Earl Boyea, the new bishop of Lansing, has a Monroe connection.  He served as an associate pastor at St. Mike’s in 1978 and 1979.  He probably saw me running around the choir loft at that time, but I don’t remember him.  My dad, Deacon Mike Ingels, sure remembers him.  All good things.

BTW, Boyea was at St. Mike’s during a great time.  Fr. Ted Fujawa was pastor.  The man was just the greatest priest.  He passed out “Smile.  God Loves You.” business cards and climbed through windows into the parish grade school.  He became very ill - cancer, I think - and took a position at St. Charles.  He returned for a farewell mass at St. Mike’s before he died.  It was one of the most moving services I have ever been to.  That was a very unique time in the life of the Catholic Church.

Anyway, I wish Bishop Boyea the best.  And I hope that he still has a bit of Fr. Ted in him.

Here’s film from Channel 12 in Flint:

http://tinyurl.com/28sf7b

Here is Bishop Boyea’s resume:

http://tinyurl.com/25wksg

Several newspapers reported this past week that the surface of Lake Erie had frozen over completely.  From Cleveland, OH to Erie, PA to Leamington, ONT, the lake is one solid surface of ice.

There are, of course, some technical exceptions to this.  Power plants along the shore continue to pump warm water discharges into the lake.  These areas remain open even in the coldest of winters.

And these warm water areas provide certain opportunities to wildlife lovers in Monroe County.  The warm waters of the discharge areas attract certain types of fish.  And the open water gives birds a relatively easy meal when compared to normal feeding conditions in the dead of winter.

The result is that large masses of birds congregate at the power plant outflows.  All one needs is a good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope.  A scan of the accumulated bird life can turn up some amazing surprises.  Several years ago the DNR’s publication the Spotting Scope reported that an observer at the Monroe DTE power plant counted 54 American bald eagles on an offshore ice flow.

The best place to do this kind of birding is at the Consumers Energy J.R. Whiting facility in Erie Township.  Visitors can take the Erie Rd. exit from I-75 just south of Luna Pier.  Head east until the road dead-ends at a small parking area and gate.  Walk towards the shore and you’ll see just about the only open water on the entire lake.  Birds will be easy to spot on the edges of the open waters.

Area birders can monitor rare birds in the area at this link:

http://tinyurl.com/2qc8ov

Make sure to place a notation on your calendars.  The PBS show the American Experience will broadcast an episode about the life and work of Ansel Adams on March 17.  Adams was a famous photographer of America’s great natural spaces.  You probably have a photo from his body of work hanging on a wall in your house right now.  This is CAN’T-MISS TV:

http://tinyurl.com/3as5ur

Channel 24 in Toledo had a nice segment on last night’s newscast about the “Toledo War” that ended with Toledo in Ohio and the Upper Peninsula in Michigan.  Check it out:

http://nbc24.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=99963

I have to admit that I am drawn to Luna Pier.  It has some of the best long-distance views in Monroe County.  The city is as walkable as they come in the county.  Traffic frequency in most of the city is low and the very low speed limits are strictly enforced.  And, I have to compliment Luna Pier, the city doesn’t place “Keep Out” signs everywhere like other shoreline communities along Lake Erie.

So, the first thing that visitors to Luna Pier should do is to find a business and spend some money.  A town that welcomes people should be rewarded.

The second thing that a visitor should do is start walking.  This past Sunday, I parked at the community center at Water Tower Park.  From there, I walked along the walk/bike lane on Harold Drive north to Allen Cove Rd.  Allen Cove moves in two directions.  Both are dead ends.  But both have great views of the lake, so it is worth while walking to the end of each segment.

Once back to the intersection with Harold Drive, a hiker should follow the dike towards I-75 along the north side marsh to Gardner’s Rd.  This marsh is owned by the State of Michigan.  It is a part of the Erie State Game Area.

At Gardner’s a walker should walk north past the only house on this street and stay with the road as it makes a sharp turn west and then north again.  The road will dead-end in a DNR parking lot.

Past the parking barrier, a trail heads north past several small ponds until it dead-ends at some marsh along Muddy Creek.  This is actually an interesting location.  There are some VERY rough paths that seem to go in many different directions. 

With time, I will hike these.  I am curious to know if there is any kind of connection along Muddy Creek to the other side of I-75.  I’d bet not.  I’d also be curious to know if there is a nice loop back along the Allen Cove marsh.

