2025 House Resolution 77

Whereas, Asian carp were introduced in the southern United States in the 1970s to control algae blooms and aquatic weeds for aquaculture and wastewater treatment. Flood waters over the past few decades have allowed these species to escape into waterways, including the Mississippi River; and

Whereas, Asian carp species such as the bighead, silver, grass, and black carps are not native to North America and have become a highly invasive species in the waterways where they are located. Asian carp can grow up to sixty pounds and can eat up to forty percent of their weight each day, leading to outcompeting native species for food sources and harming local ecologies; and

Whereas, Bighead and silver carp have been located within forty-seven miles of Lake Michigan in the Des Plaines River, putting the seven-billion-dollar Great Lakes commercial and recreational fishing industry in jeopardy; and

Whereas, The state of Illinois and the state of Michigan signed a partnership agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District to begin construction on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project (BRIP) to prevent upstream movement of invasive carp into the Great Lakes; and

Whereas, The BRIP is funded with a combination of funds from the federal government, the state of Illinois, and the state of Michigan. The state of Michigan has already contributed seventy-three and a half million dollars to the BRIP over the past five years; and

Whereas, In February 2025, Governor Pritzker postponed the first phase of the BRIP’s construction due to concerns about the availability of federal funding to move forward with the project; and

Whereas, President Trump, on April 9, 2025, publicly pledged to save Lake Michigan from invasive Asian carp, as he understands the economic and environmental catastrophe that this species would wreak across our Great Lakes without this protective project; and

Whereas, We share President Trump’s support for the BRIP and the continuation of the project to prevent movement of Asian carp into the Great Lakes; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to resume construction of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project to prevent the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Governor of Michigan, and the Governor of Illinois.