the laboratory has lost significant capacity in fundamental ecosystem research,” Lee said. “The second takeaway is that it has lost significant ability to communicate to the public the value of the science and to educate the public on the value of the science.”

Lee, who had planned her retirement for about a year, was preparing for her farewell ceremony in late February 2025 when she received a list of employees that were to be fired by DOGE, she told Michigan Advance in a recent interview.

“I was given 10 minutes to select one person off that list to not be fired,” Lee said. “That was all the input that I was permitted to have. I had no ability to identify who or shape the dismissals based on needs or efficiency.”

The laboratory “went from 52 federal employees down to 34,” Lee said, noting that it put the lab at one fewer employee than it had when she started there a decade ago.

The cuts included eight employees who were fired in February 2025 who were on “probationary” status, meaning they were new to their jobs or had been recently promoted, according to data compiled by AFGE 3908, a union that represents current and former laboratory staff. The administration targeted those positions, which have fewer protections, across the government as part of their early staff purge.

By June 2025, the lab’s federal workforce was down about 35% from earlier that year, according to the union data. That included the probationary workers and others who retired or took administration incentives to leave their jobs.

The Trump administration wants to eliminate the lab entirely. In its fiscal 2026 budget request to Congress, the White House sought to close NOAA’s GLERL locations in Ann Arbor and Muskegon. Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request would also zero out the NOAA budget that funds GLERL.

GLERL directed inquiries about its staffing and its work to Boulder, Colo.-based NOAA spokesperson Theo Stein, who said NOAA is “unable to address specific personnel questions” and declined to provide details about how many employees have left or about which, if any, were replaced.

“The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory continues to pursue its mission to conduct scientific research on the Great Lakes and coastal ecosystems, to create useful observations, data, models, and predictions to help manage water quality, ice cover, water levels, fisheries, and coastal safety, and to share that knowledge with decision-makers and the public,” Stein said.

Stein referred questions about the budget to the White House, which referred questions about the funding levels to NOAA and the White House Office of Management and Budget. OMB did not respond to a request for comment. This story will be updated when a response is received.

The Trump administration hasn’t gotten its wish to shutter the lab.

“The zeroing out of the NOAA research budget that was proposed did not come to fruition,” said Gregory Dick, director of the Cooperative Institute of Great Lakes Research, which partners with the Great Lakes laboratory and co-locates its research arm at the GLERL site in Ann Arbor. Despite the administration’s proposed cuts, GLERL’s base funding “is close to flat, and so there haven’t been major cuts to the base funding for the NOAA lab,” Dick said.

The Ann Arbor-based lab, launched in 1974, is one of seven NOAA research laboratories across the country. It’s the only one located in the Great Lakes region. Since its start, the lab’s research has included algal blooms caused by excess nutrients, the impact of climate change on the Great Lakes and invasive species.

“It’s the only federal freshwater research laboratory that serves the Great Lakes, so what we’re working to do is to fully fund the work,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) told the Advance in an interview. “They’re working as hard as they can and they’re stretched.”

Dingell said she and other champions of the Great Lakes in Congress are trying to “make sure we get the funding and try to get it back to where it was when it was cut.”

Next month’s midterm elections could tip the scales of power in Washington and shift priorities in Congress. “After this election, maybe we can get them back to their former level,” Dingell said of the lab.

The laboratory has been without a permanent director since Lee’s retirement in early 2025. Jesse Feyen, the deputy director, is also performing the duties of the lab’s director. NOAA declined to comment on whether it plans to fill the role on a permanent basis.

The lab’s communications team has also taken a hit. A pinned post on GLERL’s X account, dated Feb. 27, 2025, says: “Due to a reduction in staff, NOAA GLERL’s communications services will be taking an indefinite hiatus.”

Nicole Rice, a longtime NOAA employee who had been promoted in GLERL’s communications shop, was among those probationary employees fired in 2025.