Whatever the case, this is a very interesting place.  As I headed back, I ran into a DNR conservation officer doing a patrol in the small parking area.  He was quite curious about where I had come from.  Gotta love those curious DNR officers.

BTW, this particular walk can be plugged into a previous Luna Pier hike that I’ve blogged about in the past.  You can view that report here:

http://tinyurl.com/2kmmra

Here’s my map on Microsoft Virtual Earth:

http://tinyurl.com/3cqhkp

This is the official Erie State Game Area map:

http://tinyurl.com/2lqc5z

Note: The Allen Cove Road overpass spanning I-75 can be used to create an “aerial” style view.  The shoulder on the bridge is wide enough to walk along.  So, that is an option for view-lovers.

The Observer & Eccentric papers have a good story on how cemeteries contain much historic information:

Gravestones can be decorated with symbols. A Celtic knot points to Irish heritage and a lamb represents a child, Krugman said. Cemeteries are arranged differently. Sometimes families are grouped together provided they had enough money to pay for plots, while the poor were buried in a row without regard to family connections. Some cemeteries have sections that are just for children or infants. “Sometimes the infants were not recorded, yet there may be a grave,” Krugman noted.

http://tinyurl.com/2bnteo

The Bay City Times has a story about the increased use of airboats on Saginaw Bay:

http://tinyurl.com/29bfnb

ITC Holdings is a power-line company.  It is planning to build a high-capacity line through the northern suburbs of Detroit, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.  This sometimes results in rights-of-way crossing parks and other public lands:

http://tinyurl.com/26flbg

The Muskegon Chronicle reports on cleanup efforts in West Michigan’s White Lake:

http://tinyurl.com/2wmvoo

Channel 2 in Detroit has a report on the delayed release of the CDC report on toxic areas along the Great Lakes shoreline:

http://tinyurl.com/2tngyx

The Iron Mountain Daily News has a report about park and trail improvements in that far-west UP town:

So far, he has received information to look at a trail around Crystal Lake, purchasing abandoned railroad property in the city for walking areas, renovating the smaller buildings at City Park, expansion of the ski trail at City Park, working with Vision 2020 on trails to North Elementary School, having the trail by the northside ballfield lead up to the Millie Hill Bat Cave, and looking at maps that pertain to a countywide bike trail.

http://tinyurl.com/2lhjcw

The Grand Haven Tribune reports on a plan to secure grant monies from the DNR for East Grand River Park:

Lisa Sutterfield, Grand Haven’s assistant city manager, likes the city’s chances this year in getting a $300,000 state grant for improvements at East Grand River Park. The city’s application last year to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to help fund the park project was rejected. City Council voted 4-0 Monday to resubmit a nearly identical application to the state by an April 1 deadline.

Sutterfield said there were many applications for the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant program last year, and she anticipates the state will place Grand Haven’s request near the top because of it being a second attempt.

The application will ask the DNR to pay 75 percent of the planned $400,000 improvement project at the 6.1-acre park alongside the Grand River at the east end of Washington Avenue. The city would fund the remaining $100,000.

The improvements would include new barrier-free amenities like drinking fountains, benches, grills, picnic tables, playground, and accessible boardwalk to a fishing platform and wildlife viewing area. Other items include security enhancements and an irrigation system; and upgrades to the existing playground equipment, boardwalk, gazebo and parking lot.

Not part of this project, but planned for the future at East Grand River Park, are acquisition of adjacent land, new barrier-free restrooms and connection to an extended waterfront trail in the city

http://tinyurl.com/2uyguo

Zero fish were harvested during this year’s Black Lake sturgeon season:

http://tinyurl.com/2r3scv

The public comment period for the MI state forest plan remains open until mid-March:

http://tinyurl.com/2p7s9x

The Bay City Times has a report on a possible new 115 nature preserve in Bay County:

Jim and Shirley McLean bought up 115 acres of land in Bay County’s Garfield Township so they’d have a place to get away from the stress of everyday life. The Midland couple recently donated a conservation easement on the 115 acres to the Bay City-based Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy and are looking to turn the land into a public nature preserve. For now, the land near Flajole and Erickson roads will remain private, but stay preserved.

