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WASHINGTON - Most of Washington was shut down Tuesday as the city dug out from under a record snow storm and prepared for a second storm, but the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment pushed ahead with a scheduled hearing on Asian carp and the Great Lakes.
Noting that an average of one new alien species is discovered in the Great Lakes every eight months, Matt Frank, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, testified in favor of swift actions to strengthen the separation of the Lakes from the Mississippi-Illinois River System.
Rep. Tom Petri participated in the hearing, noting that "It is no exaggeration to say the issue of Asian carp entry into the Great Lakes is one that has raised great fears on the part of our states. Some predict that the carp population has the potential to disrupt the fundamental ecology of the Great Lakes, resulting in tremendous economic damage to our states, particularly our fishing industry."
"With our human ingenuity and know-how, we should be able to outsmart the fish," he said.
Of his effort to get through the capital's snow-clogged streets to attend the hearing, Petri remarked, "In Wisconsin we would call this a 'dusting.'"
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