“I was a 13-year continuous fed and I had been promoted due to some retirements,” Rice told the Advance in a recent interview. “But technically, my job title changed and they used that against me to say I was still in a probationary status.” She’s still fighting her termination with the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The lab lost its communications branch “in its entirety” and lost much of its ecosystem branch staff, Lee said.

A reorganization of the laboratory merged its former ecosystem dynamics branch into another office.

“Losing the ecosystems dynamic branch is probably one of the worst things that could happen,” Lee said. “That was where we produced all of our fundamental ecosystem research, and that research enabled us to develop state-of-the-art, state-of-the-science new forecasting products.”

That includes the laboratory’s harmful algal bloom forecast, which extends in three dimensions through the depths of the lake, she said. “If we had not been able to do the fundamental research in the laboratory that showed how that harmful algae moved up and down through the water column, and what caused it to form the thick scums on the surface, we wouldn’t have been able to produce a three-dimensional harmful algal bloom forecast.”

The remaining staff in the lab has done a “really good job of finding ways” to get critical day-to-day activities done, said Dick. That includes going out into lakes and taking samples and measuring harmful toxins in the water to alert drinking water treatment plants.

The cost of that “was a lot of the longer-term planning and really strategic research to prepare for the future,” he said. “To do the cutting-edge science that’s needed to develop the next generation of forecasts and products and scientific information that supports decision-making and supports the health and prosperity and safety of people on the Great Lakes.”

By Robin Bravender, Michigan Advance Via Great Lakes Now

A powerful fall storm system will bring widespread rain and potentially hazardous winds to Michigan beginning Thursday afternoon, with gale warnings issued for all Great Lakes waters surrounding the state. Strong northerly winds will develop Friday as the storm system deepens while moving through the Lower Great Lakes. Lake Superior could see sustained winds near gale force with gusts reaching 45 to 50 mph Friday morning, creating significant wave heights between 15 and 20 feet along southern lakeshores. On Lake Michigan, northwest winds will quickly ramp up between 35 and 40 mph Friday with waves building between five and eight feet. Gale watches are in effect for all Michigan waters of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron from Friday morning through Friday night. Land areas across Michigan can expect wind gusts in the 30 to 40 mph range Friday afternoon.

Temperatures will drop significantly behind the cold front. Highs Friday will only reach the upper 40s to low 50s across most of the state, with some areas experiencing near-steady temperatures through the day. Friday night into Saturday morning will bring the coldest conditions, with lows dropping into the mid to low 20s across interior locations. Some lakeshores may reach freezing for the first time this fall season, with frost and freeze conditions likely Saturday morning.

NWS and MLive

THUNDER BAY, ON – “Northern Ontario” and “exotic” aren’t two things that pop into the minds of residents. But for international travelers, including visitors from the U.S., the Great Lakes evoke something mystical and alluring. The rugged Canadian Shield whiskered with the Boreal Forest can be just as exotic as a Brazilian rainforest or Swiss Alps when you don’t see it every day.

That’s part of the reason why Great Lakes cruises have really taken off in the last several years. Expedition cruises cater to generally older, affluent passengers who value tucked-away adventures without sacrificing luxury.

“It’s a very exotic experience when you get into an area, particularly on the North Shore of Lake Superior, where very few people get to experience the rugged coastline,” Paul Pepe, manager of Tourism Thunder Bay.

“When you’re at Silver Islet (near Thunder Bay) and you’re looking at the cliffs of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, it definitely ranks up there as a destination on par with other parts of the world.”

In 2026, Pool 6 Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay welcomed four cruise liners including Viking Octantis and Victory II for a total of 10 visits.

The majority of passengers are from the US, though they attract Canadians and visitors from around the world. The direct economic impact for the city was $1.2 million to $1.4 million, he said.

The number of cruise ship visits is actually down from 2025, but Pepe said that the drop is due to the cyclical nature of port visits, not an interest in the Great Lakes or the area.