The couple have maintained hiking trails on the land, which includes 3,000 feet of frontage along the North Branch of the Kawkawlin River, a sugar maple forest and a southern hardwood swamp, said Greg Eagle, a land protection specialist with the conservancy.

The McLeans have talked to several organizations about turning the land into a public preserve and nature center. So far, they’ve only found organizations that want to sell the land and use the proceeds for other projects.

http://tinyurl.com/2kjm53

A woman has created a documentary about Detroit’s “Black Bottom” and “Paradise Valley” neighborhoods:

…her father was born in Black Bottom, which was roughly bound by Elmwood Cemetery to the east, St. Aubin to the west, the Detroit River to the south and Vernor Highway to the north. Paradise Valley, a booming neighborhood of entertainment in the 1920s-40s, sprang up to the north and west of Black Bottom.

http://tinyurl.com/2mhvgf

The Detroit News has this tidbit:

U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, will host a conservation workshop at 7 p.m. March 3 at the Huron Point Sportsmen’s Association, 35800 E. 28 Mile, in Lenox Township. Miller will discuss grant programs available through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Program and the USDA’s Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program.

http://tinyurl.com/33vufl

The Traverse City Record Eagle reports that the outdoor sculpture “Time Myth” will not be placed in the city’s bayfront open space.  The sculpture currently sits at the old Kmart headquarters in Troy:

http://tinyurl.com/yoton2

The Grand Haven Tribune reports on a new nature center that will be created along the Pigeon River at Hemlock Crossing in Ottawa County:

Located at Hemlock Crossing along the Pigeon River near U.S. 31, the 8,000-square-foot nature center would include exhibit areas, meeting spaces, wildlife viewing area, covered patio, and offices for County Naturalist Chip Francke and the parks department staff.

Hemlock Crossing in Port Sheldon Township was chosen as the nature center site because of its central location in the county and its varied ecology, Francke said. “It’s a very diverse site, biologically,” he said, noting the Pigeon River, wetlands, forests, open areas, and diverse plant and wildlife in the park. The 239-acre park includes more than six miles of hiking and cross-country ski trails. The only nature center in Ottawa County right now is the city of Holland’s DeGraaf Nature Center, 600 Graafschap Road.

http://tinyurl.com/yrs2qj

Muskegon County officials have approved plans to allow Pheasants Forever to create pheasant habitat on county wastewater treatment land:

The Muskegon County Board of Public Works has voted to allow the Muskegon branch of Pheasants Forever to use 425 acres of wastewater property for habitat restoration. That will include planting prairie grass, sorghum, wildflowers and other vegetation necessary to attract pheasants.

The project would be the largest restoration of pheasant habitat on public land in the state, according to Farhat. Hunting the birds on the property will remain illegal, according to Dave Kendrick, the county’s director of public works.

“The beauty of that site, especially as a contiguous project, is that it’s going to be like a preserve, with no hunting,” Farhat said. The 10-year agreement with the county identifies three sites where habitat will be upgraded. The first will be 80 acres on the north side of Apple Avenue near Sullivan Road, Farhat said. At the same time, the group will plant on 130 acres on the south side of Laketon Avenue near the Swanson Road intersection.

The second and third phases, totaling about 290 acres, will be contiguous to the Swanson Road site, to the south and east, Farhat said. The group would ideally like to develop about 100 acres per year, he said.

All the habitat development will be separate from the 5,100 acres reserved for corn, alfalfa and soybean farming on the property. Those crops are raised as part of the natural wastewater cleansing process at the wastewater treatment facility.

http://tinyurl.com/yrs2qj

The Grand Rapids Press reports that the City of Grand Rapids will spend over $500,000 to create a plan called “Green Grand Rapids.”  It will create a new vision for the city’s parks and the Grand River:

GRAND RAPIDS — City commissioners on Tuesday approved the funding package for “Green Grand Rapids,” a $548,000 project that aims to re-write the city’s parks and recreation master plan. Green Grand Rapids also will help the city attract the type of highly educated workforce that is needed in the new economy, said Suzanne Schulz, the city’s planning director.

