GLIN==> Ohio DNR Director Sam Speck to head Great Lakes Commission

[Kirk Haverkamp <kirkh@glc.org>]

See http://www.glc.org/announce/02/11chairman.html

Ohio DNR Director Sam Speck to head Great Lakes Commission

Ann Arbor, Mich.—  Sam Speck, director of the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources, is the new chair of the Great Lakes Commission, a binational agency
representing the Great Lakes states and provinces on matters of Great Lakes
policy, research and management.

Speck, who heads the Commission’s Ohio delegation, was unanimously elected
by his fellow Commissioners at the organization’s annual meeting in Cleveland
on Oct. 15. Minnesota state Rep. Thomas Huntley was elected vice chair.

“This is a very exciting point in history for the Great Lakes Commission,
given the issues and challenges we face,” Speck said. “It is a great privilege
to be elected chair at a time when so much can be accomplished.”

Speck said that the Commission has been presented with a number of significant
opportunities, related to ongoing efforts to develop a framework to manage
water use, as called for in Annex 2001 of the Great Lakes Charter; the challenge
of battling aquatic invasive species through reauthorization and implementation
of the National Invasive Species Act; and working with the Council of Great
Lakes Governors and other parties to frame, develop a national program to
address, and advocate for a comprehensive set of priorities to restore and
protect the Great Lakes.

“There are many opportunities and challenges that we, working together with
our many partners, must address,” he said. “We must ask ourselves two questions:
‘If not us, who? If not now, when?’ The answer provides our motto for the
coming year: ‘Us-Now.’ ”

Speck succeeds outgoing Chairman Nat Robinson of Wisconsin, who assumes the
post of immediate past chair. Speck held the post of vice chair the past
two years.

At the same meeting, the Commission approved a series of policy actions that
will help define its advocacy efforts over the coming year. Among these measures,
the Commission called for construction of a new, permanent electric barrier
to prevent the Asian Carp, an emerging major threat to the Great Lakes ecosystem,
from reaching the Great Lakes through the Illinois waterway system. The fish,
which are voracious eaters and can weigh more than 80 pounds, have already
been found within 50 miles of Lake Michigan in the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping
Canal, which connects the lake with the Mississippi River. 

Fisheries biologists have warned the carp could reach Lake Michigan by next
spring unless urgent action is taken. The Commission urged that a temporary
barrier, installed as a demonstration project, be supplemented by a more
durable and effective one. The current barrier discharges an electric current
into the water to discourage fish from crossing but primarily affects bottom-dwelling
species; the new barrier would target the entire water column.

In a related action, the Commission called upon Congress to move ahead with
reauthorization of the National Invasive Species Act, including provisions
recommended by the Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species that directly
address the Great Lakes.

The Commission also applauded the progress made in laying the foundation
for a comprehensive management plan for Lake St. Clair, the heart-shaped
body of water between lakes Huron and Erie that supporters call “the heart
of the Great Lakes.” The resolution followed a presentation on the management
plan development process, which is one of a suite of initiatives benefiting
the lake. Lake St. Clair and its watershed are a microcosm of many of the
problems faced by the entire Great Lakes system, including invasive species,
wetlands and habitat loss, toxic pollution, sewage overflows and leaking
septic systems, and heavy development along its shores.

In other action, the Commission called upon federal, state and provincial
governments to make a high priority of addressing the problems represented
by the numerous beach closings that have occurred around the Great Lakes
in recent years. The Commission also urged the Great Lakes states and provinces
to embrace the findings of a study laying the groundwork for a process to
inform water use decisions by Great Lakes governors and premiers.

###

Contact:  Mike Donahue
Phone:  734-971-9135
Fax:  734-971-9150
E-mail:  mdonahue@glc.org

The Great Lakes Commission, chaired by Samuel W. Speck (Ohio),  is a nonpartisan,
binational compact agency created by state and U.S. federal  law and dedicated
to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life
for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region and its residents.   The Commission
consists of state legislators, agency officials and governors’  appointees
from its eight member states.  Associate membership for Ontario  and Québec
was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.”   The
Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian
 federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional
 interests.  The Commission offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.