President Trump’s latest travel ban targeting 12 countries—many of them Muslim-majority or located in South America and Africa—went into effect today. The proclamation blocks travel to the U.S. for individuals without a valid visa from: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Seven additional countries also face restrictions: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Last week, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR Michigan) issued a community alert urging individuals from the affected countries to return to the U.S. by today if possible.
CAIR Michigan staff attorney Amy Doukoure says the new restrictions could have immediate consequences.
“We might also see people who have a valid visa who don’t quite make it into the United States by June 9, unable to actually enter on the visa that they’re issued. And we will definitely see people who are here on a current valid visa, being unable to travel outside of the United States and then reenter once the travel ban takes effect.”
Doukoure says the policy mirrors previous bans issued during Trump’s first term. She warns it will likely separate families and increase anxiety among communities from the affected countries.
Local ICE protests
About 50 protesters gathered near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Detroit on Sunday, voicing opposition to the Trump administration’s mass deportation raids.
Russ McNamara reports from the protest.
Leah Checchini of Hazel Park attended the rally. She says her father immigrated from Argentina and believes everyone deserves the same opportunity.
“Just seeing everything that’s going on around me—I have a lot of friends who are in the process of getting their papers taken care of—so watching what’s happening to people like them is enraging, to say the least.”
More protests are planned in cities across the country.
Free clinic offers help with license restoration
The Michigan Department of State is hosting a free clinic to help residents restore their driver’s licenses. The Road to Restoration clinic will take place Tuesday, June 24 at the La SED Senior and Youth Center, located at 7150 Vernor Highway in Detroit. Department staff and pro bono attorneys will be on-site to assist with the process. The clinic runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with walk-ins welcome between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
New guidelines added to Michigan’s Eat Safe Fish Guide
About 300 new recommendations have been added to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Eat Safe Fish Guide, with a renewed focus on reducing exposure to PFAS—commonly known as “forever chemicals.”
Officials say the chemicals are more harmful than previously thought. The updated guidelines outline which waterways are safe for fishing and how much of each species is safe to consume. For example, it’s considered safe to eat up to four servings of Bluegill per month from the Detroit River, but Bluegill from Belleville Lake should be completely avoided due to elevated PFAS levels.
Because PFAS are found in the fish fillet, simply trimming fat won’t reduce exposure. However, poking holes in the skin and grilling or broiling the fish can help lower the risk.
You can find the full Eat Safe Fish Guide at michigan.gov.
Reporting by Emma George-Griffin
Fall prevention resources available for Michigan seniors
Several groups are coming together to offer fall prevention resources for seniors. Each year, about 30 percent of Michiganders 65 and older report falling in their homes.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Bureau of Aging, Community Living and Supports Health Services, the Michigan Falls Prevention Coalition, and Oakland University have partnered to connect people with health care providers, community organizations, and fall prevention resources.
People can explore safety planning tools, physical wellness services, and daily life support online at mi211.org. You can also call 211 for help finding resources.
The website was made possible by a $408,000 grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund Healthy Aging initiative.
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The two-year search is almost over for participants of the Big Tree Hunt.
The contest, held by environmental nonprofit ReLeaf, challenges everyday citizens to try and find the biggest trees in Michigan.
There are five prize-winning categories, including:
Largest tree submitted by someone under 15
Largest tree submitted by someone 16 and up
Largest tree by county
Largest white pine (Michigan’s state tree)
Any tree that is equal to or greater than the current state champion of a species
“We wanted to get people outside and looking up and being aware of trees and their benefits,” said ReLeaf Executive Director Melinda Jones. She hopes that the friendly competition better connects people with nature and tree conservation.
Looking for trees is one way ReLeaf engages families with young kids, but contestants span all ages.
“It also appeals to a lot of retirees,” said Jones. “They get just as big of a kick.”
ReLeaf reports that they’ve gotten submissions from 70 counties in Michigan so far. They hope to see submissions from the remaining 13 counties: Baraga, Branch, Hillsdale, Lake, Luce, Menominee, Montcalm, Newaygo, Ontonagon, Osceola, Otsego, Schoolcraft and Tuscola.
Crowning new champion trees
ReLeaf also wants Michiganders to work together to find new state and national champion trees.
Big Tree Hunt entries are sent to the Michigan Big Tree Register. Specialists then add additional information such as the height of the tree and its overall health before the tree is added to the national register.
All you need to enter the Big Tree Hunt is a tree’s circumference at “chest height” — that’s 4.5 feet above the ground — and the tree’s location. All entered trees have to be alive, accessible, and new additions to the Michigan Big Tree Register in order to win prizes.
After submissions close, the biggest trees entered into the contest are verified by volunteers, who verify the circumference and species of the nomination.
The last day to enter online or through mail is August 22, 2025.
A photo submission from the 2023-2025 Big Tree Hunt, provided by ReLeaf Michigan
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Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline has been fueling debate for decades.
It carries millions of gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids each day from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario. A critical segment of this pipeline lies exposed on the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac.
It’s a location University of Michigan scientists call the “worst possible place” for an oil spill. That’s because of strong currents that could rapidly spread contaminants across the Great Lakes.
Now, Enbridge wants to build a $500 million dollar tunnel deep under the lakebed to shield the pipeline, prevent an oil spill, and repair aging infrastructure. A new environmental report from the Army Corps of Engineers says it will likely accomplish these things.
