Newspapers around the region are urging federal lawmakers to maintain support for federal Great Lakes programs.

The call for continued support coincides with the recently completed Great Lakes Days. Over the last two days, dozens of citizen from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota met with federal public officials in Washington, D.C., to discuss the importance of restoration programs.

Some of the editorials that have appeared recently include:

Plain Dealer: Preserve Great Lakes Restoration funding: editorial

Green Bay Press Gazette: Editorial: Lawmakers should back funding

The Duluth News Tribune: Our view: Don’t abandon Great Lakes restoration

Erie Times-News: Our View: Great Lakes need federal funding

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition will continue urging public officials to maintain Great Lakes Restoration as a national priority by investing at least $300 million in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. As Coalition Director Jeff Skelding said during the annual D.C. event:

“Restoration projects are producing results, but there’s more work to do. If we cut the funding now, it will cost us more later, because restoring the Great Lakes will only get harder and more expensive the longer we wait.”