“It really comes down to the companies are always adjusting their itineraries to keep their loyal customers coming back,” Pepe said. “Right now, we’re discussing opportunities in 2030 and beyond with a lot of cruise partners.”

The City of Thunder Bay, through Tourism Thunder Bay, has worked hard to bring this unique experience to cruise lines — and make the area easy to visit, Pepe said. In 2024, several organizations including the City of Thunder Bay, the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC), and Embark Port Services came together to form Cruise Port Thunder Bay.

The partnership helps streamline services for cruise lines looking for destinations. “They want to arrive in a port where everyone is working together for the benefit of their guests and crew so that they have the best experience possible — and rave about it,” Pepe said.

Added touches like a visitors’ centre at the dock and busses that can drive right up to the gangplank make Thunder Bay special.

“I try being there myself; I love meeting the guests and chatting with the crews. We’re there to make sure that every guest and crew member is welcome in the community.”

Multi-national cruise companies don’t have offices in Thunder Bay, so having reliable port partners is crucial. Thunder Bay is also a “turnaround port” which means passengers will start or end their cruise in Thunder Bay — another layer of complexity the cruise lines need to run smoothly.

The Cruise Port Thunder Bay brand helps build that trust with cruises. That includes everything from providing a secure marine terminal, easy access for passengers on and off the ship, and port services to finding new excursion experiences for visitors and even taking care of the crew on shore leave.

“We try to make sure that the crew are good on-board ambassadors for our port as well,” Pepe said. The port arranges crew shuttles around the city, helps them connect with things to do on shore leave, and sets up a basketball court to help them stretch their legs.

Apparently, it’s working. “(One crew member) emailed me to say that he was chatting with another crew about what their favourite port was, and they said Thunder Bay.”

Another reason Great Lakes cruises are taking off is because there are finally ships available to do them.“Bigger is better” seems to be the mantra of cruise lines these days, with companies boasting of their record-breaking cities on water.

However, the locks along the St. Lawrence Seaway up through the Great Lakes are a limiting factor for ships. Smaller isn’t just better; it’s a pre-requisite.

The relatively new Expedition-class cruise ships for 100 to 400 passengers are built to “St. Lawrence Seaway specs” to navigate the locks, Pepe said. The Viking Octantis, launched in 2024, is one example.

More are now being built to meet demand for luxury discovery cruises. That, along with more destination ports along the way, means the Great Lakes cruise industry will continue to grow, Pepe said.

“It was a strong year for cruising the Great Lakes, and the numbers are up across the board,” Pepe said.

“I can see that continuing. There are a couple of new ships that are Seaway-compliant and will be online in the next four or five years. That’s a good sign that the cruise lines are building ships to Seaway specs.”

Northern Ontario Business

Viking Polaris moored at the Pool 6 Terminal in Thunder Bay, a former grain elevator property reconfigured to accommodate cruise ships.

OWEN SOUND, ON – The longtime owner-operators of Owen Sound’s iconic grain elevators will cease operations at the site in December, according to the union representing workers there. The president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union local that represents workers at the 1499 1st St. W. marine terminal confirmed that Parrish & Heimbecker, operating locally as Great Lakes Elevators, will permanently close its operations at the Owen Sound Harbour site in December.

“The Union worked to ensure that our members at Great Lakes Elevators were treated fairly and supported throughout this process,” said UFCW Local 175 president Kelly Tosato in an email. The closure will affect six employees at the Owen Sound location, the union said.

Parrish and Heimbecker did not immediately respond to a request for comment. P&H has owned the Owen Sound grain elevators for over 80 years and bought out other partners in 1956. The Winnipeg-based company, with roots in Hanover, operates the site through its subsidiary, Great Lakes Elevator Co. Ltd. It can store 93,000 metric tonnes of dry product.

The move comes more than a decade after P&H broke off talks with the federal government about potentially divesting Owen Sound Harbour to the company.