But that would come at a cost. Habitats could be destroyed, wildlife disrupted, and tribal rights threatened.
Meanwhile, legal fights continue. Michigan’s governor and Indigenous communities want Line 5 shut down, citing environmental and treaty violations.
Enbridge insists federal law protects the pipeline.
The Army Corps of Engineers is asking people to weigh in on its new report about the tunnel project through the end of the month.
So, it’s a good time to ask: is this tunnel a safe solution or a continuation of something that violates indigenous rights and threatens the environment?
Andrew Buchsbaum, an expert on environmental law at the University of Michigan, has been part of the movement to stop Line 5. He joined The Metro to discuss the new report.
The Metro invited an Enbridge spokesperson to discuss Line 5 and its proposed oil tunnel, but didn’t hear back before the show’s air date.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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Local nonprofit Sidewalk Detroit has been supporting the community through artistic initiatives for more than a decade.
The organization’s 10th annual Sidewalk Festival is taking place Aug. 1-2, at Eliza Howell Park. The biannual arts and culture celebration features a mixture of music, dance, performance art, interactive installations, and community-driven workshops deeply rooted in social justice.
Sidewalk Detroit also offers an “Earth Futures Fellowship” as part of the festival, which supports local artists who are focused on environmental justice and community action initiatives.
This year, Earth Futures is introducing a storm water education campaign, including multiple hands-on learning opportunities about rainwater collection and remediation, access to clean water in urban environments and more.
To talk more about this year’s festival and fellowship, Sidewalk Detroit’s 2025 Artist in Residence, Maya Davis, and Program Director Augusta Morrison joined The Metro.
–WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
Canadian wildfire smoke that blew into the Great Lakes region is expected to clear from northern Michigan this weekend — at least for now.
The Michigan Air Quality Division said Thursday morning that the heavy smoke across the Upper Peninsula was already clearing out. Earlier in the week, there were unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter in the air across parts of the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan, with smoke settling here for days before moving further south.
While division forecasters expect Friday to be the last day for advisories from this round of smoke, they said it was too early to put out a firm forecast much beyond that: “There is still a considerable amount of smoke in Canada and the models are indicating a late weekend frontal system could draw down more smoke, next week.”
The state has been issuing air quality alerts for much of the region. As of Thursday, there were still advisories across the Lower Peninsula for sensitive groups, including people with health issues like asthma.
People can take measures to protect their health, such as limiting outdoor activities, closing windows, and running air conditioners with high-quality filters.
This is the latest in a series of intense wildfire seasons fueled by dry conditions in Canada, resulting in smoky springs and summers in the Midwest.
“For the last few years, you’ve combined what has been somewhat persistent wildfire problems in Canada with an air flow that is moving some of that air from Canada down into the United States,” said Jim Keysor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord.
It can be difficult to predict how far-away wildfires will affect air quality in different regions, since smoke is influenced by factors like wind, pressure systems, weather fronts and geography.
“Wherever the wind blows, the smoke is going to go,” said Alec Kownacki, a meteorologist with Michigan’s Air Quality Division. “And at different levels of the atmosphere you can have differing wind directions.”
Over the past week, low pressure systems funneled smoke from fires in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba toward the upper Midwest.
“Along with that wind shift, a cold front came through. And what happens on the back end of a cold front — you have a lot of air sinking,” Kownacki said.
Local weather patterns also have an influence. While rain can help improve air quality, the rain that swept across parts of the region earlier this week actually pushed smoke down toward the earth, Keysor said, making exposure more likely.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires was visible from Traverse City drifting across Grand Traverse Bay in May 2024.
“It’s actually helping to bring down some of that smoke that’s higher up into the atmosphere, which normally would have been way up there,” he said. “That wouldn’t have bothered us a whole lot.”
One positive, Keysor added, was that modeling for smoke forecasts has become more accessible in the National Weather Service offices in recent years. Their smoke forecasts are informed by state data.
“The programmers that were putting some of those models together began to look at that [smoke] parameter a little bit more and to make it a product that we could view more readily,” he said. The weather models they use are improving. “We’re able to see more of it than we used to.”
The heavy smoke that was hanging across the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan has now moved further south, including around Lansing.
“It’s wreaking havoc for us down here right now,” said Kownacki, who is based there.
Conditions are expected to improve across much of the state over the next few days, but there may be more smoke from the fires in the near future.
Timothy Hawkins, Dearborn’s public works director, says the city has kept the title for 38 years.
“We continually make the investment to be a Tree City, and we continually plant more than we remove to maintain our tree city status,” Hawkins said.
He says the city planted 1,200 trees in 2024 and removed about a 1,000 due to disease or construction.
To qualify for Tree City USA status, cities must adhere to the standards laid out by the Arbor Day Foundation, including maintaining a dedicated department for tree management, passing a tree care ordinance, and spending a minimum of $2 per capita annually on its forestry program.
“We’re proud of this designation and plan on keeping our status as a Tree City USA community for many years to come,” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud in a news release. “We understand the importance of trees not just to our neighborhoods, but to public health and air quality, which is why we’re intentional in our tree planting efforts.”
