Bill Text: MI SR0007 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Enrolled

Michigan Senate Resolution 7 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: A resolution to express support for the Attorney General's efforts to accelerate federal government efforts to devise a plan to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, to express support for the Snyder Administration's efforts to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, and to call on the Obama Administration to take all necessary actions to prevent the invasion.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 21-4)

Status: (Passed) 2011-03-03 - Adopted As Substituted S-1 [SR0007 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2011-SR0007-Enrolled.html

SR-7, As Adopted by Senate, March 3, 2011

Substitute for Senate Resolution No. 7.

A resolution to express support for the Attorney General's efforts to accelerate federal government efforts to devise a plan to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, to express support for the Snyder Administration's efforts to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, and to call on the Obama Administration to take all necessary actions to prevent the invasion.

Whereas, The Great Lakes region continues to confront the imminent threat of an Asian carp invasion with potentially dire consequences. A successful invasion of the Great Lakes could have a devastating effect on the multibillion-dollar Great Lakes fishing and boating industry and way of life on the lakes; and

Whereas, The only long-term answer to preventing Asian carp and future invaders from entering the Great Lakes is preventing them from ever reaching the lakes. The electrical barrier separating the Great Lakes Basin from the Mississippi River Basin has proven itself unreliable, protecting neither system from the exchange of aquatic invaders. The only reliable solution is the permanent separation of the basins by ending the man-made connection between them; and

Whereas, Michigan's new Attorney General has recently committed to continue to lead the Great Lakes region's fight against Asian carp. Michigan, with the backing of four other Great Lakes states, has fought in federal court for the permanent separation of the Great Lakes Basin from the Mississippi River Basin and called for the federal government to expedite its study of the problem; and

Whereas, The Snyder Administration is also committed to continue to lead the Great Lakes region's fight against Asian carp by advocating for an ecological barrier between the Great Lakes watershed and the Mississippi River system; and

Whereas, Every moment lost in addressing the Asian carp threat is more time for them to gain a foothold in the Great Lakes. Four years is too long to wait for the federal government to study the problem and take decisive action. Once established, the Great Lakes states and the federal government face the prospect of decade upon decade of expensive government programs to control and manage carp; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate, That we express support for the Michigan Attorney General's efforts to accelerate federal government efforts to devise a plan to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, and we call on the Obama Administration to take all necessary actions to prevent the invasion; and be it further

Resolved, That we express support for the efforts of the Office of the Great Lakes in the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to focus attention on the importance of protecting the Great Lakes from Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Michigan Attorney General, the President of the United States, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.