EPA to spend $13 million to help stop Asian carp http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/79254102.html Officials in US Look for Fixes to Carp Problems http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2009-12-14-voa2.cfm Single Asian Carp Found in Canal as Cleanup Continues http://www.greatlakes.org/Page.aspx?pid=1001 National Invasive Species Information Center [pdf] http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/index.shtml Fish and Fisheries of the Great Lakes Region http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/flora-fauna/wildlife/fish.html As a variety of holiday celebrations mark the end of the year, family and friends living near the Great Lakes might have to cope with certain visitors that they don't find terribly pleasant. The entire Great Lakes region is facing a rather unwelcome guest who can be quite overbearing and voracious: the Asian carp. The Great Lakes have seen a variety of invasive species enter in past years (such as the zebra mussel), and scientists, fisherman, and elected officials have always held their collective breaths as they wait to see what effects these species might have on native populations. Recently a variety of experts, including members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, converged on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in order to treat the area with a fish-killing poison designed to keep them from entering the Great Lakes proper. While early efforts have only yielded one specimen, officials are optimistic that future attempts may exterminate more carp. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has called for a stronger response to this potential invasion, asking that all locks in the state of Illinois close temporarily until various government agencies can demonstrate that Asian carp can not enter Lake Michigan. The first link will take users to a piece from this Saturday's New York Times that addresses the Asian carp situation. The second link will whisk interested parties to a news article from this Monday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to help halt the movement of this species. Moving on, the third link leads to a special report from the Voice of America on potential solutions to this problem. The fourth link leads to a press release from the Alliance for the Great Lakes on the cleanup of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that took place recently. The fifth link leads to the homepage of the National Invasive Species Information Center. Here visitors can learn about current invasive species news from around the country and also learn about efforts to control such species across the country. Finally, the last link leads to a webpage provided by the Great Lakes Information Network. Visitors to this site can view guides to fish species of the Great Lakes, check out different data sources, and also view up-to-the minute news.