Peter Payette
Points North and has reported on a wide range of issues critical to the culture and economy of northern Michigan. His work has been featured on NPR, Michigan Radio, Bridge magazine and Edible Grande Traverse. He has taught journalism and radio production to students and adults at Interlochen Center for the Arts. He is also working on a book about the use of aquaculture to manage Great Lakes fisheries, particularly the use of salmon from the Pacific Ocean to create a sport fishery in the 1960s.
Peter has vacationed in Benzie County his entire life. His wife Sarah is his biggest fan. They have three children, Isabelle, Amelia and Emmet, and live happily in Traverse City's Kid's Creek Neighborhood.
Many of his favorite stories are about obscure fish in the Great Lakesor the new arrivals changing the food web. He also admires the peoplekeeping the rock 'n' roll revolution alive in the woods of northern Michigan and enjoysany story that reconnects the past to the present.
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An unpredictable spring this year unnerved tart cherry growers in Michigan, because these cherry trees are especially vulnerable to extreme weather shifts made more likely by climate change. -
A federal judge says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service overstepped its bounds when it allowed some migratory birds to be killed in large numbers across the eastern United States.
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Scientists say lake herring, a key fish in Lake Superior's food web, is suffering because of mild winters and Europe's appetite for roe. Some say the species may be at risk of "collapse." -
In Michigan's orchard country, extreme heat and cold can mean disaster for fruit growers. Now some are using a new twist on old technology to fool trees when sudden, unexpected weather changes occur. -
This summer, Michigan's aquaculture industry took a step forward. And that has touched off a debate over whether the Great Lakes are an appropriate place for fish farming. -
Some rookie farmers in northern Michigan are growing saskatoon, a shrub that looks like blueberry. They're also experimenting with it in the kitchen — in jams and pies.
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More and more towns are hosting festivals to bring extra money into the area. But these attractions can be disruptive, and one town in Michigan isn't sure it wants any more. Traverse City is looking at new restrictions to cure "festival fatigue," to the dismay of the business community. -
In northern Lake Michigan, explorers are stepping up their effort to find a ship that sank in 1679. French and American archeologists are on the lake looking for the ship sailed by French explorer Rene-Robert Sieur de la Salle. So far, the excavation has uncovered a wooden beam that looks like the mast of a ship.
