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
-
Cigarette butts are one of the most common kind of plastic pollution found on Great Lakes beaches. -
Economists at the University of Michigan's Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics forecast have to negotiate around some uncertainties because of tariffs. -
A circuit court judge in Lansing has denied a request by Enbridge to put a hold on the state court case filed by Attorney General Dana Nessel. The AG took Enbridge to court six years ago. -
In 2024 the National Resources Commission limited hunting on public lands during the period coyotes have young pups dependent on their parents. The NRC has reinstated the year-round hunt season that was in place since 2016 to keep the coyote population suppressed. Year-round hunting has always been allowed for private landowners on their own property. -
A giant wooden "nature megaphone" built by local high school students is now open to the public. The megaphone next to the Belle Isle Nature Center amplifies the sound of nature when you're inside it. -
A number of deteriorating dams have been torn down and streams restored. It's expensive, and Michigan's budget is facing challenges. -
The International Joint Commission has issued a draft report on Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes, a ten-year review on the consumptive use, diversion, and removal of water from the Great Lakes. -
In the last three decades of data from butterfly counts in the Midwest, none of the butterfly species increased in population. More than 40% declined in number. -
The EPA proposes rescinding the "endangerment finding" that found climate change was harmful to people and greenhouse gases should be restricted. The Trump administration says the "endangerment finding" is costing the economy $54 billion a year. Doctors say the cost to people's health will be higher. -
The rare Kirtland's warbler population is down by about 30% from the last census taken in 2021. The problem is there are not enough jack pine trees the right age to attract nesting pairs of the songbird.
