© 2024 WNMU-FM
Upper Great Lakes News, Music, and Arts & Culture
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Advocates to lobby Congress for Great Lakes cleanup program

TRAVERSE CITY, MI (AP)--   Supporters of a Great Lakes cleanup program are taking their case to Congress as preliminary budget figures suggest the Trump administration may try to cut nearly all its funding.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition represents nearly 150 groups that favor the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

It has funded toxic waste removal, wetlands restoration and the fight against invasive species such as Asian carp.

The program has received about $300 million a year since 2009. But recently leaked documents say Trump's soon-to-be-released budget might request only $10 million.

Coalition director Todd Ambs says that contradicts the Trump campaign's pledge last fall to support the program.

Members of the coalition are scheduled to visit Washington, D.C., next week, where they'll lobby the region's congressional delegation to stand up for the initiative.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.