Good morning!

I’m reaching out to share a sign on letter led by the National Wildlife Federation and Michigan League of Conservation Voters urging Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to sign the Project Partnership Agreement that will allow the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Interbasin Project to proceed in a timely manner. Many of you will be familiar with the Brandon Road project as the long-planned measure to stop invasive carp in the Mississippi River corridor from crossing into the Great Lakes basin and threatening the ecology of that iconic and valuable freshwater resource. The text of the letter is copied below.

We are inviting all organizations to join us on the letter - you can add your organization to the letter by completing this form, which will close on Friday June 14^th. Feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions.

Dear Governor Pritzker, 

We write to express our concern about the threat posed by invasive carp to the environmental and economic health of Lake Michigan and the State of Illinois, as well as to the entire Great Lakes ecosystem. We are concerned that current delays in finalizing the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, specifically the Project Partnership Agreement (PPA), could allow invasive carp to swim closer to, and invade, Lake Michigan, outcompete native fish and negatively affect the productivity of our commercial and recreational fisheries, tourism, use and enjoyment of our lakes and rivers, as well as human safety. Specifically, we ask that you sign the PPA by June 30th.

Because the threat of invasive carp becoming established in Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes is so great and the environmental and economic effects so severe, Congress authorized the Brandon Road Interbasin Project in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 as the most feasible way to prevent the upstream migration of invasive carp into Lake Michigan. With more than a decade in development and planning and with significant stakeholder involvement, the project is currently estimated to cost $1.1 billion, cost shared at 90 percent federal and 10 percent non-federal. Congress has provided a total of $274 million in construction funding and the States of Illinois and Michigan have allocated $50 million and $65 million, respectively, for the project which covers the entire 10 percent non-federal share. Furthermore, Congress is presently considering legislation as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 that would increase the federal share of the project’s long-term operations and maintenance to 90%.

Clearly, much has been accomplished these last several years. Congressional and federal support for the project is strong. Other Great Lakes states, local governments and business and environmental stakeholders support the project. We appreciate your leadership and support that has gotten us to this point. The only remaining action that is required is for the State of Illinois to sign the Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) with the Army Corps of Engineers. We understand that negotiations over the PPA have been going on for many months and we understand from the Assistant Secretary of the Army that the PPA must be agreed to by the end of June 2024 so that the project can take advantage of certain planned lock closures in the river and move forward to construction later this year.  If this construction window is not met, costs could increase.

Preventing invasive carp from invading Lake Michigan is an urgent priority. Accordingly, we write to request your assistance to ensure that the PPA is completed promptly so that project construction is not delayed. We look forward to working with you to ensure that invasive carp do not spread into Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes.

Ross Griffin Senior Government Affairs Manager National Wildlife Federation 202-797-6894 www.nwf.org Uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world