Mornin’ to everyone interested in some ancient Wisconsin river geology. This is the Wiscampsin Weekly, the email that gets you in the know on the Wisconsin outdoors in 5 minutes or less. New reader? Subscribe here.

This week’s weekly:

🐟 Feds greenlight $1.2B carp barrier to protect Great Lakes fishing

‼️ Great lakes face lowest water levels in over a decade

🌱 Volunteers join the hunt for Wisconsin’s rarest plants

🥾 STORY OF THE WEEK: The Ice Age Trail see’s record numbers + economic impact

🐟 Feds greenlight $1.2B carp barrier to protect Great Lakes fishing LINK

• After months of political ping-pong, Trump’s team finally gave Illinois the green light (and greenbacks) to keep invasive carp from turning the Great Lakes into a buffet line.

• The “carp gauntlet” of bubbles, zaps, and noise is back on track, now that Pritzker got the federal funding pinky promise he demanded.

• These fishy intruders from the Deep South are still knocking on Lake Michigan’s door—but thanks to this high-tech barrier, they might just be left out in the river cold.

‼️ Great lakes face lowest water levels in over a decade LINK

• Great Lakes water levels are dropping like Wi-Fi at a campground, with most lakes now below average for the first time in a decade.

• Marinas are facing costly dredging and limiting access for deeper-draft boats as water levels drop 1 to 3 feet below recent highs.

• Blame it on the mild winters and dry skies—less snow, less runoff, and a whole lot more sand showing at the beach.

 🌱 Volunteers join the hunt for Wisconsin’s rarest plants LINK

• Wisconsin’s DNR is turning everyday nature lovers into rare plant detectives, training volunteers to spot elusive species hiding in the state’s wild nooks.

• With threats like invasive species, hungry deer, and climate chaos, these volunteer sightings help conservationists decide which plants need backup.

• One volunteer likens it to a “treasure hunt”—only the treasure has petals, a Latin name, and occasionally vanishes for decades.

SUPPORT OUR FRIENDS AT CLEANTREK

These trekking poles help you clean up trash on your hike

We’ve all seen it. Trash. Litter. Little bags of dog poo.

It sucks to see, and it sucks even more to have to pick it up (and carry it for the rest of your hike).

CleanTrek is here to change that with a grabber/collector attachment for your trekking poles, so you can clean up your trail without breaking pace.

Creator John McShane is about to launch a KickStarter to put them into production. Check ‘em out, they’re wicked cool!

See the CleanTrek trekking pole attachments in action here.

WISCAMPSIN WEEKLY POLL

Looks like a fortunate 2 of you have spotted some Morels so far this season!

MEME OF THE WEEK 😂

A review from the trail… More butter the better, says I!