Other headlines for Thursday, June 5, 2025:
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) says there’s an increase in recreational nitrous oxide use, or laughing gas, leading to more emergency room visits.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires will linger over metro Detroit through the first half of the day on Friday. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has issued air quality alerts for the entire Lower Peninsula and the eastern Upper Peninsula.
Outlier Media is hosting an audio recording training with Detroit Documenter and assistant producer for WDET’s The Metro, Jack Filbrandt. The training will take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. June 12 at Tech Town.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
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Michigan State University researchers have launched a decades-long effort to understand how certain conifer species might adapt to future climate stressors.
That includes extreme heat and cold, changing soil conditions, invasive pests, disease, and more.
The project, backed by a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, will study three native tree species: jack pine, red pine and eastern white pine, alongside three southern pine species to see how they may adapt to Michigan’s changing environment.
Jeremy Johnson, assistant professor of forest genetics at MSU, says it’s the kind of forward-looking research needed to maintain tree health in the coming century.
“We have to be looking 50 years in the future,” Johnson says. “So much of the research I’ve seen is focused on short-lived species where you can quickly get results but it’s so much harder in [these kinds] trees.”
The research will focus on six test sites statewide and will track progress for 20 years.
Johnson says the study aims to identify trees that are genetically better suited to Michigan’s future climate, and then breed them for stronger growth and resilience.
“We’re dealing with organisms that have very long lives,” explains Johnson “We have to start now, otherwise it’s just going to be too late.”
WDET’s Detroit Tree Canopy Project is an ongoing reporting series that explores the health of Michigan’s trees, forests and urban canopies.
In this episode of The Detroit Evening Report, we cover Detroit parks national ranking, Sister Pie temporarily closing, community milestones, and hepatitis screening and vaccines.
Detroit climbs to 58th in national park ranking, praised for access and equity
Detroit parks ranked 58 on the Trust for Public Land’s 2025 Parkscore Index. That’s up from the 65 spot the city held last year. The ranking is based on five categories: acreage, access, amenities, investment, and equity. Detroit received high marks for park access, with 84 percent of Detroiters living within a 10-minute walking distance of a park. The city also scored well in equity and park amenities. Detroit has more than 300 parks, with 14 regional parks of at least 50 acres, including Belle Isle and Palmer Park.
Sister Pie to temporarily close as owner plans a period of rest and reinvention
Detroit Baker Sister Pie is temporarily closing after experiencing some financial struggles. Owner Lisa Ludwinski announced on the company’s Instagram the business will close and “enter a period of rest and radical reconfiguration, of exploration and experimentation.” Sister Pie will still host occasional pop-up events and continue with special orders and classes. Sister Pie opened in 2015 in West Village. Ludwinski released a cookbook in 2018 that topped the New York Times best baking books of the year.
Windsor park honors Mary E. Bibb with new gateway arch
The Mary E. Bibb Park in Windsor, Ontario unveiled a gateway arch honoring the journalist. She and her husband, Henry, launched the first black newspaper in Canada called the Voice of the Fugitive in 1851. The publication was the first antislavery newspaper published in Canada by people of African descent. Bibb was also an abolitionist, educator, artist, and seamstress. A request was made in 2020 by the Friends of the Court-Mackenzie Hall which is adjacent to the park to rename it in Bibb’s honor. The Friends of the Court commissioned the design, fabrication and installation of the gateway arch, with financial support from the Gordie Howe International Bridge’s community organization investment fund.
Feast of Resistance celebrates Asian comfort food and community milestones this Saturday
The nonprofit, Rising Voices, is hosting their annual Feast of Resistance this Saturday at the ACA Community Center in Madison Heights. The community potluck is a tribute to Asian and Asian American comfort foods. This year is the 50th anniversary of Southeast Asian American refugees immigrating to Michigan, the 20th anniversary of the ACA Community Center, and the fifth anniversary of Rising Voices. The event is free to attend. Potluck dishes are encouraged but not required. It starts at 5:30 p.m. at 32585 Concord Drive in Madison Heights.
Michigan health officials urge testing and vaccination during Hepatitis Awareness Month
May is Hepatitis Awareness Month and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is urging residents to get tested and vaccinated. Viral hepatitis can cause inflammation to the liver and liver cancer. People who have the virus can go many years without feeling sick, and wont be alerted until advance stages of the disease. Getting tested is the only way to know if you have the virus. The health department recommends vaccination against hepatitis for people of all ages, including children and infants.
Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline cuts beneath the Great Lakes, stretching over 600 miles and crossing beneath the Straits of Mackinac. For decades, the pipeline has raised concerns because of its potential to spill oil and contaminate water for millions of Americans. This water is also a source of sustenance, culture and sovereignty for tribal communities.
Now, Enbridge has a proposal on the table to build a new oil tunnel to replace a section of Line 5. The Canadian oil and gas company says this will address aging infrastructure.
In a statement emailed to WDET, Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said, in part, that “Enbridge is working with state and federal agencies to study and develop plans that will minimize and mitigate impacts to the natural environment, natural resources, cultural heritage and community priorities.”
Duffy said Enbridge “will build the Great Lakes Tunnel safely, in conformity with thorough safety and environmental reviews by permitting agencies.”
An executive order from the Trump administration could expedite the construction of this project.
But advocates argue that the construction of this new oil tunnel and potential leaks from it pose numerous threats, especially to tribal fishing rights and livelihoods.
