Lester Graham
Reporter, The Environment ReportLester Graham reports for The Environment Report. He has reported on public policy, politics, and issues regarding race and gender inequity. He was previously with The Environment Report at Michigan Public from 1998-2010.
He has been a journalist since 1985. Graham has served as a board member of the Public Radio News Directors Inc., and also served as President of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association. He is a member of the Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), Society of Professional Journalists and other professional groups.
Lester has received 17 first-place national awards for journalism excellence and more than 100 additional awards at the national, regional, and state levels.
He is also an avid wildlife photographer.
Contact Lester: graham@michiganpublic.org
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The Department of Energy is stopping Consumers Energy from closing an aging coal-burning plant. Petitioners say the order is costly, harmful, unnecessary, and unlawful. -
The Great Lakes piping plover recovery effort has been ongoing since the mid-1980s when the population got as low as a dozen nesting pairs. This year, the number reached 85 nesting pairs for the first time. -
Your pet might try to hide or even run away to escape the noise. The Michigan state veterinarian has some tips. -
A late March ice storm hit 12 counties in northern Michigan, downing or damaging three million acres of trees. The state's largest forest, Pigeon River Country State Forest, has many closed trails, but campgrounds are open. -
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement regarding a proposal to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac to house a new section of the Enbridge oil pipeline, Line 5. The deadline for comments is Monday, June 30, 2025. -
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is holding the last virtual public meeting regarding its Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed Line 5 tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. -
Volunteers and conservation groups and agencies are in the jack pine forests this week, counting the Kirtland's warbler which almost went extinct in the 1980s because of loss of habitat. -
Outdoor activities such as boating, off-roading, and even hiking can spread invasive species if precautions are not taken. -
Environmental groups concerned about drilling a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac want Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, EGLE, to deny a Water Resources Permit that would allow the project to go forward. -
Each summer, Lake Erie is plagued by toxic cyanobacterial blooms fed by phosphorus runoff from farm fields. Michigan is struggling to reduce the pollution by 40%.
