Governor attends Asian Carp meeting

UNDATED (WSAU) While the governor is in Washington, D.C., for a summit on the Asian carp, local Wisconsin officials are working up a plan if the predator fish arrives here.

Asian carp can drive out local species by eating all the food in the water. The Department of Natural Resources has approved a four-year, 100 thousand dollar grant for Dane County to implement a plan developed last year. That plan would control the spread of invasive species already here and stop the introduction of others, like the Asian carp.

The carp have been found in the Mississippi River near La Crosse. They could move up the Wisconsin River to Dane County.

The ongoing debate over keeping the Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes centers on whether canal gates in Chicago should be closed. The Great Lakes states want the locks shut. Chicago leaders say closing the canals to shipping would hurt the economy. The courts have sided with Chicago so far.