Reps in the News: Gallagher Tours Waterfowl Preserve

Congressman Mike Gallagher

Leaders from Northeastern Wisconsin Audubon Society and National Audubon Society met with Rep. Gallagher at the Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve, where they discussed restoration efforts at the nearby Cat Island Chain Restoration Site. Audubon thanked the congressman for his support of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and for joining the Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group of U.S. House representatives working to find policy solutions that address the effects and causes of our warming climate.

“Congressman Gallagher has shown true leadership through his support of GLRI and by joining the Climate Solutions Caucus,” said Rebeccah Sanders, vice president, Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi Flyway at the National Audubon Society. “Loss of critical habitat and climate change are very serious threats to birds, wildlife and people. It was great to have this opportunity to show him what can be accomplished here in Green Bay with strong federal investment in Great Lakes restoration and conservation policies.”

The Cat Island Restoration Project, funded with GLRI grants, among other sources, is a multi-partner project that will reconstruct three islands in the lower bay. The islands eroded due to severe storms and high lake levels in the 1970s. The investment will result in more than 200 acres of habitat for a variety of wildlife, including shorebirds and waterfowl, and will help to restore approximately 1,225 acres of shallow water and wetland habitat.

According to Audubon’s projections, by 2080, Bohemian waxwings and evening grosbeaks will possibly lose all of their current summer range, meaning that these birds will disappear from Wisconsin in the summer because of climate change. In the case of golden-winged warblers, this species may completely disappear from the state. See Audubon’s Birds and Climate Change Report climate.audubon.org, as well as report projections for Wisconsin.

Source:  Gallagher press release

Senator Tammy Baldwin

Sen. Baldwin, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured language in the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2019 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill directing the Army Corps of Engineers to finalize the Brandon Road Study, a critical action-plan for blocking Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. The President signed this appropriations legislation last week. Baldwin was successful last year in ensuring the draft-version of the Brandon Road Study was released publicly. Finalizing this critical effort is the next step in Baldwin’s efforts to press for action and protect the Great Lakes fishery, a $7 billion industry.

“I’ve been sounding the alarm on the threat Asian carp pose to our Great Lakes, our quality of life in Wisconsin and our freshwater economy. We’ve got to move forward with the plan to address this enormous threat to our Great Lakes and our economy,” Baldwin said. “The final bipartisan legislation that President Trump signed into law directs the federal government to finalize the study so we can move forward.”

The Brandon Road Study recommends specific measures to prevent Asian carp from getting beyond the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, a crucial chokepoint in the Chicago waterway system.

Source:  Baldwin press release

President Donald Trump

President Trump sat stonefaced at the head of the United Nations Security Council on Sept. 26 as the criticisms of his foreign policy rolled in overtly and obliquely. France warned that dealing with Iran couldn’t just be about “sanctions and containment,” a clear rebuke of Trump’s decision to pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in favor of an attempt to isolate the country through new economic penalties. Equatorial Guinea said nations too wedded to “sovereignty” could undermine the welfare of the international community, a likely reference to Trump’s sovereignty-focused speech Tuesday before the entire UN body. “The United States could not care less about human rights or justice,” Bolivian President Evo Morales said, just steps away from the U.S. president. The verbal slams were predictable: There is widespread unease at the UN with Trump’s “America first” outlook, and in particular his aggressive stance on Iran. But Wednesday’s spectacle was nonetheless striking, as it involved international leaders confronting the U.S. commander in chief in person with the world watching.

Source:  politco.com