Bipartisan Bill Would Ensure Full Federal Funding for Brandon Road Project to Stop Invasive Carp

Sullivan Barth

Feb 10, 2022

Project Would Help Protect Great Lakes from Invasive Carp

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (February 10, 2022) — Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Representatives Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-Del.) and Garret Graves (R-La.) will provide critical funding to complete the Brandon Road Project in Joliet, Ill. The project would help protect the Great Lakes from destructive invasive carp.

“Invasive carp are a clear and present threat to our Great Lakes and waters across the nation. They are a national problem that requires a national solution,” said Marc Smith, policy director for the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center. “The SHORRE Act transforms the Brandon Road project into a national priority and helps ensure that the project crosses over the finish line. Thank you to the bill’s sponsors and the Great Lakes delegation for their leadership to ensure that the Brandon Road project receives full federal support throughout the whole process."

This funding will build upon the $226 million recently allocated from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2022 for planning and initial construction. Federal funding guarantees completion of the project which strengthens the Brandon Road Lock and Dam to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of invasive carp while still allowing for navigation to continue.

Invasive carp include silver, bighead, grass, and black carp, which damage native freshwater ecosystems by displacing native and sport fish through rapid population growth and consuming food resources. If they establish a population in the Great Lakes, scientific modeling predicts they would have the food resources to spread throughout the Great Lakes and connected inland waters, damaging the estimated $7 billion annual sport fishery and associated tourism economies supported in the Great Lakes.

For more information on the national scope of efforts to stop invasive carp, read the blog “Blocking and Tackling to Stop Invasive Carp on a National Scale” from the Great Lakes Conservation Coalition.

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