Protecting Our Great Lakes

Since I was elected to Congress in 1992, together we have faced down a series of threats to our Great Lakes. I was the first Member of Congress to author legislation that would ban oil and gas drilling under our Great Lakes. In 2005, we enjoyed a milestone victory when Congress passed a permanent federal ban on new drilling for oil and gas in and under the Lakes. Absent a federal law, all of the Great Lake states could have different policies on drilling, putting all of us at risk.

That same year, the House passed my legislation to block partially treated human waste from being dumped into our waterways. Had the House not passed this amendment, partially treated human sewage containing viruses and parasites would have been dumped into our rivers, lakes and waterways.

Last year, the Coast Guard proposed conducting live machine gun fire exercises on the Lakes, which would have doubled the amount of lead that is annually dumped into the Lakes. Fortunately, following pressure from the public, from me and from other Members of Congress, the Coast Guard withdrew its proposal.

Our Lakes have faced threats from the Canadian side of the border. Last year, a Canadian nuclear company announced plans to place an underground repository for medium and low level nuclear waste less than a mile from the shores of Lake Huron. I support nuclear power, but it must be done the right way. After I wrote the Canadian Ministry of the Environment, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the U.S. EPA, the CNSC recommended a more thorough review. I will continue to work to convince the Canadian government that placing a permanent nuclear waste storage facility so close to the Great Lakes is ill-advised.

Despite the progress we have made over the years, damage has been done to our Great Lakes. It is important that the state and federal governments allocate the appropriate resources to heal our Lakes. Last year, I was proud to co-sponsor and vote for the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act, which will allow the federal government to spend $20 million on various fish and wildlife programs. The measure was signed into law by the President last year.

This Congress, I am co-sponsoring the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act. The bill would implement the recommendations of the “Great Lakes Collaboration Project” for tackling the gravest threats to our Great Lakes. While this legislation is ambitious, the longer we wait to address Great Lakes issues, the more complicated and expensive the solutions will be.

In addition to being critical to northern Michigan fishing, tourism, and our region’s economy, the Great Lakes supply drinking water to 45 million people. While we have enjoyed victories in protecting this critical resource, we must remain vigilant.

The double-crested cormorant is subject to the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, but is not controlled as an endangered species. These birds have caused problems for sport and commercial fisheries in northern Michigan.

The United States Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services has the authority to manage cormorants. Over the past four years, I have secured more than $500,000 for targeted cormorant control pilot projects. The most extensive of these was in the Les Cheneaux Islands, where Michigan Department of Natural Resources has concluded from their data that cormorants are at least partly responsible for the collapse of the yellow perch fishery. The pilot project combined egg-oiling to reduce reproduction. A similar program was launched on Drummond Island to protect spawning fish which coincides with the cormorant migration in late April and early May. USDA Wildlife Services is also conducting cormorant control activities in Brevort Lake, Long Lake, Grand Lake, and Thunder Bay areas. Given the success in these areas, the USDA plans on expanding control programs this year to Beaver Islands and possibly other areas. I will continue to work to secure funding for cormorant control efforts in Michigan.

I have also introduced legislation to provide a collaborative regional approach to the cormorant problem. The Great Lakes Migratory Bird Research and Management Act (H.R. 469) would enable the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to investigate the effects of migratory birds, such as cormorants, on fish in the Great Lakes, and develop management plans to control excessive cormorant populations. I will be working to move this legislation, to provide a more coordinated approach to the problem of cormorant overpopulation.