The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal district is joining the National Register of Historic Places, so we dug up a few old photos from the Library of Congress. more ›

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has found new evidence that Asian carp have made it past electronic barriers and may be on their way to Lake Michigan. And it's more than a trace of fish DNA -- a commercial fisherman hired by the IDNR for sampling caught an honest-to-goodness live Asian carp, which measured in at 34.6 inches long and 19.6 pounds. It's the first Asian carp to be found past the barrier system. The sampling has been taking place since February of this year. more ›

For the second time this year, the Supreme Court has rejected a request by the State of Michigan to shut down a pair of shipping locks in Chicago-area waterways, something Michigan says will prevent the spread of Asian Carp into Lake Michigan. Both the State of Illinois and the Obama administration had asked the SCOTUS to refuse the request on the grounds that they are already working on ways to prevent the spread of the potentially damaging fish. The first request was dismissed in January. Still open to the high court is the request by the State of Michigan to reopen a 1922 lawsuit over the creation of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, linking the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes and thereby opening a path for the Asian Carp to make their way to the Lakes. Michigan has been joined by the other Great Lakes states - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York - as well as the Canadian province of Ontario in this fight. more ›

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Army Corps of Engineers will announce this afternoon that an Asian Carp DNA sample has been discovered in Lake Michigan though no fish have been found in the lake. The announcement comes just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied the State of Michigan's request for an injunction to shut down the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. more ›

The Supreme Court issued a one-sentence statement today in which they refused to order the shut down of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent the spread of Asian Carp. However, that doesn't mean the SCOTUS won't take any action on the issue. Still open to the high court is the request by the State of Michigan to reopen a 1922 lawsuit over the creation of the canal, linking the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes and thereby opening a path for the Asian Carp to make their way to the Lakes. more ›

Earlier today, we mentioned Indiana and New York were joining the other Great Lake states - Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin - in Michigan's fight before the SCOTUS to close down the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent the spread of Asian Carp. What we initially missed was the fact that while we were nursing our New Years hangovers, the fight went international as the Canadian province of Ontario - the only province that borders the Great Lakes - joined the suit as well. Mary Gazze reports for CTV: more ›

Yesterday, we curiously awaited the number of Asian carp the Illinois Department of Natural Resources killed with their poisoning of the the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Romeoville. This morning, after they sifted through thousands of dead fish, we know the number: One. But this is actually good news. The poisoning project - which lasts three days and will cost around $3 million (the federal government is covering most of the cost) - is designed as a last ditch effort to prevent the invasive species from making it into Lake Michigan and wreaking havoc not only there but throughout the Great Lakes while maintenance work is performed on electric barriers in the canal. John Rogner, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said, "It's not something that anyone going into a career in fisheries-management looks forward to, but we thought it was an absolutely essential step. This is the closest to Lake Michigan the natural body has been collected." more ›

The reckoning has come for fish living in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Romeoville as the Illinois Department of Natural Resources 2,200 gallons of the poison Rotenone into the canal in an attempt to stave off an invasion of Asian carp. But did it work? Media reports so far today say there are thousands of dead fish bobbing to the surface but so far none of them are carp. Of course, the process could take a while. Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris McCloud told the Trib, "This process will take all day and into tomorrow." Lynn Whelan, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, suggested patience, saying, "The clean-up operation just started this morning, I think it's a little early to be jumping to conclusions." And so what if carp do start turning up in the fish morgue? Does it matter? The Sun-Times suggests not: more ›

The fight against Asian Carp in Lake Michigan comes to a head tonight. After failing to stop the fish with an electric barrier, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is going to unleash a toxic doomsday upon the fish tonight when they dump the poison Rotenone into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Romeoville to kill off the fish. According to the Tribune: more ›