The DDA will add $125,000 to explore ways of developing the Grand River through the downtown area. The project will include design of new walkways along the river and a study to determine if the Fourth Street dam is needed or could be redeveloped as a source of hydro-electric power.

http://tinyurl.com/3chqtg

The Detroit Free Press has a story about plans to restore Danvers Pond in Farmington Hills:

http://tinyurl.com/yvbae4

The Bay City Times has a story about the DNR’s decision to allow for naming rights to be sold for some Michigan public lands and facilities:

http://tinyurl.com/25vw8p

There have been several rollicking discussions of DTE on the monroetalks bulletin boards.  These plants have a pretty major impact on Monroe’s land use planning and environment, so the discussions are germane to this blog. 

One thread is centered on plans to create a “Fermi III” on the site of the current Fermi II nuclear power plant.  The second is focused on the DTE coal plant in the City of Monroe.  Check ‘em out:

http://tinyurl.com/2wzbdr

http://tinyurl.com/2mfhzt

I always kind of laugh when I leave I-75 and drive towards Downtown Monroe on LaPlaisance.  The causes of the chuckles are the “Lotus Bed” signs that direct a visitor to Dunbar Road.

Don’t get me wrong.  The lotus beds are beautiful.  They are a community treasure.  And they have a unique place in Monroe’s history.

But to get to the beds, one has to pass a prison facility, the door-to-nowhere ruin, a DTE dump site, a party island and I-75.  Oh, and did I mention that the site has one of the ”best” views of the DTE coal plant? 

But that is the “nature” of Monroe.  It is a sometimes chaotic blend of the VERY industrial and the VERY natural.  Both inhabit the county and in close proximity.

What a tourist or community visitor actually perceives when visiting the site is arguable.  Does the beauty of the lotus beds outweigh the industrial turmoil of this patch of land and water?  I wonder.

But there is no doubt that the Dunbar site is the most accessible location to view lotus flowers in Monroe County.  Visitors just need to take LaPlaisance Rd. past the triple set of railroad tracks and make a very quick left onto Dunbar.  All one has to do is pop out of the car when the flowers bloom in June.  No hiking is needed.

There are very few visitor facilities at this viewing location.  There aren’t even any parking spots.  One just has to abandon the car on the road shoulder and walk to the water’s edge.  The road is a dead end, so there is little to no traffic to worry about.

The view is actually quite good in this area across Plum Creek.  “Creek” does not seem to be the correct noun at this location.  The waterway is wide and slow in this area.  And, since the DTE plant processes pretty much the entire flow of the River Raisin and deposits it in Plum Creek, this location can lay claim to being the end of one of SE Michigan’s great rivers.

It would be wonderful if, in the future, some arrangement could be made to connect this lotus bed site with the DNR boat launch at Bolles Harbor.  That would require a pedestrian passage around a DTE disposal facility.  I have no knowledge of the logistics involved with this, nor the environmental state of this area.  But it should probably be in some individual’s long-term plan for the area.

I placed a pin at this location on Google Maps here:

http://tinyurl.com/26ty9o

Note: Given that it is February as I post this, it was not possible to get a good shot of the lotus for this blog post.  So, I used a U.S. Department of Agriculture photo from this site.  It is in the public domain, but the photographer is Robert H. Mohlenbrock:

http://tinyurl.com/ytb26m

Bingham Township in NW lower Michigan has received a $5,000 DEQ matching grant for two parks on Grand Traverse Bay, according to the Leelanau Enterprise:

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has awarded Bingham Township a “coastal zone management” grant of $5,000 to help plan for improvement of the township’s two waterfront parks on Grand Traverse Bay, - Boughey Park and Hendry Park.

http://tinyurl.com/2qdkmk

Canada is planning to clean up several sites on the “other” side of the St. Clair River, according to the Port Huron Times Herald:

The money will be used on a 5-mile stretch of the river that starts at Dow Chemical’s property and extends to Corunna, which is roughly across from the Marysville Golf Course. John Baird, Canada’s Environment Minister, said the money will be used to address deposits of mercury and other organic pollutants.

http://tinyurl.com/2r656p

The Chicago Sun-Times reports on a study that suggests that sport fishing is allowing only slow and small fish to reproduce.  Faster and bigger fish are caught, causing an evolutionary swim to the bottom:

http://tinyurl.com/3atqle

Oil has been discovered underneath Livonia, according to the Detroit News:

Traverse City-based oil producers on Monday said the first of two wells tested on an 11-acre site near Interstate 275 at Seven Mile is very productive, yielding 200 barrels of oil per day. Tests are being conducted on a second well. . The oil will be shipped to the Marathon refinery in Detroit. The $3.5 million operation is expected to net at least $3 million in royalties for Livonia over 20 years.