Andrea Pierce, a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the policy director at Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, is among the tribal activists speaking out against this project. She sat down with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent on the shores of Mackinac Island ahead of a rally protesting the proposed oil tunnel.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
This story has been updated with a statement from Enbridge.
Enbridge is a financial supporter of WDET. Our newsroom observes a clear boundary between funders and editorial content, and we do not serve the agendas of those who support us.
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The Great Lakes still gleam and sparkle — but their waters are heavy with the weight of what we’ve done. Algal blooms cloud once-clear bays. Shorelines erode under rising waves.
The lakes are the eternal vessels of what we’ve left behind: aging pipes, invasive species, and poisoned fish. And it’s all amid a warming climate.
Feeding this system is the Detroit River — one of its vital arteries. It’s moved ore and industry, waste and wildlife. A crossing. A corridor. A dumping ground.
Now, a billion-dollar cleanup is on the table. But this isn’t just about sediment and sludge. It’s about legacy and injustice — and whether we can learn to care for what we once used thoughtlessly.
Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, has spent years asking that question. She joined The Metro on Wednesday to discuss some of the most urgent or overlooked threats to water health across the state.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
More stories from The Metro on Tuesday, May 20, 2025:
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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A new study highlights the importance of removing “forever chemicals” from drinking water.
What are PFAS?
PFAS are chemicals that take a long time to break down in the environment. They can also build up in the human body and cause a variety of health problems.
Researchers took blood samples from people living near a contaminated site in southwest Michigan. They compared PFAS levels in those who drank city water to people who have private wells.
Courtney Carignan is an environmental researcher at Michigan State University. She says PFAS turned up in people’s blood three years after officials cleaned up the water.
“We still saw higher levels of PFAS in the blood of our participants who drank higher levels of contaminated water compared to those who had much lower levels in their water,” she said.
Scientists have been evaluating the impacts of PFAS for years. Carignan says this study is the first of its kind.
“No other studies really have looked at exposure from other sources like paper mills,” she said. “There are a lot of other types of industries that have used PFAS in the past, or may still currently be using PFAS, and there just really aren’t a lot of studies looking at those kinds of communities and releases.”
“These interventions to reduce PFAS in drinking water are really important,” she said. “The higher the level is in the drinking water for these PFAS, the more kinds of health effects you would see in the population.”
State lawmakers propose testing
Michigan has its own PFAS standards and is taking steps to protect people.
State Sen. Mark Huizenga (R-Walker) and Rep. Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo) proposed bills to test children for PFAS. They are SB 298 and HB 4499.
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The EPA announced Monday that Flint’s water system is now in compliance with lead standards and has replaced over 97% of lead pipes carrying water to homes.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says it’s a major accomplishment.
“The EPA has been working closely with our state and local partners in Flint, Michigan for several years to restore safe drinking water. It’s been a long, arduous journey, but significant progress has been made over the last decade to revitalize their water infrastructure and ultimately achieve this goal,” Zeldin said. “It’s been more than nine years since the emergency order was placed in January 2016, after a switch in drinking water source caused the corrosion of pipes and leaching of lead into resident’s homes.
–Reporting by Bre’Anna Tinsley, WDET News.
Other headlines for Tuesday, May 20, 2025:
The state has launched an initiative it hopes will make it easier for workers and employers to manage substance abuse recovery. The Michigan Recovery Friendly Workplace program provides education for managers, owners and human resources staff on policies, practices and issues related to substance use disorder.
Detroit Champions of Hope and Black Mother’s Breastfeeding Association Mommy Ambassadors are inviting families to the “Capture Black Joy” event at 5 p.m. Friday, May 30, at the James E. Tate Community Center, 21511 W. McNichols Rd. Registration is open to the first 50 families with children under 7, and includes access to giveaways, community resources and a free family portrait.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
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NOAA oceanographer Rick Stumpf tells WDET on a scale of 1 to 10 — with 10 being the worst — this year’s bloom should be relatively mild.
“Right now, we’re estimating between 2.5 and 4.5,” he said.
Listen: WDET’s Pat Batcheller discusses efforts to monitor harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie
What is a harmful algal bloom?
According to NOAA, harmful algal blooms form when colonies of microscopic algae called cyanobacteria grow out of control, creating a bluish green scum on the surface of the lake.
“It looks quite green, almost like a green sawdust,” Stumpf said.
Under the right conditions, the algae produce a toxin that can make people sick if they swallow it. In 2014, a toxic algal bloom contaminated Toledo’s drinking water, shutting the system down for several days.
When it rains, it pours
Stumpf says the size and severity of a bloom depends on how much phosphorus the algae can feed on. The main source of phosphorus is farm fertilizer that runs off into the Maumee River when it rains. Stumpf says scientists take water samples from the river, which empties into the lake.
Stumpf says harmful algal bloom research is vital.
“Our goal is to protect health so that people are aware there are blooms and that there’s a risk,” he said.
But it’s not just people. Stumpf says toxic blooms can be fatal to pets.
“It does, unfortunately, kill several dogs each summer somewhere in the U.S.,” he says. “So, I can’t emphasize enough, if you see scum in a pond or the lake, please keep your dog out of the water.”
