Substitute for Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 7.

            A concurrent resolution to support the recommendations of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to prevent Asian and other invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes.

            Whereas, The Chicago area waterway system serves as a pathway for aquatic invasive species to move between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. Zebra mussels and other species spread from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and its tributaries through this man-made connection. Now, invasive carp are on the brink of using this same route to invade the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin; and

            Whereas, Invasive carp continue to migrate upstream and are now within a day's swim of Lake Michigan. In the last few years, juvenile invasive carp have moved 90 miles closer to Lake Michigan, leaving them only 47 miles from the Great Lakes. While electrical barriers currently stand in their way, research indicates that those barriers may not be effective at stopping small fish; and

            Whereas, The impacts of invasive carp to the ecosystems and economies of the Great Lakes states and local communities will be catastrophic. Invasive species established in the Great Lakes already cost the region more than $100 million per year. Invasive carp could add dramatically to this cost if they move through the Chicago area into the Great Lakes. These carp are voracious filter feeders and could out-compete the native fish of the Great Lakes, threatening a $7 billion sport and commercial fishery. History has demonstrated that, once established, aquatic invasive species like invasive carp are nearly impossible to eradicate; and

            Whereas, The best long-term solution will prevent invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes while preserving as much as possible the current uses of the Chicago area waterways. Options that would change shipping on these waterways should only be pursued after all other options have been exhausted; and

            Whereas, The costs of preventing invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes are substantially lower than the costs to the ecosystems and economies of the Great Lakes states if invasive carp were to become established; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That we support the recommendations of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to implement immediate control technologies and the last resort of closure at Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois, and to further investigate the specific system of control points for long-term movement of aquatic invasive species into and out of the Great Lakes; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the members of the Michigan congressional delegation, and the Commanding General and Chief of Engineers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.