Asian Carp Barrier Act

Mayor Daley Shows Support For Rep. Dave Camp’s Bill

The Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act received support from a welcome and some might say, unlikely, person this week –Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who has weighed in on the latest and most important discussion in the Asian Carp crisis. Mayor Daley has written a letter to Congress expressing his support to accelerate a study that examines how to permanently separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins.

When Chicago reversed the flow of the Chicago River and connected the two basins, it created a pathway by which invasive species could infest U.S. waters. The Asian Carp is poised to join Read More » »

Supreme Court Rejects Second Attempt to Close Chicago Locks

The Supreme Court once again decided not to close the locks as a temporary way to halt the advance of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. The courts will still be deciding whether or not to reopen the century old locks case in April that Michigan and six other Great Lakes states have brought against Illinois.

“Our motion was an extraordinary attempt to protect the Great Lakes, but we felt it was necessary to because the Court deserved to have access to the new DNA and economic information before making a decision,” said Michigan AG Mike Cox. “

Cox brought Read More » »

Waiting to Act Until Carp is Netted a Flawed Policy

Trying to net an Asian carp in the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal is proving as illusive as Osama Bin Laden in the caves of Torre Bora – still, that doesn’t mean we should lull ourselves into complacency and assume that the fish are not there. We have DNA evidence that proves that the fish are in the canal, past the barrier, and in the mouth of Lake Michigan. State and federal agencies need to do everything they can to stop the carp from taking hold in the Great Lakes. Waiting for a dead body to surface before we act Read More » »

Long-Range Thinking Could Save Chicago From Asian Carp Catastrophe

The Chicago Tribune ran a story about the economic damage that closing the locks would cause to the cities summer tourist industry. The Army Corps is considering limiting the number of times the locks are opened and closed to hamper the spread of the Asian carp into Lake Michigan. But worrying over this tourist season is short- term thinking because if the fish get a foothold in the canals and eventually the lakes the tourism industry will suffer a much more serious blow.

The reason is simple: no one will want to take tour boats through a sea of Read More » »

Carpageddon Devours GLRI Funds

If it wasn’t bad enough that the Federal plan for dealing with the carp is short sighted, now Carpageddon is eating into the historic Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding. The Feds are paying for their $78.5 million battle plan (weak as it is) with the $475 million GLRI funds.

We fought long and hard for those dollars. Now a significant portion will not go toward Great Lakes restoration priorities, but instead will be spent on fish poison, electronic barriers (that have yet to be turned on at full voltage), increased monitoring and flood control. Meanwhile, the one urgent move the Feds Read More » »

Michigan AG Asks Court To Reconsider Lock Closure; Study Shows Illinois Exaggerated Economic Impact

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has filed a new motion with the US Supreme Court asking for an immediate injunction to close Chicago-area locks because the Court did not have all the information (ie that Carp eDNA was already in Lake Michigan) when they rejected the first motion. In addition, a study by Wayne State University transportation experts draws serious doubts over Illinois’ claim that even a temporary closure of the locks would devastate the local economy.

Cox has seized on the revelation that new eDNA evidence that the Asian carp were in Lake Michigan was available three days before Read More » »

White House Summit on Asian Carp Could Get Crowded

Attorney Generals from five Great Lakes states have asked to be at the table when the Administration holds a summit to discuss the Asian Carp crisis. AGs from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin want a chance to express regional concerns over the carp.

“It is our hope the bi-partisan team of Attorneys General leading the battle to protect jobs and the Lakes will have a seat at the table with the White House to help find a solution to this crisis,” said Michigan AG Mike Cox. Cox has been leading the legal challenge to force Illinois to close the locks Read More » »

Carp eDNA in Lake Makes Meeting with the President More than Necessary

The Asian Carp eDNA has been found in the Calumet Harbor at the mouth of Lake Michigan, past the O’Brien Locks and the Electric Barrier, meanwhile the Supreme Court has failed to force the closure of the locks and has until mid-February before it will decide whether or not to hear the suit brought to it by six Great Lakes States in an effort to stop the voracious carp from getting a foothold in the Great Lakes ecosystem.

The Great Lakes Governors have called on the US President to hold a summit with them to address this most urgent issue. Read More » »

US Supreme Court Makes No Move to Stop Asian Carp

For the second time in two weeks, the US Supreme Court chose not to deal with the state of Michigan’s request for an injunction to close the locks that threaten to let the Asian Carp into Lake Michigan via the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal.

Since lodging the lawsuit to stop the carp, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota have joined Michigan, while Indiana and Canada have shown support. In a letter to the President, fifty members of Congress also asked for the locks to be closed and for consideration of a more permanent separation of the basins. Even Read More » »

News Reports Accuse MidWest of Hysterical React to Asian Carp

Hysterical? Questionable DNA? Ever seen a 100 plus pound flying fish? Even if scientists didn’t find fish DNA beyond the Electric Barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal -just miles from the entry to Lake Michigan (which they did)- the fish presence in the Mississippi and Des Plaines River is enough to call for a permanent separation of the Basins.

News reports from Illinois to Los Angeles are calling the six states that are pressing a lawsuit against Illinois to keep the Asian Carp out of the lakes ecosystem: hysterical. (Apparently, reporters in LA haven’t seen UTUBE recently Read More » »