Reps. McClain, Dingell Introduce

Great Lakes Mapping Act

Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) introduced the Great Lakes Mapping Act of 2025 this week. The bill would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct high-resolution mapping of the Great Lakes lakebed, and finish by the end of the 2030 calendar year. The bill would authorize $50 million per year over five years for the project. Today, only 13% of the Great Lakes lakebed has been mapped in high density, and many of the maps that do exist use decades-old research.

The bill contains small changes from the one that Reps. McClain and Dingell introduced last year. That bill got a hearing in the House Natural Resources Committee, but the effort stalled out. Last year’s version authorized a lump sum of $200 million for use through fiscal year 2030, whereas this bill authorizes slightly more total money: $50 million per year from FY25 to FY29. The Great Lakes Mapping Act of 2025 also explicitly spells out NOAA’s partners in the mapping effort, including the Great Lakes Observing System’s Lakebed 2030 initiative, which has spearheaded mapping efforts, and would be critical to carrying out the ambitions outlined in the bill.

“We have a unique opportunity to unlock the region’s economic potential,” Rep. McClain said, in a press release that can be read here. “Advanced mapping will give us a deeper understanding of how we can tap into and protect one of American’s most valuable natural resources. My legislation with Rep. Dingell will take Michigan’s economy to the next level,” McClain stated.

“In Michigan, the Great Lakes are a way of life, and their impact is felt across our country and beyond.” Rep. Dingell said. “Comprehensively exploring and mapping the Great Lakes will strengthen our understanding of their underwater environment so that we can better protect them and the many species they contain and continue to foster the economic prosperity they have supported for generations.”

New technologies such as LiDAR and modern sonar allow researchers to collect data and make maps that would have been impossible not long ago. High-definition mapping would show objects as small as shipwrecks, pipelines, or cables. Mapping the Great Lakes in high definition would inform environmental protection and fishery management, help in understanding how climate change is affecting the Lakes, and offer opportunities for exploration.

“GLOS is proud to support this landmark legislation that will accelerate high-resolution mapping of the Great Lakes lakebed within a decade,” GLOS CEO Jennifer Boehme said. “As stewards of the world’s largest freshwater system, we believe a complete map of the lakefloor is essential to strengthening maritime safety, supporting commerce, and preserving cultural history. From shipwrecks to underwater infrastructure, there's still so much we don’t know about what lies beneath the surface of these inland seas. Better data means better decisions — for emergency response, navigation, water quality, and economic development.”

Alongside Rep. Dingell and Rep. McClain, 13 other members co-sponsored the legislation, including: Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI), Rep. Jack Bergman, Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

To learn more about how high-definition mapping could happen, and the benefits it could bring, explore GLOS' Lakebed 2030 page here.

Read the Mapping the Great Lakes Act here.

Trump Administration Resumes Firing of Probationary Workers After Court Orders Lifted

Over 24,000 probationary employees from 18 different federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are again in jeopardy. The employees, who were originally fired on and around February 14^th, had until earlier this week been protected by two preliminary injunctions – one in California and another in Maryland – requiring the administration to put those employees either on administrative leave or fully back to work. But after the Supreme Court invalidated the California order on Tuesday and the 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Maryland order on Wednesday, the Trump administration is no longer legally prevented from going ahead with those firings.

At least at some agencies, those firings have already begun. On Thursday night, NOAA re-fired nearly 800 probationary employees, including around 20% of the workforce of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. As we reported back in February, cuts to GLERL will have significant consequences for the Great Lakes. One at-risk project is the Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast, a daily forecast throughout the bloom season that protects the public and informs management decisions. Among those fired Thursday is an employee who runs the circulation model behind that forecast. Another communicates with water intake managers to warn them if a bloom poses a threat to a water treatment plant.

NOAA employees let go on Thursday report that while they received back pay from their date of termination in February, they have not been paid for the most recent pay period.

These legal decisions will likely also embolden the Trump administration to move ahead quickly with planned reduction in force (RIF) initiatives, including over a thousand more NOAA employees. EPA could also be hit. Rumored cuts to EPA’s Office of Research and Development could lead to firings at a lab in Duluth, Minnesota. Senators Klobuchar (D-MN) and Smith (D-MN) sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin last week warning about the effects of a potential closure.

Draft Budget Proposal Would Cut NOAA Funding

While the President’s budget for FY26 has not yet been submitted, an internal draft leaked to a few news outlets shows troubling proposals for NOAA. The proposal seeks to cut $1.7 billion from NOAA’s $6.7 billion budget. It would request just $171 million for NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, down from its current level of $656 million, which the document states would eliminate OAR as a line office.



The draft proposal would also attempt to eliminate many vital Great Lakes programs entirely. The National Center for Coastal Ocean Science, which leads monitoring, control, and prevention of harmful algal blooms, would not be funded. The Coastal Zone Management program would be zeroed-out, as would the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Regional Observations account, a nationwide network that includes the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS); the Sea Grant Aquaculture Program; and the competitive research account, which in 2024 put $14 million toward harmful algal bloom research.

These cuts are a long way from becoming law. They would first need to be included in the President’s budget, which is rumored to be released in May, and then passed by Congress. When past Presidents have proposed similar cuts, they have been rebuffed by Congress. Just last year, when President Biden proposed a crippling cut to the above IOOS program, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives responded by increasing the appropriation by more than $10 million. IOOS funding ultimately stayed flat because of the year-long continuing resolution passed earlier this year.

