Sheri McWhirter

Traverse City

Climate Reporter at MLive

Newshound keen on outdoor & nerd stuff. Climate reporter @MLive & @KipProgram fellow. Past: @RecordEagle. She/her, settler on stolen Anishinaabek land.

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Articles

Plans Progress to Bury Broadband Fiber Under Lake Michigan

3 weeks ago | govtech.com | Sheri McWhirter

A company called Peninsula Fiber Network won a major federal infrastructure grant to build more than 500 miles of middle-mile broadband lines to both rural areas in Michigan and other places with clunky Internet connections. Two of the three approved routes will include running special gear beneath parts of Lake Michigan. Plans call for dual underwater fiber optic cables to connect Chicago and Benton Harbor, with a continuing broadband route extending to Byron Center.
Consumers Energy says it’s planning to sell hydro dam fleet

3 weeks ago | mlive.com | Sheri McWhirter |Garret M. Ellison

JACKSON, MI – Consumers Energy is officially in negotiations to sell a fleet of costly hydroelectric dams it says are too expensive to operate. According to a request to raise electric rates filed with Michigan regulators this week, the utility company has entered negotiations for a potential sale of its river hydro generation fleet, which includes 13 dams and associated facilities.
Broadband fiber buried under Lake Michigan will bring internet to rural areas

3 weeks ago | mlive.com | Sheri McWhirter

Environmental reviews and engineering are underway for a pair of broadband fiber routes that will run beneath Lake Michigan and bring faster internet services to thousands of Michigan households. A company called Peninsula Fiber Network won a major federal infrastructure grant to build more than 500 miles of middle-mile broadband lines to both rural areas in Michigan and other places with clunky internet connections.
Consumers Energy asks to raise electric rates $436M, the most in decades

3 weeks ago | mlive.com | Lucas Smolcic Larson |Sheri McWhirter

LANSING, MI – Consumers Energy wants to raise electric rates by $436 million, its largest ask in at least 20 years. The for-profit utility, Michigan’s second-largest power provider, kicked off the process of asking regulators permission for the hike on Monday, June 2 — the very first day this year it was legally able to under the law.
Lush nature preserve near Lake Michigan added to nationwide roster of old forests

1 month ago | mlive.com | Sheri McWhirter

ARCADIA, MI – Thousands of acres of deep-woods habitats at Arcadia Dunes are now part of a nationwide network of current and future old-growth forests. The wooded areas at the C.S. Mott Nature Preserve in Benzie County this week became the latest place in Michigan to be inducted into the Old-Growth Forest Network, which now includes more than 270 permanently protected forests nationwide.
‘Like being thrown back in time’: Michigan ice storm survivors recount hardships

1 month ago | mlive.com | Sheri McWhirter

GAYLORD, MI – No electricity. No heat. No running water. No phone signal. And no idea when the ordeal would end. Michigan utility regulators gathered this week in Gaylord to listen as residents from up north communities told their stories of hardship endured during the catastrophic ice storm in late March.
Michigan’s forests at risk of devastating wildfires, experts warn

1 month ago | mlive.com | Sheri McWhirter

Michigan’s forests face increasing wildfire risks as climate change worsens conditions everywhere. MLive recently examined that threat and a somewhat paradoxical environmental solution: experts say more controlled burns are needed to prevent devastating wildfires. Related: Fighting wildfire with fire: Can Michigan burn its way to healthier forests? Related: More ‘good fire’ in Michigan restores Indigenous land practicesHere are five takeaways from the reporting project:1.
More ‘good fire’ in Michigan restores Indigenous land practices

1 month ago | mlive.com | Sheri McWhirter

BLISS, MI – The word for fire in the Native language of Great Lakes Anishinaabe is “Ishkode.”Fire was a historically frequent and recurring element of the Michigan landscape before the era of fire suppression that followed European colonization. Native people burned habitats for a variety of reasons from blueberry production and insect control to pine regeneration and improved hunting grounds. Experts say the imperialistic notion of a North American wilderness untouched by people was simply wrong.
Fighting wildfire with fire: Can Michigan burn its way to healthier forests?

1 month ago | mlive.com | Sheri McWhirter

ROCKFORD, MI – The risk of destructive wildfires rises every spring and not just in the redwood forests of California. Michigan’s woodlands also face danger of ending in ashes as climate change worsens risks as the world gets hotter. Michigan already had 218 wildfires this year, all but 26 in the Lower Peninsula, none of which were major according to data through May 19. The state usually averages around 300 per year.
Trump promises not to claw back federal cash to keep invasive carp from the Great Lakes

1 month ago | mlive.com | Sheri McWhirter

Illinois officials are set to resume efforts to prevent invasive carp from entering Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes. The move comes after the Trump administration said on Friday, May 9 that it won’t attempt to claw back federal funding for a long-planned $1.2 billion infrastructure project bringing carp barriers to the Des Plaines River. A months-long stalemate between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov.