DETROIT, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Attorneys general of five states in the U.S. Midwest have asked the White House to include them in a summit next month on invasive Asian carp, officials said.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox and counterparts from Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana and Pennsylvania sent a letter requesting participation in the summit because they're "serving on the front lines of a bipartisan battle to protect the ecology and economy of our region," the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.
The chief environmental adviser to President Barack Obama will meet with Great Lakes governors in February on the threat the carp pose to the lakes.
DNA from one species of the invasive carp has been found in Lake Michigan, the Free Press said.
Michigan and other states have brought suits against Illinois and the federal government to close waterways through which carp can escape into the Great Lakes, including the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which links the Mississippi River basin and Lake Michigan.
Asian carp are voracious eaters that can decimate local ecosystems, competing with native species for food and living space.
