Whereas, The state of Michigan has a responsibility to its residents to control health issues, and
Whereas, Swimmers Itch (SI) is a problem in many lakes in northern Michigan, and
Whereas, Common Mergansers are known to be the primary source of Swimmers Itch in northern Michigan lakes, and
Whereas, Relocating common merganser duck broods has been an extremely successful method to control SI, and
Whereas, current scientific relocation practices call for relocating wild birds from one wild bird location to another wild bird location thereby not significantly affecting the populations at the relocation , and
Whereas, Common Mergansers are not known to be affected by Avian Flu, and
Whereas, Common Mergansers are not known to be drawn to commercial flocks because they eat minnows, not grain, and
Whereas, the suspension of relocation is now known to cause a return of great consequence to lakes that have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to use relocation to keep their lake’s cases of SI to a minimum, and
Whereas, known to have significant SI cases have been known to face severe economic losses, and
Whereas, If severe cases of SI are allowed to return to lakes that have significantly reduced the health problem to citizens,
Be it resolved that the Michigan Waterfront Alliance strongly urges that the MDNR remove the suspension of relocation permits and allow lake organizations to once again protect the residents of and visitors to their lakes from this acute health hazard.
The Board of the Michigan Waterfront Alliance