http://tinyurl.com/yoy8w5

The Detroit News also reports on a small walking path at a tiny park in St. Clair Shores:

http://tinyurl.com/2hxczm

The City of Pontiac is planning to build a pedestrian bridge over Telegraph Road, according to the Detroit News:

The City of Pontiac is considering building a pedestrian bridge over Telegraph Road that would provide a safe passage for walkers and bikers using the city’s section of the Clinton River Trail. The city will hold a public hearing from 4-7 p.m. March 10 at the Bowens Center, 52 Bagley St., to discuss the project plan, construction and other details.

http://tinyurl.com/2yybz6

Chicago is slated to open the first L.L. Bean store in the midwest, according to the Chicago Sun-Times:

The shopping center, an open-air lifestyle center with a high-end movie theater, restaurants and retail, is slated to open in September. The 600,000-square foot shopping center at the northeast corner of Route 59 and Higgins Road is bounded on the east by Highway 59, on the west by Bartlett Road, on the south by Higgins Road and on the north by a 400-home development to be called The Woods of South Barrington.

The store will include L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery School, where instructors offer hands-on experiences in sports such as kayaking and fly fishing.

http://tinyurl.com/2aj8dj

The Akron Beacon Journal has a RECOMMENDED story about several sites in SE Ohio related to long-lost African-American communities and the Underground Railroad:

Ann Cramer has long been intrigued by Paynes Crossing. As an archaeologist with the Wayne National Forest, she’s involved with a project to learn more about that community and another Underground Railroad stop, Pokepatch, in Lawrence and Gallia counties.

Funded since 1999 by more than $172,000 in federal grants, Cramer and other researchers from Ohio University’s Department of African American Studies and the Multicultural Genealogical Center in Chesterhill have been combing through census data; land records; birth, death and marriage certificates; cemetery inscriptions and genealogical records to piece together a history of the sites.

Ohio was home to a number of small, scattered African-American communities, including Pee Pee in Pike and Ross counties, Berlin Crossroads in Jackson County, Stillguest in Ross County, Cherry Fork in Adams County, Huston Hollow in Scioto County, Haiti in Belmont County, Rainbow Ridge in Washington County, Burlington Crossroads in Lawrence County, Lambert Lands in Gallia County and Gist in Highland County.

In fact, the cemetery, which was used for burials between 1852 and 1927, is what first attracted Cramer’s attention in the early 1990s because it includes markers for five or six Civil War veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops.

More than 800 sites have been documented, including 100 in Summit, Stark, Portage, Wayne, Ashland and Carroll counties, according to the Ohio Underground Railroad Association (http://www.ohioundergroundrailroad.org)

The Ohio Historical Society also offers online information on the Underground Railroad at http://www.ohiohistory.org/undergroundrr

Note: the U.S. Forest Service site is a bit temperamental.  Here’s a decent link: http://tinyurl.com/2cpumc

This is the original article:

http://tinyurl.com/2rj4wj

The MSU State News has a story about a recent Ojibwe language pow-wow on the Michigan State campus:

http://tinyurl.com/yqmms4

Crain’s Detroit Business has a RECOMMENDED story about developing plans for one or more statewide environmental bond proposals:

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality says that money — mostly from Michigan’s $675 million 1998 environmental bond — will be depleted by year’s end, and, without a new source of funds, ongoing cleanups around the state will halt and new projects won’t start.

But Chuck Hersey, manager of environmental programs at the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, said a bond proposal for cleanups can’t be discussed in a vacuum. SEMCOG issued a report late last year pointing to the need to redesign Michigan’s entire funding structure for state environmental operations, which relies heavily on fees assessed on business and local units of government. Hersey said SEMCOG generally supports the need for a new bond, but that won’t erase a structural problem. And he said that with a new bond, the state needs to consider issues like revising brownfield cleanup standards “so that any resources … are wisely used.”

The Nature Conservancy is looking toward 2010 for an environmental bond that could encompass several facets. Among them: Purchase of easements to preserve forest land for recreational use while keeping it on the tax rolls; incentives to help owners of farmland to keep their property in agricultural production; and funding for land acquisition, habitat and environmental restoration; and cleanups to build “green infrastructure” that would make urban areas more attractive places in which to live, said Rich Bowman, director of government relations for the conservancy’s Michigan chapter. He said the conservancy has conceptually discussed a $1 billion proposal.

