The St. Croix River Basin plan is the first interstate plan to be funded and represents the work of a multi-agency interstate and tribal task force. Agencies to receive funding include the Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, Office of the Great Lakes Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. Nonindigenous aquatic nuisance species, such as the zebra mussel, ruffe, and round goby, are not native to an area and cause, or have the potential to cause, significant damage to native fishes, fish communities and aquatic habitat. At least 4,000 nonindigenous plants and 2,300 nonindigenous animals are now established in the United States. Biologists consider nonindigenous species invasions second only to habitat destruction as a cause of species decline and endangerment.
Nonindigenous species have a variety of impacts on human activities and the environment.
Some choke waterways used for navigation and recreation while others clog intake pipes. Billions of dollars will be spent to control these invaders in the Great Lakes and Midwest in the next 10 years. The federal provision allowing states with management plans to receiving funding was very beneficial. The program also allowed us to get visibility on the subject, which we had been struggling with in the past. We are proud that agencies within the region have stepped forward to address the problem of aquatic nuisance species.