I love Michigan. Anyone who has ever seen the fantastic Great Lakes, fished our bountiful streams or walked our beautiful beaches which rival those of California or Florida would feel as strongly as I do. If you've seen our "Pure Michigan" ads, you get a little glimpse of how protective we are of our natural resources. But now, as the Gulf is being damaged beyond anything we can imagine for generations to come, by our demand for oil riches - the Great Lakes are on the verge of ecological disaster too.
Yesterday it was announced that an Asian Carp was caught by a fisherman in Calumet Lake which is directly connected to lower Lake Michigan beyond the protection of the electric barriers set in place to prevent access to the Great Lakes by these invasive fish. Their DNA had been detected here recently, but the Illinois Department of Natural Resources had not detected any actual carp. If you are not familiar with the Asian Carp, they have migrated up the Mississippi River system and pretty much out-bred and out-eaten all other native fish species. If they get into the Great Lakes, we can kiss the perch, the coho and chinook salmon, the lake trout, the muskie, the whitefish and the prized walleye good-bye. Our Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm, and our Republican Attorney General, Mike Cox, have both urged the closing of the locks and shipping channels that connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi system. The ships and barges that move cargo through this connector have fought to allow this channel to remain open. True - it would cost a bit more to transport goods by rail or truck instead of by water, but the damage to this precious ecosystem that would be caused by allowing these invasive carp to enter our waterways would be a much much greater cost. The courts and even our President have refused to step in to temporarily shut the locks to prevent the spread of these fish, and I urge you to contact your Congress-critters, the EPA, the Dept. of Commerce, the Dept. of the Interior, the President - whoever you think can bring some pressure on the decision makers involved.
Oh - but there is more: Another British owned corporation, the Kennecott Mining Company, which has a long history of environmental rape, now wants to open a sulfide mine on one of the most pristine rivers left in our Upper Peninsula. The Salmon-Trout River runs through the Yellow Dog Plains just west of Marquette, Michigan near the shores of Lake Superior. Not only is this land sacred to the Native People who have lived in this region for centuries, but the river itself has some of the rarest and most protected fish species left in the Great Lakes. It is especially known as the breeding stream for Coaster Trout which our DNR and Trout Unlimited have spent years trying to re-introduce to their former environment. But, under the river, there is sulfur, copper and a few other trace metals. Kennecott has applied for and received most of the approvals to go ahead and begin drill, baby drillin' and even though they "promise" to restore things back to normal when they are done (in about 10 years), The sulfur bearing rock and dust when exposed to air and water makes sulfuric acid - which is bound to enter the river and the ground water. The heavy metals are certainly not good for the environment either and they will flush out the river and enter Lake Superior. Kennecott has a terrible record of ravaging the land with little or no concern for the people or wildlife they damage....why would they be any different here? Unfortunately, there are many people who think opening this mining operation will provide jobs for Michigan's unemployed. Estimates are about 300 jobs, but most of those would be Kennecott workers that would move to this new operation and then leave the state after the mineral deposits are removed. Again, I hope you will contact the Michigan Dept. of Nat. Resources, Governor Granholm, Attorney General Cox, the EPA and Dept. of Interior. I'd say contact the MMS - but they are apparently in a state of confusion at the moment.
So, what is the price of protecting our last, best places on Earth? I can do without sulfur, copper, or even oil if it means destroying that which makes life truly meaningful.