One group that’s intrigued is the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. Doug Roberts Jr., director of environmental and health policy, said that while the chamber sees the need to consider another bond for cleanups, it’s hesitant about the rapid assembly of a proposal to place on the ballot this fall. Roberts said the conservancy’s proposal is “more comprehensive, balances some economic growth ideas, it’s more than just giving money to the DEQ for some cleanups.”

http://tinyurl.com/2z5zj9

Ken Knight, a dedicated SE Michigan hiker is developing a blog on which he will post real-time backpacking reports from the trail:

http://tinyurl.com/yongdq

Natural areas are worth $1.6 billion annually to the West Michigan economy, according to a new report:

Scientists at Grand Valley State and Michigan State universities developed a computerized tool that estimates the value of natural features in Muskegon, Ottawa, Newaygo, Kent, Ionia, Allegan and Barry counties. The program is called INVEST, for INtegrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services Tool.

Researchers calculated the worth of natural features by measuring the value of ecosystem services that forests, wetlands and lakes provide.

Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect benefits that natural features provide humans, including recreation, improved water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, tourism, soil-erosion control, food production, scenic beauty and improved human health.

According to the study, the 996,000 acres of forest land in the seven-county area were the region’s most valuable natural asset, worth an estimated $1.1 billion annually. Great Lakes beaches and sand dunes, which span 4,762 acres in Muskegon, Ottawa and Allegan counties, ranked second in value, at $139 million. Those were followed by cropland, at $119 million (including the value of crops); wetlands, $81 million; and inland lakes and streams (excluding Lake Michigan), at $62 million.

The INVEST Web site, www.invest.wri.gvsu.edu, provides a breakdown of the value of natural features in each of the seven counties.

http://tinyurl.com/28d7pg

The Kalamazoo Gazette has a report on the harsh West Michigan winter and how spring snowmelt will be beneficial to the Great Lakes:

http://tinyurl.com/yphs3t

The Grand Rapids Press has a story about efforts to clean up the Muskegon Lake watershed:

http://tinyurl.com/26fdfk

A Civil War-era cabin and several other period buildings are being restored for public use at St. Clair County’s Goodells Park.  The excerpts are from the Port Huron Times Herald via WOOD TV in Grand Rapids:

WALES TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A former barn and storage shed that also served as a cabin for a Civil War surgeon will soon be a historical attraction at Goodells County Park. “It was the original homestead of one Isaac Mudge,” said Dennis Delor, special events, marketing and volunteer coordinator with the St. Clair County Parks and Recreation Commission.

Delor spent the winter disassembling the cabin, marking logs and moving them from the Card Road property where the building had stood for years. Now that the piece of St. Clair County history has arrived at the Wales Township park, Delor slowly is putting the logs back together.

http://tinyurl.com/28e4sf

The Leelanau Enterprise has an article about a new tribal marina in NW lower MI that is slated to be built using several governmental funding sources and tribal monies:

http://tinyurl.com/ypc5yr

The Post-Tribune has a story about the 80-year-old founder of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, one of the first environmental advocacy groups in the lakes region:

http://tinyurl.com/2xjssq

The Erie Times reports that the surface of Lake Erie is now frozen completely.  Excerpt:

 2/26 - Erie, PA - Quietly, on Tuesday or Wednesday, the last open bit of Lake Erie froze over. The lake is now completely covered by ice, according to the National Ice Center, an organization of scientists of the U.S. Navy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the waters off Erie,PA more than half of the ice is 1 foot to 2 feet thick, said Ice Center analyst Christopher Szorc.

The freeze of 2008 came late, he said. “Two to three weeks later than normal,” Szorc said. “Usually, the whole of Lake Erie would be ice-covered during the second week of February,” Szorc said. A frozen lake does not necessarily mean lake-effect snow has ended, said Dan Leins, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “Lake-effect snow is still going to be a possibility even though the lake is frozen over, though it severely limits the intensity and the strength of it,” he said.

http://tinyurl.com/2l2u88

Here’s a link to WOOD TV in Grand Rapids.  They have a satellite image of the frozen lake:

http://blogs.woodtv.com/?p=3255