The "Making Lake Michigan Great" tour is underway, and the research vessel W.G. Jackson visited the Port of Indiana Burns Harbor. Dr. Janet Vail, Supervisor of the Education and Outreach program aboard the boat, says the tour started in 1998 and has visited 33 ports of call on Lake Michigan since it began.
Vail says the purpose of the tour, which is though Grand Valley State University in Michigan, is to spread the word about coastal awareness, local stewardship efforts and the Lakewide Action and Management Plan for Lake Michigan, as well as Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects.
Vail says the program focuses on what has been identified as "areas of concern" on Lake Michigan and those areas are all being gradually cleaned up.
The tour was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Program Office.
