The Stream
So many of us live in Wisconsin’s Northwoods or Michigan’s Upper Peninsula because we love what surrounds us every day. We love the clear water, the clean air, and the lush forests. WXPR’s environmental reporting as part of our expanded series, The Stream, focuses on the natural world around us. The Stream is now about more than just water: it brings you stories of efforts to conserve our wild lands and lakes, scientific studies of animal and plant life, and potential threats to our environment.
What do you wonder about the environment in our region? Ask us a question and it could be a future story on The Stream! Use the form below to submit your question.
Latest Episodes
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Aquatic Invasive Species are some of the greatest threats to lake health in the Northwoods.Once an invasive establishes itself in a water body, it can cost thousands of dollars to remove it, if removing it is even possible at all.Rusty crayfish has been one such invasive species.First introduced to Trout Lake in Vilas County in the late 70s and 80s, the crayfish quickly settled in with population estimates in the thousands by the late 2000s.But now it seems nature is correcting course. -
Further testing for PFAS in eastern Oneida County has revealed contamination in some lakes in the area.WXPR’s Katie Thoresen attended Tuesday’s town hall meeting with DNR staff. She gives us an update as part of WXPR’s The Stream.
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Many people often split the sciences and arts as using two different halves of their brains.But a group of scientists and artists working in Vilas County argue there’s a lot of overlap between the two disciplines.
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A major lakes study in the Northwoods will be used as a baseline for research in the decades to come.Last year, 250 lakes across northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota were sampled.WXPR’s Katie Thoresen spoke with some of the scientists involved about what this project will mean for air and water quality in the Northwoods.
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Anglers are always hoping to reel in that big musky or walleye in the Northwoods.To create a healthy habitat for those fish to grow, the Wisconsin DNR needs to know how fish populations are doing.
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A 2021 storm took down hundreds of trees in the Eagle River area.Some of those damaged areas are still being repaired.
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A lot of focus surrounding PFAS has been on how it contaminated drinking water, but a new study is focused on how we may be consuming it in our food.
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Slick ice has covered roads and sidewalks across much of the Northwoods in recent days. This also means more salt is being used to melt that ice.That salt has been making its way into lakes in southern Wisconsin for decades. The City of Madison says the chloride levels in Lake Mendota have been increasing by about one milligram per liter a year since 1962.While chloride level data is lacking on many Northwoods lakes, data collected from one local lake makes it clear that water bodies here are not immune.
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State Senator Mary Felzkowski spoke with WXPR about her concerns with the Pelican River Forest and why she held up funding for conservation easements on the property.
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The 70,000 acres of woods, wetlands, and rivers meant to be a crown jewel of conservation in Wisconsin are now in limbo because of an anonymous lawmaker on the state’s Joint Finance Committee.
