Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United calls for a moratorium on new permits for sunken log extraction in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin.
Be it further resolved that Great Lakes United calls for environmentally sound scientific criteria for the issuance of permits across the wide range of aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United support a moratorium on new open water aquaculture facilities until a proven method for environmental assessment can be used to critically examine the suitability and placement of new facilities and during permit reviews in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United and its member organizations
implement the following strategies: Urge the immediate passage of federal legislation banning new oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes and directional drilling under the Great Lakes; and, continue to seek a permanent moratorium on drilling on a statewide and provincewide basis.

In response to the Binational Executive Committee’s (BEC) invitation to comment on their draft review of the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), the sixty-four groups who submit this brief congratulate the members of the binational Agreement Review Committee (ARC) for pulling together a summary that we believe fairly reflects the discussions carried out during 2006. Therefore, in this brief, instead of focusing on the ARC document, we present our preliminary position on revision of the Agreement. As the review and possible renegotiation continues over the next couple of years, we will present more details on these policy directions.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urges the state, provincial and First Nations governments of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin to institute a moratorium on the siting fo new high-capacity groundwater wells within the basin until the governments have put into law and regulation:
1. A comprehensive means for assessing the ecological impacts of groundwater removal by high-capacity wells and,
2. A standard for judging the acceptability of such groundwater removal operations of “no significant harm” without reference to mitigation and,
3. A system of both indemnification and compensation for any harm that may at some
future time be discovered to have been caused by such groundwater removal operations.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urges the provinces, states, federal and first nation governments of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin to put in place bans on new diversions from the individual surface and groundwater watersheds of the basin, such watersheds to e defined as small as scientifically justified, but no larger than major river watersheds.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Great Lakes go on record in favor of an extensive program to bring native fish populations up to levels supportable by the forage base through restoration, and that further stocking of non-native fish species be annually reduced until final elimination of such stocking is achieved.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Great Lakes United supports prohibition of logging for the purpose of commercial timber extraction on federal lands, as the first step towards managing Great Lakes forested ecosystems sustainably.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Great Lakes United commends the U.S. Government for
recognizing the importance of sea lamprey control and the need to pursue alternatives to lampricides; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Great Lakes United commends the Canadian Federal Government for its increased commitment to the program; BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that Great Lakes United urges the Congress of the United States to fund the commission at the proposed $12 million level so that it can continue to suppress sea lamprey populations in the Great Lakes while improving implementation and research into alternative sea lamprey control techniques.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the International Joint Commission is asked to fulfill the recommendations and objectives of Phase II of the Levels Reference Study for continued examination of the interests and issues identified, undertake science-based impact analyses of current and future water levels regulation plans, and release the results of these investigations to the public for review and input.