Invasive Species
National groups release invasives plan for new U.S. administration
In the lead up to the president-elect Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday, conservation and environmental groups are calling for a renewed effort to stop invasive species in the United States.
Dry cargo hearing
The United States Coast Guard has announced a public comment period as it prepares a new Environmental Impact Statement in preparation of potential changes to the rule, Dry Cargo Residues on the Great Lakes.
A Great Lakes year
This has been a remarkable year for Great Lakes protection. As 2008 comes to a close, we reflect on some of the achievements citizens and organizations across the region deserve to celebrate.
Poorly regulated trade opens door to invasive species
A trip to the pet store is a glimpse at the diversity of animals from all over the world. However, lack of import screening means these animals pose one of the greatest threats to biodiversity in the Great Lakes.
Politics hold up historic ballast legislation
When Congress returns next week it will mean a short window to pass legislation that sets a global precedence for protection from aquatic invasive species. After this window closes the session ends and politicians become absorbed in fall election campaigns. The opportunity to pass this bill will not come again until next year.
Congress must act in face of $200 million losses to Great Lakes region by invasive species
Time is running out on a solution to the Great Lakes invasive species problem, and the cost to the region has swelled to at least $200 million a year and is growing, according to a team of scientists and economists.
Federal ballast legislation passes House of Representatives
In a landslide vote, the U.S. House of Representatives made a huge step in protecting the Great Lakes, passing legislation to stop invasive species discharged from ocean-going vessels.
Failing grade for Canadian government
After ten years watching the progress of the Canadian federal government, the Office of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, a part of the Auditor General’s Office, issued a report reviewing key problems and recommendations made over the past decade.
Local members of Congress lead charge on ballast legislation
The Great Lakes environmental community has been calling for a solution to the ballast problem, and federal decision-makers in the region were pivotal pushing it forward in the House of Representatives.
The zebra mussel: Twenty years later
It was an invasion predicted 95 years before it arrived. Research reports, dating back to 1893 and including a 1981 report to Environment Canada, warned of the risk the zebra mussel posed to the Great Lakes. Despite the warnings, Canada and the United States failed to act. And today, twenty years after the mussel’s discovery, both countries still lack the regulations that would have stopped it in the first place.
© 2008 Great Lakes News. 
