Echo

Carp bomb: Beach landing

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Frank Dutiri sends us this carp bomb, which perpetuates a few themes that have emerged from our submissions so far: Asian carp (click for news) are big, and have a taste for human young. But this big boy strikes another sinister, unsettling tone with me. We’re so worried about all the plankton that’s going to get sucked into those big mouths. But if they’re executing beach landings like this, what the heck is going to come out? Don’t forget to make your own Asian carp bombs and submit them Great Lakes Echo.

Echo

Carp and Compacts: Two big retirements affect Great Lakes policy

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Last week brought two big retirement announcements with Great Lakes political implications. The first came from U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak. The Michigan Democrat recently found himself in the center of the health care debate because he threatened to break with his party and vote against the bill over abortion rights. Stupak eventually voted for health care reform. But in 2008, Stupak broke with both parties and cast one of only 25 votes against the Great Lakes Compact, an agreement between the Great Lakes states that prevents most water diversions and promotes water conservation.

Echo

Friday Five: The circus ringleader

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You know the big names credited with major policy decisions that affect the basin.

But who are the people behind the names that shape Great Lakes policy?

This week: David Naftzger, head of the Council of Great Lakes Governors … and herder of political cats.

Echo

The carp plot thickens

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Here at Great Lakes Echo we’re very aware of the Asian carp invasion.  We don’t write much about it because so many people are doing such a great job covering that story, but we do like to keep tabs on new developments. Using the “Suggest a Catch” link at the bottom of our Catch of the Day feature, a reader called our attention to this story in the Metro Times:

Fishing for truth: Did government agencies help create the Asian carp crisis? A lot of blame has been tossed around in the past months.  Irresponsible fish farmers let the carp get into the rivers.  The shipping industry cares more about making a buck than preserving a fragile ecosystem (or the fishing industry). Preventative measures were insubstantial.  Now a new batch of players has been thrown into the ring.    Apparently government agencies moved Asian carp north years ago, and have been keeping mum on the issue.  In the 1970s, the government funded Asian carp research in our neck of the woods. Carp came to Illinois from Arkansas by the truckload to clean up manure and sewage.  An Illinois ecologist says none of the fish escaped.  Not everyone is so sure.

Wildlife

Wild Pig Poll: Should we trap ’em?

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Between 3,000 and 5,000 wild hogs inhabit 69 of Michigan’s 83 counties. They ravage crops and forests and carry diseases. The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy – with help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services branch – has developed the Michigan Wild Hog Removal Program. It aims to set 100 traps – that cost $450 each — to round them up. Want a piece of the action?

Wildlife

PODCAST: hunt for the rich or poor?

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Michigan has thousands of bear hunters. About 40 of them showed up for a recent Natural Resources Commission meeting in Lansing.

The commission was considering a new licensing system – one for hunting public land and another for hunting private land.