GLIN==> Scavia Comments on Ocean Commission Report

[Elizabeth LaPorte <elzblap@umich.edu>]

Title: Scavia Comments on Ocean Commission Report

Dr. Donald Scavia, Michigan Sea Grant Director, and Professor of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan comments on about the Ocean Commission Report.

Detroit Free Press

A POINT WELL MADE: Adopt all protections in Great Lakes report

April 3, 2005

In December, President George W. Bush released the U.S. Ocean Action Plan, his response to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy's report on the state of the nation's coastal resources. Bush's plan addresses 40 of the 200 recommendations in the commission report.

To address fully the serious problems plaguing the Great Lakes and oceans, it's imperative that these first steps lead to implementing the commission's entire action plan.

How the president follows through will impact the quality of life along U.S. coasts, including the nation's "fourth coast" -- the Great Lakes. The commission found that many of the problems facing our Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts are present -- and serious -- in the Great Lakes: contaminated waters, invasive species, depleted and contaminated fisheries, urban and agricultural runoff, and changing coastal land use.

See the complete Detroit Free Press article at http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/epoint3e_20050403.htm

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Elizabeth LaPorte, Communications Director & Education Program Co-Leader

Michigan Sea Grant College Program, www.miseagrant.umich.edu

Communications Director, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment

Phone: (734) 647-0767, Fax: (734) 647-0768

Address: One Great Lakes Plaza, 401 E. Liberty St., TCF - Suite 330

Ann Arbor, MI  48104-2298