The Environment
- Overview
- Ninth Congressional District
- Environmental Stewardship
- Great Lakes Restoration
- Gulf Coast Cleanup
- Wildlife Heritage
- Legislation
I am a strong advocate of environmental responsibility and policies to revitalize the environmental heritage of the Great Lakes.
As an advocate for the permanent ban on Great Lakes drilling, an end to diversions of Great Lakes water, I have supported policies to maximize the environmental legacy of our region.
While the Southwest and West confront a water crisis, the Great Lakes must protect and promote our abundant supply of fresh water.
The Ninth Congressional district stretches across the largest coastal district in Ohio which spans 4 of Ohio’s coastal counties.
The area has been located in the Black Swamp region for thousands of years.
Celebrating the rich history of Ohio’s marshland, the district is home to Ohio’s only federally designated wildlife refuge, the Ottawa Wildlife Refuge.
This refuge and much of the district is located at the intersection of the Mississippi and Atlantic flyways, the site for a biennial migration for birds that travel every spring and fall between North and South America.
For the last decade, I have been leading an effort known as the Western Lake Erie Basin Partnership.
This partnership has created a regional collaboration where the various federal, state and local governments are negotiating a plan for restoring the watershed.
By planning at the watershed level, governments and nonprofits leverage dollars more effectively, planning with the strategies of their partners at the same table.
While Lake Erie has a long way to go, this partnership has formalized the process for highlighting the natural wonders of Ohio’s North Coast.
With tens of millions of people relying on the water resource of the Great Lakes and a $5 – 7 billion recreational fishing industry in the region, the economic benefits of restoring the integrity of the lakes are unending.
Click here to learn more about restoration in our area.
The BP oil spill along the Gulf Coast is one of the worst ecological disasters in our nation’s history, exceeding the Exxon Valdez spill in the late 1980’s in both economic and ecological damages.
Click here to read more about efforts to clean up the Gulf Coast.
With sensitive environmental habitat across the Ninth Congressional District, I have been working for decades to showcase the environmental heritage of the district.
In 2003, John Dingell and I shepherded the passage of HR 289, the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. The legislation expanded this international and bi state refuge system.
I continue to secure federal dollars to construct the Ottawa Wildlife Refuge Complex, acquire land for the refuge, create the Fallen Timbers Battlefield Monument and support restoration of the Perry’s Victory Monument.
As a staunch supporter of heritage tourism, I have introduced HR 6040 to establish the Maumee Valley National Heritage Area in Ohio and Indiana, directing the National Park Service to highlight the unique history surrounding the 100 years of conflict and settlement of this region.
Click on the map below for an enlarged view of the boundary of the proposed Maumee Valley National Heritage Area.
Click here for information about the Bald Eagle's comeback to Ohio.
Legislation I Have Introduced and Cosponsored
HR 494 21st Century Conservation Corp Act
HR 892 Stop Asian Carp Act
HR 1513, Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act of 2011
HR 1916, America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2011
