Loons, scoters, grebes, and piping plovers are among thousands of birds that can be found dead on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Type E botulism has been confirmed as the cause of death by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) in bird carcasses collected from numerous locations along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Each fall, reports of dead birds from Grand Traverse Bay to Sturgeon Bay are phoned in to the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council office, where staff respond and work with Michigan Sea Grant and the MDNR to track bird and fish fatalities in affected areas.

Since 2004, volunteers have monitored streams throughout the Northern Lower Peninsula, covering 16 different streams. Volunteers wade into local streams to collect a water sample, temperature, and most importantly macroinvertebrates. These little bugs can only survive in certain water conditions. Therefore their mere presence (or absence) serves as an indicator of water quality.

The Watershed Council has coordinated and sponsored the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program since 1986. Presently, volunteers monitor 27 lakes spread throughout Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet, and Montmorency Counties. The objectives of the program are to collect baseline data, characterize lake ecosystems, identify specific water quality problems, determine water quality trends, and, most importantly, inform and educate the public regarding water quality issues and aquatic ecology.