In 2013, Transport Canada gave P&H Ltd. permission to negotiate with the federal agency to take over the federally owned Owen Sound Harbour. Those talks broke off a year later. At the time, Transport Canada made it clear it would not dredge the Owen Sound Harbour until it was divested to another interest, though the company did not give a reason for the talks breaking down, citing non-disclosure agreements.

Around the same time, Owen Sound also explored taking over ownership of the harbour, but also demanded the harbour be dredged to a commercial navigation depth before assuming ownership. In 2016, the city notified Transport Canada that it did not want to buy the harbour but was interested in participating in divestiture talks.

According to its website, P&H was founded in 1909 when two grain-trading families, led by W.L. Parrish from Brandon, Manitoba and Norman Heimbecker from Hanover, Ontario, joined together to become Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited. Members of the two founding families still own and manage the company.

Greg Cowan

Cuyahoga unloads grain at the Owen Sound grain elevators in this 2017 file photo.

STURGEON BAY, WI – The 482-foot-long heavy lift vessel BBC Philippines departed Sturgeon Bay Monday for Burns Harbor after finishing unloading four huge Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) tanks. The tanks are for the new build 3794, a bunkering barge being built at Bay Shipbuilding that will be used to fuel ships at sea.

Each thank had to be individually barged from the ship, anchored out in the bay, to the shipyard. Basic Marine’s tug Nickelena powered the barge with assistance from the smaller tug Krystal.

The LNG tanks were manufactured at Alcotmi Inc., a prominent Canadian industrial manufacturer that designs and fabricates large-scale industrial pressure vessels, chemical tanks, and atmospheric equipment. BBC Philippines is 482′ x 75,’ built in 2023, and sailing under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. This is her first visit to the Great Lakes/Seaway system.

Rosann Hollinger

LNG tank is offloaded. [Colin Rice]

Great Lakes ports are seeing declines in iron ore and steel shipments that are tied in part to the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada. In August, President Donald Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, including alcohol, dairy products and motor vehicles. Canada responded on Sept. 8 with about $20 billion of its own retaliatory tariffs that include steel, agricultural equipment and pulp and paper products.

The Port of Duluth-Superior, which moves the most tonnage on the Great Lakes, moved 11.4 million tons of cargo through August — a 25 percent drop from the same time last year. The decline is largely driven by a decline in coal shipments, which fell by 2.9 million tons due to the closure of a coal terminal in Superior But the rest is due to declining iron ore shipments, which fell by 946,000 tons. A mix of factors led to the drop, said Jayson Hron, spokesperson for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

“Several factors playing a role in that decline, including the transition to scrap iron usage, electric arc furnaces, just the transition in the steelmaking industry, but also some trade and policy decisions as well,” Hron said.

About half of the drop in iron ore stemmed from fewer northbound shipments to Canada. The number of Canadian-flagged vessels calling on the port was down 37 percent through August.

Algoma Steel in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, said late last year that U.S. tariffs forced the steel producer to speed up plans to shift away from making steel with traditional blast furnaces that used iron ore and coke to electric arc furnaces. The port authority has previously said iron ore exports from the port went to the facility, but it’s unclear how much.

A Port Milwaukee spokesperson said steel volumes there are down more than 30 percent this year  The port spokesperson said actual amounts are considered proprietary information, but attributed the decline to U.S. tariffs on steel imported from both Canada and Europe.“As global trade conditions and tariff policies continue to evolve, Port Milwaukee remains focused on providing reliable, multimodal transportation opportunities that help businesses reach international markets while supporting a resilient regional supply chain,” the spokesperson said.

Jason Card is vice president of external affairs for the Chamber of Marine Commerce. The Ottawa-based industry association represents more than 100 ship operators, ports and terminals in the U.S. and Canada.He said the U.S. removed tariffs from road salt and cement, and shipping for those products has been unaffected “Now, in terms of steel, that is, of course, a challenge to a lot of members and to ports that have engaged the movement of steel and the component parts that are used to make steel,” Card said.

