WOW! I hope that this passes! I applaud their plans!!! 
Stabenow bill would provide money for lighthouses
By SCOTT AIKEN / H-P Staff Writer
ST. JOSEPH -- Great Lakes communities in Michigan could get help in preserving lighthouses and correcting shoreline problems under two bills introduced this year by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Speaking Monday on the Lake Michigan shore at Lions Park beach, Stabenow, D-Mich., said lighthouses and other maritime structures are important links to the past, and national treasures that should be saved.
Although community organizations have worked hard to restore lighthouses, Stabenow said, her proposed measures would provide badly needed funding and unify efforts under a program run by the National Park Service.
"I think we can do it in a more planned way," she told a group of city officials and citizens.
Stabenow, on a statewide tour of Michigan lighthouses to talk about the two bills, said the maritime structures are both historical resources and focal points for tourism.
St. Joseph Mayor Mary Goff welcomed the preservation effort and recounted what the city has done for its harbor's lighthouse and related structures.
Goff said the city acquired the catwalk on the north pier in 1987 to save it from being torn down and has worked to gain ownership of the lighthouse structures since the federal government declared them surplus in 2002.
Michigan has about 120 lighthouses, more than any other state. Many date to the 19th century, a time when Great Lakes shipping was vital to the economy.
One of the bills, the Michigan Lighthouse and Maritime Heritage Act, would coordinate federal, state and local efforts to preserve lighthouses. The bill, and an identical companion bill in the U.S. House, would require the National Park Service to work with the state and communities to study and recommend to Congress the best ways to promote and protect Michigan's maritime resources.
The recommendations would include legislative proposals to preserve lighthouses and maritime history. As an example, Stabenow mentioned the creation of a statewide trail emphasizing historical features of Michigan shorelines and lighthouses.
The park service recommendations also would identify funding sources that are critical to preservation efforts. The bill has received strong bipartisan support from all of Michigan's congressional delegation.
A second bill, the Great Lakes Community Restoration Act, would provide $100 million annually for four years, money that would go to communities as grants to address a range of problems. They include cleanup of contaminated sediment, repairing sewer systems damaged by invasive species, lighthouse restoration and others.
Since taking office after the 2000 election, Stabenow has been involved in major efforts to preserve and protect the Great Lakes. Opposing former Gov. John Engler's plans in 2001 to allow oil and gas drilling under the Great Lakes, Stabenow authored a bill banning the practice. The law was enacted in 2001 and later extended through Sept. 30, 2005.
Stabenow is one the Democrat co-sponsors of a bill to provide a long-term federal funding commitment of $6 billion for Great Lakes environmental restoration. She is also a leader in efforts to fight the introduction of non-native species into the lakes' ecosystem.
One fish that found its way into the lakes in ship ballast in the 1970s, the Eurasian ruffie, caused an estimated $119 million loss to Great Lakes fisheries and has caused the decline of nine native fish species.
"I don't know how anybody can be from Michigan and not be passionate about the Great Lakes," said Stabenow, who grew up in Clare.
Stabenow said the Michigan Lighthouse and Maritime Heritage Act., and Great Lakes Community Restoration Act., have a lot of support and could be enacted this year.
Kenneth Pott, executive director of the Fort Miami Heritage Society in St. Joseph, said the community has a "remarkable maritime legacy."
St. Joseph's original lighthouse, the first on Michigan shores, was built in 1832. It was the first of five lights to guide mariners to the harbor.
The lights in use today are part of a range light system, one of only two remaining in use on the Great Lakes, Pott said.
A U.S. Lighthouse Service depot operated in St. Joseph from 1893 until 1917. The depot, which still stands, was used to repair navigational aids and provide supplies for all the lighthouses on Lake Michigan.
The Coast Guard operates a station in St. Joseph, and the harbor has three commercial docks, two in St. Joseph and one in Benton Harbor. In 2003, the harbor received 794,572 tons of commodities delivered in 90 ships.
The harbor's twin piers are owned by the federal government. Because St. Joseph and Benton Harbor are commercial ports, the Army Corps of Engineers pays for dredging and other maintenance costs.
