Durbin Leads Senators in Asking for Funding to Implement Asian Carp Plan
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today led a group of Senators in asking a Senate Committee to include $20 million to fund the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) Management and Control Plan for Bighead, Black, Grass, and Silver Carps in the United States in the FY11 Interior and related agencies appropriations bill.
The Senators wrote: "The USFWS estimates that it would take $277 million over 20 years to implement the full plan. We are asking for $20 million in FY11 to launch the control plan. A nationwide approach that includes research and management actions can prevent the Asian carp from doing irreparable harm to our important ecosystems."
On January 26, Durbin and Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL) held a meeting of House and Senate leaders from states surrounding the Great Lakes to chart a path forward in the effort to contain Asian carp in Illinois. In the meeting, Members of Congress agreed to seek $20 million in federal funding to implement the USFWS's Management and Control Plan which incorporates 133 actions to manage this aggressive species. The actions range from basic research that can become a model for other invasive species to practical management plans that will combat the Asian carp. The USFWS worked through a collaborative process with multiple State and federal partners, non-governmental organizations, representatives of industry, academia and other stakeholders to create the plan.
Durbin has consistently advocated working with federal, state and local officials to find a comprehensive solution that will protect the Great Lakes, while preserving jobs and promoting economic activity in the region. Senators signing on to today's letter include: Senators Roland Burris (D-IL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
If the carp reach Lake Michigan, they have the potential to damage the economy and ecosystem of the Great Lakes region, where the fishing industry alone is valued at $7 billion annually. Yet the community and economic implications of closing the locks of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal must be considered. The shipping industry used the canal to move nearly 7 million tons of cargo in 2008 through the O'Brien and Chicago locks, and the Army Corps estimates that closing the O'Brien lock alone would back-flood 14,000 homes.
Durbin and Biggert have a long history of working together to combat the spread of Asian carp, and from FY2003 through FY2010 they have secured more than $25 million in federal funding to contain the invasive species, and to keep it from entering Lake Michigan. State and federal agencies have already spent millions of dollars to contain the fish, particularly through the electric Asian Carp Barrier project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since 1998, the barrier project has received $41.2 million in federal funding. The Obama administration recently launched a $475 million comprehensive Great Lakes initiative which provides a regional approach to controlling invasive species, reducing non-point-source pollution, and cleaning up contaminated sediment.
[Text of the letter appears below]
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Committee
The Honorable Lamar Alexander
Dear Chairman Feinstein and Ranking Member Alexander:
We are writing to respectfully ask your consideration and support for $20 million to fund the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) Management and Control Plan for Bighead, Black, Grass, and Silver Carps in the United States (Plan) in the FY11 Interior and related agencies appropriations bill.
Asian carp is a highly invasive, non-native aquatic species that threatens valuable habitats in the United States. This aggressive fish can reach 100 pounds and eats 40 percent of its body weight in plankton every day, negatively impacting the entire ecosystem as it depletes the base of the food chain. The fish have been making their way up the Mississippi River since the 1990s and are on the verge of establishing in the Great Lakes. Immediate action is needed to prevent their spread into the Great Lakes and remedy the damage in the Mississippi River.
The USFWS worked through a collaborative process with multiple State and federal partners, non-governmental organizations, representatives of industry, academia and other stakeholders to create the Management and Control Plan for Asian carp. This plan incorporates 133 actions to manage this aggressive species. The actions range from basic research that can become a model for other invasive species to practical management plans that will combat the Asian carp. USFWS currently receives about $300,000 annually in appropriations to support Asian carp prevention and control nationwide, with a limited amount of additional funds from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to incorporate rapid response control measures in the Great Lakes Basin.
The USFWS estimates that it would take $277 million over 20 years to implement the full plan. We are asking for $20 million in FY11 to launch the control plan. A nationwide approach that includes research and management actions can prevent the Asian carp from doing irreparable harm to our important ecosystems.
Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator