Asian Carp Barrier Act

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 » »

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 » »

Michigan Sues Illinios Over Carp

It is now official, Michigan is suing to force the closure of the O’Brien Lock and Dam in the Calumet-Sag Channel, the Chicago Controlling Works in the Illinois River and the permanent seperation of the artificial link between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes Basins.

“The actions of Illinois and federal authorities have not been enough to assure us the Lakes are safe,” Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said yesterday in a news release. “That’s why the waterways must be shut down until we are assured that Michigan will be protected.”

Noah Hall, previously of NWF, thinks Michigan has a strong Read More » »

The Worst Case Scenario

[caption id="attachment_3694" align="alignleft" width="131" caption="Asian Carp"][/caption]Surely, you’ve seen the Worst Case Scenario books that explain how to get out of tragic situations like a superhero, well; the manuals are mum about how to keep giant Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes. On Friday, government agencies announced that they collected 32 DNA samples on two different dates in September and October proving that the only thing between the fish and the lakes is a series of swinging doors – the locks. This is the worst case scenario.

“If we Read More » »

Russian Roulette with a Carp

Today, we have a temporary solution to a permanent problem posed by Asian Carp that are threatening to enter the Great Lakes via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. At the cost of $9 million dollars Congress has an electric barrier built to keep the massive, hungry creatures out of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Congress is contemplating spending more money on an old fashioned solution – sand bagging – the banks of the Des Plaines River so the fish would not be delivered into the lakes during the next flood. Now, last week, the powers that be decided to spend Read More » »

Sandbag ‘Em

Those pesky carp are so intent on getting into Lake Michigan – their Golden Gate to the Great Lakes system – that they are willing to hurl themselves from the Des Plaines River into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal during the next big storm. The locals are preparing sandbags in a most likely futile attempt to stop the giant jumping craven fish.

“The biggest risk right now is the Des Plaines River, and if we get a big rain like we did last year, they could very well go over the wall,” Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Phil Moy told Read More » »