The Great Lakes are not only national treasures, they are vital economic tools for the communities that surround them.
Home to an incredible variety of fish and wildlife, supporting our industrial heartland and attracting millions of dollars in recreational tourism, they are an environmental and economic resource to be preserved for generations and they are particularly important to New York.
Approximately 80 percent of New York's fresh surface water, over 700 miles of shoreline, and 40 percent of New York's lands in over 25 counties are contained in the drainage basins of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and the St. Lawrence River.
These waters support populations of trout, salmon and other fish that draw anglers from both inside and outside of New York. The last comprehensive survey was conducted in 1996, and it found that there were 415,000 Great Lakes anglers in New York that year. These fishermen made 5.5 million fishing trips, accounting for 22 percent of all New York sport fishing activity.
Pollution, habitat degradation, and aquatic invasive species are taking their toll on the Great Lakes. A 2005 report from a group of prominent Great Lakes scientists concluded that historical threats are combining with new ones, and have brought the Lakes to a tipping point. We need to act now.
In May of 2004, President Bush created the Great Lakes Task Force, and stated that the “Great Lakes are a national treasure constituting the largest freshwater system in the world ... The federal government is committed to making progress on the many significant challenges that remain.”
The administration then took a step toward meeting that commitment by leading a group of 1,500 people from the region who developed a Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy that identifies key actions that need to be taken in the next five years to restore the Great Lakes. Unfortunately, the president did not take the next step, which is to provide new funding to put the plan into action. The plan calls for a set of actions over five years that will cost approximately $20 billion. But instead of proposing new funding to deal with pollution from sewer systems, the president's budget cut the Clean Water State Revolving Fund by nearly $200 million dollars.
We can't leave the new Great Lakes plan on the shelf to collect dust. Congress needs to lead where the administration has been unwilling to do so. I plan to join with Senate colleagues to introduce legislation to fund and implement the recommendations of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. And I will continue working to enact legislation to combat the introduction and spread of invasive species in the Great Lakes.
Clinton, D-N.Y., is a U.S. senator
Approximately 80 percent of New York's fresh surface water, over 700 miles of shoreline, and 40 percent of New York's lands in over 25 counties are contained in the drainage basins of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and the St. Lawrence River.
These waters support populations of trout, salmon and other fish that draw anglers from both inside and outside of New York. The last comprehensive survey was conducted in 1996, and it found that there were 415,000 Great Lakes anglers in New York that year. These fishermen made 5.5 million fishing trips, accounting for 22 percent of all New York sport fishing activity.
Pollution, habitat degradation, and aquatic invasive species are taking their toll on the Great Lakes. A 2005 report from a group of prominent Great Lakes scientists concluded that historical threats are combining with new ones, and have brought the Lakes to a tipping point. We need to act now.
In May of 2004, President Bush created the Great Lakes Task Force, and stated that the “Great Lakes are a national treasure constituting the largest freshwater system in the world ... The federal government is committed to making progress on the many significant challenges that remain.”
The administration then took a step toward meeting that commitment by leading a group of 1,500 people from the region who developed a Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy that identifies key actions that need to be taken in the next five years to restore the Great Lakes. Unfortunately, the president did not take the next step, which is to provide new funding to put the plan into action. The plan calls for a set of actions over five years that will cost approximately $20 billion. But instead of proposing new funding to deal with pollution from sewer systems, the president's budget cut the Clean Water State Revolving Fund by nearly $200 million dollars.
We can't leave the new Great Lakes plan on the shelf to collect dust. Congress needs to lead where the administration has been unwilling to do so. I plan to join with Senate colleagues to introduce legislation to fund and implement the recommendations of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. And I will continue working to enact legislation to combat the introduction and spread of invasive species in the Great Lakes.
Clinton, D-N.Y., is a U.S. senator