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A group of five environmental organizations is pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take a deeper look at environmental impacts from the proposed restart of the Palisades plant in Southwest Michigan.
A panel of NRC judges heard oral arguments this week to decide whether to hold a hearing.
The five groups — Beyond Nuclear, Don’t Waste Michigan, Michigan Safe Energy Future, Three Mile Island Alert and Nuclear Energy Information Service — filed a motion to have the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board reconsider several regulatory requirements for the restart going forward.
One contention from the groups is that the NRC should prepare an “Environmental Impact Statement” going into more detail than the agency did in its draft “Environmental Assessment.”
Terry Lodge, an attorney representing the environmental groups, said at Thursday’s hearing the existing environmental assessment doesn’t look closely enough at the potential for earthquakes.
“That is particularly important because there is, of course, going to be additional radioactive waste stored there.”
The NRC’s draft environmental assessment for the Palisades restart plan found there would be no significant environmental impact.
That finding came in part because the plant’s buildings are still standing, and nuclear waste is already being stored on site. Resuming operations at Palisades would likely have similar impacts to what happened there prior to 2022, the NRC concluded.
At Thursday’s hearing, a lawyer for the NRC said the five groups lacked standing to bring the claims, which she said came too late in the process anyway.
“Put plainly, there is no good cause if the information being challenged is not actually new and could have been raised earlier,” said NRC attorney Anita Ghosh Naber.
Holtec International has said it hopes to resume generating power at Palisades by the end of this year. The NRC has said it plans to complete its regulatory approval process by the end of July.
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Bees’ pollinating presence helps to ensure the vitality of our food systems.
The work of bees isn’t just happening in fields of wildflowers or quiet suburban gardens. Bees in urban neighborhoods also have an important role to play.
The nonprofit Detroit Hives has turned vacant lots into thriving pollinator habitats and community green spaces. That work includes planting pollinator-friendly trees in neighborhoods that need canopy, beauty and biodiversity. One of the group’s recent projects was at the Finney Community Arboretum and Botanical Garden, which they hope to transform into a thriving community space for pollinators and residents alike.
Detroit Hives Co-founders Tim Paule Jackson and Nicole Lindsey joined The Metro on Monday to discuss their work.
–Segment produced by WDET’s Amanda Le Claire.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
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Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Interlochen Public Radio on April 30, 2025.
At a giant dirt lot off a side road in Emmet County, the air smells sharply of pine.
Enormous piles of logs and branches sit around the property.
Terry and Nancy Chamberlin drag pine branches out of the bed of a black pickup truck and a small trailer — trees from their five-acre property in Alanson.
“We got hit real hard on this. We went out here — I think this is our 10th double trip down here in three days — and we’re just having a ball doing this,” Terry said. “And then I can start in the woods, which is going to take me two years to clean up.”
Debris from a massive ice storm at the end of March was strewn across the region. A lot of it fell on power lines, causing widespread outages.
But now, the same debris that knocked out the power a few weeks ago could be used to make electricity.
‘Doing the best that we can’
Utilities worked to clear much of the debris from power lines, and it was up to local emergency management teams and road commissions to figure out what to do with debris piling up around right of ways along the road and on private land.
So some set up these drop off sites, where people can bring branches and trees that were damaged or destroyed by the ice.
Lindsey Walker, who works in outreach for Emmet County Recycling, said they were able to pivot to collecting wooden debris. Usually, a company will come through to grind wood debris people drop off at the county’s waste facility into wood chips.
“We have to justify mobilizing these very expensive grinders and haulers of this material. And so every two years, we’re normally grinding our wood waste,” she said. “We need to have about 5,000 cubic yards on the ground at any time, and now we’ve got about 10 times the amount of that.”
Some established drop-off sites have been open around the clock, receiving debris by truck, trailer and even dump trucks.
“Having sites that are free and ample space for the public to bring debris is really important,” Walker said. “So this site has plenty of capacity for further debris, and then once we get that material ground, then we’re hauling, and so there’s this process of cleaning up sites as they go along. This is like us doing the best that we can with the resources that we have.”
Turning heat into light
Some of the woody debris might go to places like landscaping businesses to use as mulch. But they’re also selling it to biomass facilities nearby, which will turn that into energy.
“I like to use the little saying that we were green before green was cool,” said Tom Clift, the director of biomass operations at NorthStar Clean Energy, a company that runs four such facilities, including one in Grayling. “We’ve been in the renewable power business for a long time.”
NorthStar is one of the companies buying and burning that wooden debris from the storm. It uses that to create electricity. In all, the facility powers up to 38,000 homes. It works with another company, AJD Forest Products, to source and organize deliveries.
“All wood is graded by different levels,” he said. “Biomass levels are really looking at the [British thermal unit] of the wood. If it’s a higher quality BTU product they’ll pay more because it will burn better.”
Clift said they’re not cutting down trees for wood to produce that power.
“Any wood product that we use here was either going to be left on the forest floor, to turn into methane and be released on its own, or it’s other materials that would have gone to the landfill,” he said.
Dealing with forest management and debris after natural disasters is something other areas of the country have been trying to figure out as well, such as places in the southeast hit by Hurricane Helene.
But officials say this is an unusual issue in northern Michigan, which hasn’t typically faced the same kinds of disasters. Having biomass facilities in the region make dealing with debris in this way easier.
