Asian Carp: Senators, Commanders, and Coordinators

Ronnie Madden: Grand Exit ~Enlarge

The recent discovery of a live Asian Carp near Lake Michigan has generated a predictable outcry.

Perhaps the most puzzling one comes from the Great Lakes senate delegation who wants the president's immediate assistance in the fight against Asian Carp.

That assistance comes in the form of a request to create a position titled Coordinated Response Commander "to fight this battle." This was disclosed last week in a letter from 12 Great Lakes senators to President Obama. The letter also says we need to marshal "the best and brightest - scientists, engineers, and environmental experts" to focus on keeping carp out of the Great Lakes.  

Letters like this are cheap and common in Washington but this one borders on the bizarre.

So let's take a closer look.

"Commander" has military written all over it and we already have military commanders responsible for and leading the fight against the carp advance. The Army Corps of Engineers' General John Peabody and Colonel Vincent Quarles are commanders, and have been actively engaged in the carp fight.

The senators sent the letter to President Obama who we all know, is the Commander in Chief.

Commanders we have.

Now, we can change commanders or give them a new mission - it happens all the time and did as recently as last week in Afghanistan- but creating a new "command" position outside of the military makes for a nice press release but frankly sounds like adding another layer of bureaucracy.

We also have a coordinator.

Cameron Davis is the Senior Advisor to the USEPA Administrator for Great Lakes issues. The whole purpose of creating that position was to have one person to coordinate the efforts of the various agencies involved with the Great Lakes, and Davis appears to be doing that on the carp issue.

Testifying before Congress in February Davis talked extensively and illustrated how "this team approach has been successful and will continue to be successful."  I'd add that General Peabody sat at the same table and and reinforced that he is working with Davis and the other federal partners and that the efforts are "collaborative."

Coordination we have, at least according to the official comments of two of the principals in the carp fight.   

When I see a reference to the "best and brightest" I become a little suspicious. It implies that there are people out there who are smarter than those we have who can figure this out for us, if we could only find them. Except in rare circumstances, I doubt that's the case. I'd also remind the senators that it was the "best and brightest" who got us into the Viet Nam war and Wall Street's "best and brightest" who were major contributors to the 2008 financial collapse.

The use of cliches like best and brightest doesn't do anything and besides, I'd rather have someone who is just smart, but has common sense and is willing to make tough decisions that may not please everyone.

And can we please stop bashing the Army Corps of Engineers?

They're an easy and convenient target and certainly deserve their share of criticism on the carp issue. But the corps is a known entity and it doesn't deviate from what it does. It plods along following regulations, procedure, and process. That's because it's a military organization and that's how they operate plus, fighting aquatic invasives is not its primary mission.

Expecting something different would be like repeatedly entering a minivan in the Indianapolis 500 and then criticizing when it doesn't win. Left to its own devices, the Army Corps is unlikely to change. 

If you want a different result, do something different. Put a different agency in charge of keeping the carp at bay.

Instead of firing off self-serving letters to the president, perhaps the Great Lakes senators should listen to Dan Thomas, President of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council.

As reported by the Great Lakes Echo and commenting on the posturing by congress on invasives over the years while doing nothing Thomas said, "I can't tell you how angry I am with them......."

gw

Links

Great Lakes senators letter to the president.

http://feingold.senate.gov/pdf/ltr_062510_carp.pdf 

Cameron Davis testifying before congress on Asian Carp.

http://transportation.house.gov/Media/file/water/20100209/Davis%20Testimony.pdf

Major Peabody testifying before congress on Asian Carp

http://transportation.house.gov/Media/file/water/20100209/Peabody%20Testimony.pdf