GLIN==> Conservation Groups Praise U.S. Senators for Action on Asian Carp, Invasive Species

Alliance for the Great Lakes – Environment Illinois – Freshwater Future –
Great Lakes United –Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition – National
Wildlife Federation – Natural Resources Defense Council – Prairie Rivers
Network – Sierra Club
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   
May 24, 2010
 
CONTACTS:
Joel Brammeier, Alliance for the Great Lakes, (312) 939-0838
Max Muller, Environment Illinois (503) 706-4738
Jennifer Nalbone, Great Lakes United (716) 213-0408
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition (734)
887-7109
Marc Smith, National Wildlife Federation, (734) 255-5413
Josh Mogerman, Natural Resources Defense Council, (312) 651-7909
Glynnis Collins, Prairie Rivers Network, (217) 344-2371
Jack Darin, Sierra Club, (847) 651-0825
 
Conservation Groups Praise U.S. Senators for Action on Asian Carp,
Invasive Species
 
Great Lakes senators urge Army Corps to study how to build physical
barrier to prevent invasive species from traveling between Great Lakes,
Mississippi River
 
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (May 24, 2010)-Conservation groups today praised U.S.
senators for taking action to stop the movement of aquatic invasive
species like the Asian carp between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi
River. In a letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee,
Great Lakes senators are urging Congress to direct the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers to study how to build a physical barrier between two of
North America’s largest freshwater ecosystems.
 
The letter to committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Caif.) and Ranking
Member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is signed by Great Lakes Sens. Sherrod
Brown (D-Ohio), Ronald Burris (D-Ill.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Richard
Durbin (D-Ill.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Amy
Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.), Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and
George Voinovich (R-Ohio).
 
“Asian carp pose a great risk to the Great Lakes. Other invasive
species already in the Great Lakes are a huge problem, causing
significant environmental and economic harm,” said Sen. Carl Levin
(D-Mich.). “So prevention is the best solution, and I will continue to
press federal agencies and Congress to act with urgency to put in place
the essential measures to stop Asian carp from entering the Great
Lakes.”
 
“I will work to ensure that U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is authorized
to conduct a thorough study on building a barrier between the Great
Lakes and the Mississippi river and look forward to the results,” said
Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio). “We have worked hard to revitalize the
Lakes, and these invasive species are a serious threat to the native
fish population, the ecosystem and the fishing and boating community. We
need to do everything in our power to help guard against invasive
species and protect the fragile ecosystem of the Great Lakes.”
 
“Asian Carp has the potential to do great damage by threatening the
native fish and natural wildlife of the lake and in turn, the economy of
the entire Great Lakes region,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).  “I am
glad to join my colleagues from the region in calling for this study to
be included in the next Water Resources Development Act.  We must
continue working together to find a solution that will protect our
lakes, while preserving jobs and promoting economic activity in the
region.”  
 
“Asian carp pose a serious threat to our $7 billion recreational
fishing industry and $16 billion recreational boating industry,” said
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). “That’s why it is critical that as we
implement comprehensive short-term solutions to stop Asian carp, we also
work on a permanent solution of hydrological separation to protect our
Great Lakes and our economy for generations to come.”
 
“We applaud our Great Lakes senators –especially Senators Dick Durbin,
Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow, and George Voinovich–for taking action to
protect the Great Lakes and our eight-state regional economy,” said Joel
Brammeier, president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. “A
physical barrier is the only solution that will protect the people,
communities and businesses of the Great Lakes from the continued
onslaught and financial toll of invasive species. We urge Congress to
quickly empower the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study how this could
be achieved.”
 
The letter from the Great Lakes Task Force comes as state and federal
agencies scramble to beat back the Asian carp from taking hold in the
Great Lakes. DNA evidence indicates that the non-native fish have
breached an electric fence in Chicago-area waterways and are in Lake
Michigan.
 
“This is a great first step from the Great Lakes senators in addressing
a significant threat to the economy and ecology of the region,” said
Henry Henderson, director of the Midwest Program for the Natural
Resources Defense Council. “The Army Corps of Engineers should focus on
the most promising solution to this invasive species problem--separating
the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River system. The senators’ action
helps ensure the protection of resources that millions of Americans rely
on for their jobs, drinking water and way of life.”
 
