A Sense of Hope for the Great Lakes

The state of Michigan gave everyone who cares about the future of the Great Lakes an early Christmas gift today when it took the Asian carp debacle to the U.S. Supreme Court.

That gift: A sense of hope.

Michigan filed a lawsuit Dec. 21 against the state of Illinois and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a last ditch effort to keep the menacing carp from invading the Great Lakes.

The "Great Lakes State" wants the Supreme Court to order Illinois and the Corps to temporarily close navigational locks in artificial Chicago canals. The locks link Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River watershed — and the canals provide a conduit through which Asian carp could invade the Great Lakes; Asian carp DNA has been found within six miles of Lake Michigan.

Michigan's lawsuit is laudable because it shows the state is willing to pull out all the stops to prevent Asian carp from invading the world's largest source of surface freshwater.

Therein lies the sense of hope.

Check out Great Lakes on the Ground and learn more about Michigan's efforts to keep Asian carp at bay, straight from NWF's Andy Buchsbaum, director of the Great Lakes Regional Center.

-By Jeff Alexander, Great Lakes Regional Center