He added that it needs to be a priority for both nations to not take action that negatively affect what’s moved on the Great Lakes.

Jim Weakley is president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, which represents the U.S.-flagged fleet on the Great Lakes. He argued the ongoing dispute has not affected binational trade, noting customers are largely under longer-term contracts to move goods. He claimed a bigger issue is that Canadian regulations have “created a monopoly” on Great Lakes trade, including bringing in vessels built in China. The nation makes up roughly half of commercial shipbuilding while the U.S. makes up less than 1 percent. The U.S. has tried to counter China’s dominance in shipbuilding, but Card has said shipyards lack capacity to build vessels closer to home.

Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes this year totaled 27.5 million tons through August, according to the association. That’s up 3 percent from last August, but around 5 percent below the five-year average.

“Our frustration is we’re not seeing a market shift in the service from Canadian-flagged lakers to U.S.-flagged lakers, so we’re seeing no impact from the tariffs,” Weakley said. “If anything, we’re hopeful that there will be an increase in domestic steel production, which is the aim of the tariffs, and that will help us get back to our five-year average.”

Earlier this week, Trump announced plans for a new $15 billion steel plant in Iowa that would create thousands of jobs and use iron ore mined in Minnesota. Trump said Monday the steel industry is “roaring back to life” due to 50 percent tariffs on steel imports imposed last year. “Everyone is building their plants here because they don’t want to pay tariffs,” Trump said.

Industry advocates, including the American Iron and Steel Institute, urged the president to stand firm on steel tariffs, saying they’ve driven $47 billion in investment. But John Taylor, associate professor of global supply chain management for Wayne State University, said tariffs raise costs. Canada is Wisconsin’s largest trading partner and the nation’s second-largest next to Mexico. He said tariffs on steel imports from Canada increases the price of items made from steel, making U.S. manufacturing more expensive. “That hurts auto companies. That hurts construction equipment companies, agricultural equipment companies,” Taylor said.

By the time the Iowa plant is built, Taylor added tariffs on imported steel may no longer exist. “That (plant) would theoretically be increasing manufacturing of steel in the U.S.,” Taylor said. “But I would argue it’s going to be at a much higher cost than the imported steel.”

Great Lakes Now via Wisconsin Public Radio

STRAITS OF MACKINAC, MI – The Hiawatha National Forest has formed a partnership with the Round Island Lighthouse Preservation Society to ensure essential maintenance work on the Round Island Lighthouse, officials announced.

The little red lighthouse is a landmark in the Straits of Mackinac and is a favorite icon of ferry boat passengers heading to and from Mackinac Island each year.

The collaboration brings a new partner organization to the Forest Service and focuses on addressing deferred maintenance at the historic lighthouse structure. Funded through the Great American Outdoors Act, the initiative will tackle critical repairs including roofing, exterior painting and masonry work designed to protect the lighthouse from deterioration caused by harsh Great Lakes weather conditions.

The preservation project presents unique logistical challenges due to the lighthouse’s remote setting on Round Island, which holds both a federal Wilderness designation and the historic structure. Crews will need to navigate water transport requirements and limited access to resources while working in isolated conditions.

To accommodate these complexities, the restoration work has been scheduled across a three-year timeline, allowing sufficient time for planning and execution. Officials noted that successful completion of the project will require careful coordination, thorough preparation and adaptability from work teams.

The partnership aligns the priorities of both organizations while pooling resources to accelerate preservation efforts and achieve tangible results at the site.

Since it has not been used for navigation in the Straits for decades, Round Island Lighthouse long ago was placed under the auspices of the U.S. Forest Service – the Hiawatha National Forest unit, to be exact. The preservation society and Boy Scout members have handled much of the annual maintenance and spearheaded a 2020 funding drive for new loads of protective rock to guard against erosion when it was clear Forest Service didn’t have the budget surplus to cover it

M Live