Not a new idea
Biomass refers to a range of fuels, from animal manure to trash to wood. Using biomass for energy has a long history. For instance, in the United States residue from wood pulp manufacturing has been a popular source of fuel for electricity over the decades, though that has declined, said Brent Sohngen, a professor at Ohio State University who studies the economics of forestry.
The relationship between biomass-fueled energy and climate is far from straightforward.
Lindsey Walker, with Emmet County Recycling, walks around one of the county’s debris drop-off sites. April 25, 2025.
Public health researchers and environmental groups have raised alarms about biomass for years, pointing to pollution from facilities, health issues and harm to nearby communities, which are often communities of color or low-income communities, according to advocates. Critics say framing of biomass energy as better for the climate is misleading; it can rely on logging, and burning matter like wood also emits greenhouse gases. And some argue the focus should instead be on cleaner forms of energy, such as solar.
There are situations where biomass-fueled energy will emit more carbon than it saves, Sohngen said — for instance, logging old growth trees for fuel. But in circumstances like the ice storm, biomass could be considered a carbon-neutral energy option, because that wooden debris would otherwise decompose over time, emitting greenhouse gases.
“The nice thing about taking that material and using it for electricity is that it creates electricity, and if you’re creating extra units of electricity from that material, then you’re potentially offsetting some other source of electricity on the system on the grid,” such as coal, he said.
Removing woody debris from the landscape to burn for electricity poses other issues. One example: Dead and dying trees provide a wide range of benefits that should be considered before removing them.
“There’s huge numbers of bugs that will basically use that wood material for growing themselves, and there’s animals or birds or other kinds of things that’ll use the bugs for their own life cycle,” said Sohngen. “It’s really important that, you know, we can’t just take all of the dead material out of a forest and expect a forest to function well.”
There may also be an increasing interest in biochar following disasters like Helene, he said. Biochar is an almost pure form of carbon made from heating up materials like plant matter, and can be spread out in farm fields or forests.
“What we found is that this biochar material has such a long life that it’s a way to lock up a lot of carbon in the forest system for many, many years — millennia, even,” he said.
At another drop-off site in Emmet County, Lindsey Walker walked around yet another mound of logs and branches. Biochar is on her mind as well.
“We rank it by highest and best use,” she said of dealing with the debris. “In my world of worlds, we would be making biochar out of this, because biochar has such value for composting operations, for water filtration, for sequestering PFAS. I mean, the opportunities for biochar are endless.”
But such operations aren’t an option right now, she said, so they turned to biomass and other uses, like mulch for landscaping.
For now, some debris drop-off sites will be open until things slow down, though others are closing.
Road commissions are asking people not to leave wood along right-of-ways. It’s also been a dry spring so far, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has some restrictions on burning in place and recommends that people check on burn permits and conditions in their area.
One Cheboygan road commission official told IPR they reached out to people in the timber industry to ask about selling the wood they’re collecting at sites. The only reply they’ve received so far came from a lobbying group, which said the wood chip market is flooded.
As the Trump administration slashes funding for health, energy and climate research, there’s one science the administration is promoting: de-extinction.
Earlier this month, a biotechnology company announced it had genetically engineered three gray wolf pups to have white hair, more muscular jaws and a larger build — characteristics of the dire wolf, a species that hasn’t roamed the Earth for several millennia.
Now, the Trump administration is citing the case of the dire wolf as it moves to reduce federal protections under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a proposed rule to rescind the definition of “harm” under the act — which for decades has included actions like harassing, pursuing, hunting or killing endangered wildlife and plants, as well as habitat destruction.
This undated photo provided by Colossal Biosciences shows a young wolf that was genetically engineered with similarities to the extinct dire wolf. (Colossal Biosciences via AP)
“The status quo is focused on regulation more than innovation. It’s time to fundamentally change how we think about species conservation,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in an April 7 post on X, formerly Twitter. “The revival of the Dire Wolf heralds the advent of a thrilling new era of scientific wonder, showcasing how the concept of ‘de-extinction’ can serve as a bedrock for modern species conservation.”
But bioethicists and conservationists are expressing unease with the kind of scientific research being pioneered by Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based company on a mission to bring back extinct animals.
“Unfortunately, as clever as this science is … it’s can-do science and not should-do science,” said Lindsay Marshall, director of science in animal research at Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the U.S.
The dire wolf also came up at an April 9 meeting of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources that considered amendments to a proposed law that would strip federal protections from western Great Lakes gray wolves — the latest in a decadeslong back-and-forth between conservationists, hunters and politicians that has shifted the species on and off the endangered list since its inclusion 50 years ago.
At the congressional meeting, Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California suggested an amendment to allow a federal judge to reconsider the removal of federal protections if population numbers begin to decline significantly again.
“Well, didn’t we just bring a wolf back that was here 10,000 years ago? I mean, if it really gets that bad, we can just bring woolly mammoths back,” responded Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a Republican and the bill’s sponsor.
“That’s a deeply unserious response to what should be a very serious issue,” Huffman replied.
Gray wolves that live in the Great Lakes and West Coast regions are one of 1,662 species currently protected under the Endangered Species Act. Hunting and trapping almost drove them to extinction in the lower 48 states by the mid-20th century.