“We applaud Sen. Durbin for his leadership in seeking a long-term 
solution to the threat posed by Asian carp, and other invasive species,
to Lake Michigan and our Illinois River system,” said Jack Darin,
director of the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter. “For right now, we have
little choice but to try to find and kill Asian carp, but the study Sen.
Durbin and the other senators are calling for gives us hope for a
permanent fix that won't require repeated poisonings of the Chicago
River system.”
 
In 2007 Congress authorized the corps to look at ways to stop the
spread of invasive species between the two waters. The corps’ study,
however, focuses on a variety of approaches to controlling invasive
species—none of which is 100 percent effective—and does not look at the
only permanent solution to the problem: building a physical barrier
between the two waters. 
 
The letter from U.S. senators asks the corps to study how to build a
physical barrier to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River.
 
“Senators from across the region have come together to solve the Asian
carp crisis once and for all,” said Jennifer Nalbone, director of
Navigation and Invasive Species from Great Lakes United. “And this
vision extends way beyond the immediate carp threat: Hydrological
separation will protect future generations from the devastation of
future aquatic invaders passing between the Great Lakes and Mississippi
regions.”
 
The artificial connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi
River has long been recognized as a major pathway by which non-native
species can spread across the country. The two waterways were connected
in the early 1900s by a series of Chicago-area canals and channels,
which the corps now operates.  
 
Conservation organizations, in a letter sent to Hill offices last week,
urged Congress to refocus the corps study— the Aquatic Nuisance Species
Interbasin Transfer Feasibility study—to examine how to build a physical
barrier that stops the movement of harmful species between the two
waters. 
 
“The united support of Great Lakes senators will be instrumental in
helping advance a permanent solution to this urgent problem,” said Marc
Smith, policy manager for the National Wildlife Federation. “The Army
Corps study can help provide us the best options for how to get the job
done.”
 
Building a physical barrier between the two waters, if done right, will
involve smart, well-planned investments that will establish new
infrastructure in the Chicago area that make the region more globally
competitive and upgrade treatment of wastewater and storm water. The
result can be a revitalized Chicago Waterway System that not only closes
the highway for invasive species, but also enhances Chicago’s
transportation system, creates local and regional jobs, reduces business
costs across the region, and improves water quality, tourism, and
recreation.
 
“Great Lakes senators have opened the door for us to put forward a
solution to this problem that is a winner for the entire region,” said
Glynnis Collins, executive director for Prairie Rivers Network. “If we
do this the right way everyone comes out ahead: people, communities,
businesses and the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. But we’re
not going to get there if we don’t have the right information to begin
with. Congress needs to direct the Corps of Engineers to look at the
best way to build a barrier that stops invasive species and meets the
needs of the region.”
 
Severing the artificial connection between the Mississippi River and
the Great Lakes will require modifications to the Chicago Waterway
System—a series of canals, locks and channels built more than 100 years
ago that allowed the city of Chicago to reverse the flow of its namesake
river to deal with its sewage and protect Lake Michigan drinking water.

 
The waterway system has allowed for the movement of goods through the
city, and region.  But it also diverts massive amounts of water away
from the Great Lakes, opened the door to the movement of invasive
species between the two ecosystems, and allowed the city to postpone a
sustainable solution to deal with its sewage problem.
 
“Our senators understand that there are solutions to this problem that
support all of the many uses that the Great Lakes and Mississippi River
provide,” said Max Muller, director of Environment Illinois. “Millions
of people will benefit from a permanent solution to this problem.”
 
Stopping invasive species is a key tenet of a precedent-setting federal
initiative for Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery. The
Brookings Institution found that a $26 billion investment in Great Lakes
restoration will lead to at least $50 billion benefit in economic
benefit for the region.
 
“Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery hinge on preventing the
introduction of invasive species into the Lakes,” said Jeff Skelding,
director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Our senators
are once again showing that they will lead the effort to protect the
global resource. It’s now time for Congress to follow through and direct
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to look at the most efficient and
effective way to build a barrier between the Great Lakes and Mississippi
River.”
 
Read the letter from the Great Lakes Task Force at:
www.healthylakes.org 
 
 
Jordan Lubetkin - Senior Regional Communications Manager
National Wildlife Federation
Great Lakes Regional Center
213 W. Liberty St., Suite 200
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1398
www.nwf.org/greatlakes 
www.healthylakes.org ( http://www.healthylakes.org/ )

Phone: (734) 887-7109 
Cell: (734) 904-1589

Inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future.
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