March 28, 2010 Contact: Linda Albee
News Release Phone: 231.723.0032
For Immediate Release E-mail: ralbee0032@charter.net
An Avoidable Disaster
Manistee---There are illegal immigrants on the loose in the Midwest. Originally hailing from Asia, theyʼre about 3 ft. (90 cm) long and weigh up to 100 lb., and are known to resist capture. Once they establish residency, they can eat you out of house and home. Theyʼre called Asian carp, and they emigrated to the lower reaches of the Mississippi River in the 1970ʼs. Now theyʼre knocking on the door of the Great Lakes, threatening to destroy one of the most valuable aquatic regions in the U.S., unless the Great Lakes states can manage to pull together and keep them out. This Asian Carp invasion of the Great Lakes is an avoidable disaster.
How much do you know about the Asian Carp? What affect, if the carp does get in, would it have on the Great Lakes? What is being done to stop the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes?On Thursday, April 8, 2010, 7 pm, The League of Women Voters (LWV) Manistee County will host Mark Breederland from the Michigan Sea Grant Program to speak about the latest information on the fight to avoid a disaster and keep the Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes. This program will be held in Room A of the Education Wing of West Shore Medical Center, 1465 E. Parkdale (US 31), Manistee. The Michigan Sea Grant Program addresses all issues that effect the dynamic ecosystem of the Great Lakes through research, education and outreach.
The people of the Great Lakes region will not sit idly by and watch the Great Lakes become infested with the flying Asian carp. And neither is the state of Michigan or any of the other Great Lakes states. If the Asian carp invades the Great Lakes, it will change them forever. The fight has just begun.
League President, Nancy Behring said, “Becoming informed is the first step to stopping or at least controlling this Flying Asian carp invasion which threatens the fishing, boating and tourism industries of the Great Lakes.”
The LWV is a strictly non-partisan, multifaceted organization dedicated to keeping our communities strong by giving every man and woman a voice in government. We mobilize citizen action for a better America. Join your friends and neighbors and come to the April 8th program and learn more about the Asian carp and how we can avoid a disaster on our Great Lakes. Be “green”, share a ride to the April program by calling: Linda Albee, 231.723.0032 or Nancy Behring, 231.889.5402. For more information about LWV Manistee County call Nancy or Linda or visit: www.lwvmanisteecounty.org