Ken Angielczyk, curator of fossil mammals, compares a dire wolf skull, left, and a gray wolf skull in the collection at the Field Museum on April 16, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Naomi Louchouarn, program director of wildlife partnerships at Humane World for Animals and an expert on human-wildlife coexistence, had a gut reaction to the dire wolf news: “This is going to be a problem for gray wolves,” she recalls thinking. “It almost immediately undermined our ability to protect species.”
In a Wednesday statement to the Tribune, Colossal’s chief science officer, Beth Shapiro, said the company sees de-extinction as “one of many tools” that can speed up the battle against biodiversity loss, which humans are “not close to winning.”
“We don’t see this as an ‘either/or’ question, but rather as a ‘both and,’” she said. “We as a global community need to continue to invest in traditional approaches to conservation and habitat preservation, as well as in the protection of living endangered species.”
Advancements in genetic technologies could revolutionize wildlife conservation, said J. Elizabeth Peace, senior public affairs specialist with the Interior Department, in a statement Wednesday.
“By preserving genetic materials today, we equip future generations with the tools necessary to restore and maintain biodiversity,” the statement said. “This approach aligns with our commitment to stewarding natural resources responsibly, ensuring that our actions today support a sustainable and thriving ecosystem for the future.”
However, critics say de-extinction sends a misleading message and is, overall, a flawed approach to conservation.
“It’s important to realize that they did not bring the dire wolf back from extinction,” said Craig Klugman, a bioethicist and professor of health sciences at DePaul University. “What they did was genetically tweak a gray wolf … so you have a gray wolf that has some characteristics of a dire wolf.”
“It’s like one, but it isn’t one,” he added.
Shapiro said Colossal is working toward functional de-extinction.
“The goal of de-extinction has never been to create perfect genetic copies of an extinct species,” she said, “but instead to bring back key traits that fill an ecological niche that is vacant because of extinction.”
An inefficient science?
As the executive branch targets federal agencies through mass firings, funding cuts and regulatory rollbacks in the name of efficiency, those skeptical of de-extinction argue that it’s an inefficient science.
“It requires a lot of embryos that fail, a lot of pregnancies that don’t take, to get one creature,” Klugman said.
Those few dozen embryos were implanted in the wombs of two female domestic hound mixes, one embryo taking hold in each. A similar procedure was repeated a few months later with another surrogate who gave birth to a third puppy.
“This type of pioneering genetic research often requires multiple attempts to achieve success,” Shapiro said, “and the knowledge gained from both successes and failures contributes to future improvements in efficiency.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
Colossal announced in early March — around the same time Burgum met with company leaders to discuss their role in conservation efforts — that they had genetically edited 38 mice to have hair like the woolly mammoth, a significant step toward engineering Asian elephants with traits similar to those of the extinct species.
To get to those few dozen mice, however, scientists produced 385 embryos, of which 291 were implanted in 16 surrogate females.
“It’s mice. People don’t really care about mice — but we care about mice. We care what’s happening to them,” said Marshall, of Humane World.
Colossal’s facilities are certified by the American Humane Society and registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to Shapiro. She said the company’s research is overseen by a committee of scientists and nonscientists that is required by federal regulations. The committee reviews and evaluates the company’s research protocols and ensures the ethical use of animals.
Skeptics also argue that animals manipulated to mimic extinct ones likely have no future in the wild.
“They have to be taught how to live and hunt and take care of themselves,” Klugman said. “How do they know how to survive? How can they thrive?”
Leaders at Colossal have acknowledged this reality.
According to an Associated Press report, Matt James, Colossal’s chief animal care expert, said that despite the resemblance, “what they will probably never learn is the finishing move of how to kill a giant elk or a big deer,” because they won’t have opportunities to watch and learn from wild dire wolf parents
Shapiro said the pups won’t be released into the wild, where they would have to compete with gray wolves. Instead, they will live in an “expansive ecological preserve” — the company has said it’s a 2,000-acre site in an undisclosed location — where their health and needs will be continually evaluated under managed care.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a wild wolf pack’s territory can be as large as 32,000 acres, extending up to 640,000 acres where prey is scarce. They can travel as far as 30 miles a day to hunt.
“If you think about (it), those pups aren’t going to live much of a life trapped in an area that’s a tiny percentage of what they should have,” Marshall said. “They’re not a self-sustaining population. They have nowhere to live. … We don’t know if those animals are going to suffer as they get older.”
Ed Heist, a professor at Southern Illinois University and a conservation geneticist, said the news bothered him.
“This is not conservation, but people conflate it,” he said. “The point is entertainment.”
Nichole Keway Biber feels similarly unsettled. She is a tribal citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa and leads the wolf and wildlife preservation team at the Anishinaabek Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party. She said it demonstrates that the natural world, to humans, is for consumption or entertainment — and that it ignores the inherent worth of voiceless animals beyond any commercial or amusement benefit they can provide.
“That has a danger,” she said, “of setting a pattern of behavior: to be dismissive of the vulnerable, or take advantage of the vulnerable or be abusive toward the vulnerable.”
Inability to coexist
Louchouarn, the Humane World program director, has dedicated her studies and research to the relationship between humans and animals, specifically carnivores like gray wolves.