NEMWI will continue to monitor the appropriations process. When the President’s budget is released, NEMWI will publish a report on the impacts to crucial Great Lakes accounts.

Great Lakes Fishery Research Bill Gets Hearing

The House Natural Resources Committee's Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee held a hearing on Tuesday, April 8 in which H.R. 1809, the Great Lakes Fishery Research Reauthorization Act, was discussed. The bill, introduced by Reps. Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI) alongside seven bipartisan co-sponsors, reauthorizes the Great Lakes Fishery Research Program, which supports the USGS’ Great Lakes Science Center. It would reauthorize the program through 2030 at the current authorized level of $15 million.

Ranking Member Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR) said that the bill will “provide much needed support to fishery science…to combat invasive species like Asian carp and sea lampreys. Conducting surveys for fish management and monitoring harmful algal blooms.” She also spoke to the bill’s prognosis. “I hope we could move this legislation forward quickly to markup and then into law,” she said. “It’s bipartisan, and it’s a good bill; it should pass.”

Rep. Quigley also spoke to highlight that the Great Lakes Science Center helps support the $5 billion Great Lakes fishery and the 75,000 jobs it creates across the region. “Research into the Great Lakes Fishery provides us with data and information necessary to manage fish populations, conduct habitat maintenance, roll out educational programs, and more,” he said. “Researchers across the region rely on this data collected over decades to analyze trends, and reauthorizing this program will allow the Great Lakes Science Center to continue its research and provide datasets that are stable and reliable into the future.” Before the program was first authorized in 2019, Quigley said, USGS had to pull together money from many different places to support the program, a patchwork funding model that prevented investment in cutting-edge technologies and left the Great Lakes region behind other parts of the country. Over the past five years, with the support of this $15 million line-item, that trend has been reversed, increasing the capability of the Science Center and the value of its research. “For all those in the region who depend on the fishery for food, livelihood, and sport, it’s critical that we can continue to monitor the Great Lakes and our native fish species,” Quigley concluded.

The bill was also praised by Rep. Tim Walberg [R-MI-5] for its bipartisan support and importance to the Great Lakes. “The program helps support the important work done by the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission and provides critical research that helps ensure states can implement sound fisheries management practices,” he said. “I thank the Chair for considering this legislation and her continued support for the Great Lakes.”

Watch Rep. Quigley’s testimony here.

Reported by NEMWI Intern Luis Flores, Dominican University

President Trump Mentions Invasive Carp During Oval Office Executive Order Signing

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and state House Speaker Matt Hall came to Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Trump about Michigan issues, including “the northern Michigan ice storm, investing in Michigan’s defense assets, like Selfridge Air National Guard Base, tariffs and the importance of creating good-paying American jobs and bringing back critical supply chains, and keeping our Great Lakes clean and safe,” according to a statement from a spokesperson for the Governor.

Those conversations spilled into public view when, apparently unexpectedly, Whitmer and Hall were invited to an executive order signing in the Oval Office. The session was originally supposed to be closed to press, but the White House reversed course and allowed cameras in. After President Trump signed the executive orders, the conversation turned to invasive carp.

Asked to speak on the issue by the President, Speaker Hall said “It’s going to destroy our Great Lakes. You know how important recreational fishing and so much of that is to our state. Because of your work we’re hopeful that we’ll get a solution there and we’ll get that barrier [the Brandon Road Interbasin Project] built so we can protect our Great Lakes, so thank you Mr. President.”

“It’ll devastate the ecosystem, the economy, tourism, and it’s 20% of the world‘s freshwater in the Great Lakes, Mr. President, which is why it’s so important that as a nation we protect the pristine waters,” Governor Whitmer added.

President Trump expressed interest in the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, which would employ a variety of methods including electric, sonic, and carbon dioxide barriers to prevent invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes. “So, we’re going to work hard on that,” he said. “I spoke with the Army Corps of Engineers and they have a method... so we're going to work on that very hard, and thank you, Governor, very much. Sort of a bipartisan thing when you get right down to it.”

The project was supposed to break ground earlier this year, but Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker delayed it until May, claiming he needed assurances that the Trump administration would not freeze the $274 million in already-appropriated federal funding.

The President did not commit to any specific action in his comments, and it remains to be seen whether his conversation with Whitmer or his musings afterward expedite the Brandon Road project, but he did say he wanted to “get it done,” and that “we have to save Lake Michigan.”

Watch the exchange here.

Senator Husted Joins the Great Lakes Task Force

Senator Jon Husted (R-OH) has joined the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, bringing the total membership in that chamber to 13. Sen. Husted was sworn into the seat previously held by GLTF Co-Chair Sen. JD Vance in January of this year. In March, Sen. Husted addressed the Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast Reception, co-hosted by NEMWI and the Great Lakes Commission, and he is a co-sponsor of the GLRI Act of 2025.

Prior to entering the Senate, Sen. Husted served as the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio under Governor Mike DeWine. The DeWine administration has made major strides to protect clean water in the state with the H2Ohio program, which uses a variety of strategies to address harmful algal blooms and other urgent issues.

The Senate Great Lakes Task Force currently stands at 13 members, while the House GLTF membership stands at 38. See full rosters here.

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