President Donald Trump signed a memo Friday directing the federal government to "achieve maximum speed and efficiency" on a project designed to block the spread of an invasive fish into the Great Lakes.
The plan is to build a series of barriers to keep invasive carp from moving from the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes through a lock-and-dam complex that connects the two water bodies.
Trump directed a set of federal agencies to prioritize work on the barrier system.
The project, with a price tag of more than $1 billion, has been stalled since Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker delayed a land transfer for the barrier system to the federal government earlier this year. Pritzker said he wanted assurances that the Trump administration would release the money promised for the project.
The effort has bipartisan support in Michigan. Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Republican state House Speaker Matt Hall urged President Donald Trump to move ahead with it in an Oval Office meeting last month.
Fishing industry groups and environmental advocates say the carp could upend the Great Lakes ecosystem. The fish are "prolific eaters," and the White House said they would "spread rapidly by outcompeting native fish populations for food and space, threatening species like walleye, yellow perch, and lake whitefish."
Whitmer said the carp would harm the Great Lakes boating, tourism, and maritime economies.