Fossil mammals curator Ken Angielczyk compares a dire wolf skull without the tar surrounding the fossil and one skull still in the tar in the collection at the Field Museum on April 16, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
“The reason our current endangered species are becoming extinct is because we don’t know how to coexist with them,” she said. “And this doesn’t solve that problem at all.”
Humans can treat the symptoms of wildlife conflict with “big, flashy silver bullets” and “in this case, advanced, inefficient science,” she said, but the real solution is behavioral change.
“Assuming that we could actually bring back a full population of animals,” Louchouarn said, “which is so difficult and so crazy — that’s a big if — I don’t understand the point of trying to bring back a woolly mammoth when we already can’t coexist with elephants.”
In the United States, political discussions surrounding gray wolf conservation have been based on different interpretations of whether their populations have recovered enough to be sustainable without protections.
“But we define what well is, not the wolves,” Louchouarn said. “The ecosystem can carry a lot more wolves than that. We just refuse to live with them.”
Recent winter estimates count more than 750 wild gray wolves in Michigan, almost 3,000 in Minnesota and just over 1,000 in Wisconsin. Some of those wolves may occasionally travel to Illinois, where they were common until they were wiped out after the arrival of European settlers.
The bill in the U.S. House aimed at removing protections from the species is called the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, and its supporters and sponsors argue it will allow ranchers and communities to manage conflict with wolves as they fear for the safety of their domesticated animals.
Conservation biologists who oppose hunting worry it will only exacerbate this type of conflict. When a wolf is killed, it can disrupt pack dynamics, which can in turn lead to lone wolves preying on livestock or pets outdoors — smaller and easier to kill than larger prey such as bison, elk, moose and deer.
For other people, coexistence is a way of life. Biber said the Anishinaabe, the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region, live by the principle of dabasendiziwin, or humility in regard to other living organisms.
“It’s not self-denigration, but a realistic awareness of our dependence (on) the elements,” she said, “but also plants and animals, and us. And all the other orders of being can exist apart from us. They’re OK. They were here long before. We’re the newcomers.”
Anishinaabe people, like the Ojibwe and the Odawa, believe in a parallel history with the gray wolf or Ma’iingan, that their fates are intrinsically connected.
“What happens to one, will happen to the other,” Biber said.
A question of stewardship
Species don’t exist in a vacuum, Heist often reminds his students at SIU. “They are parts of their communities.”
So when a species ceases to exist, it loses its place in the ecosystem. It’s a void left to be filled by others over hundreds, thousands of years.
Klugman wonders whether resurrecting animals unprepared for the modern world — “which we clearly have not done yet” — would even be fair to them. “Is that us being good stewards of this planet?”
During a livestreamed town hall with Interior Department employees on April 9, Burgum said: “If we’re going to be in anguish about losing a species, now we have an opportunity to bring them back. Pick your favorite species and call up Colossal. And instead of raising money to get animals on the endangered species (list), let’s figure out a way to get them off.”
Curator Ken Angielczyk talks about a dire wolf skull at the Field Museum on April 16, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Ken Angielczyk, curator of mammal fossils at the Field Museum who researches extinct species that lived 200 to 300 million years ago, said it’s a misguided approach.
“If that’s the basis … for changing regulations related to the endangered species list, that is very, very premature,” he said. “Because we can’t resurrect things.”
Biber said humans should be focused on preventing further loss. “It’s a lot better use of effort, time, resources, mind power.”
“If the purpose is to restore the damage to the shared ecosystem, we have that opportunity right now,” she said. “And that’s the necessity immediately.”
Angielczyk, who studies mammals that survived the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history, said fossil records after such events show it takes a long time for real ecosystem recovery to occur: 1 to 10 million years — way longer than the human species has existed.
“So, changes that we can cause today quite easily, in some cases, have very, very long-term implications,” he said. “Just another reason why conservation efforts really are important and something that we should be concerned about and actively involved in.”
It’s also crucial to preserve the ability of species to adapt to changing conditions, Heist said, which requires large populations and genetic diversity.
Red wolves represent one such opportunity. The species — once common in most of the eastern and southern United States — still exists, but is critically endangered partly because in the wild, the wolves often mate with coyotes and produce hybrid offspring. That has led to low genetic diversity and weak evolutionary fitness. Just under 20 red wolves exist in their wild, native habitats today.
A collection of dire wolf skulls are on display at the Field Museum on April 16, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Alongside the dire wolf news, Colossal announced it cloned four of these hybrids and removed most of the coyote DNA along the way. They say it’s the first step to restoring genetic diversity in the captive breeding populations of red wolves, 241 of which live in 45 facilities across the country.
Some conservationists feel more hopeful about this endeavor, though they still express reservations.
“There is a benefit to trying to bring back some of the genes that would diversify … red wolves, that would enhance their ability to survive,” Louchouarn said. “But will that fix red wolf extinction, at the rate that they’re going extinct? No, because the reason it’s happening is they’re being poached at extreme rates.”
Heist said it might not be practical to spend so much money trying to create genetically diverse red wolves to significantly restore their populations.
Bioethicists and conservationists argue that, at its core, the issue is whether humans can put aside self-interest to invest in the well-being of other creatures.
“This whole idea that extinction is reversible is so dangerous,” Marshall said, “because then it stops us caring.”
Children stand near a display of dire wolf skulls in the “Evolving Planet!” exhibition at the Field Museum on April 16, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
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