Exclusive video! Concerned citizens visit Rep. Paul Torkelson's office about Asian carp

Are voters concerned about invasive species?

Apparently so, if citizens bearing dead fish to Rep. Paul Torkelson's office are any indication.

In Insurance exchange concerns aired, the New Ulm Journal's Fritz Busch writes about a town hall conducted town hall meeting Wednesday with Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) and Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls) at New Ulm's Pizza Ranch.

Not only did the new health insurance come up, but this:

Torkelson said people have bought carcasses of Asian carp to his legislative office in an attempt to get support for keeping the invasive species out of the state by closing locks and adding electric barriers.

Bluestem has obtained exclusive footage of one of those meetings:

Fritz continues:

"I'd like to see the St. Anthony lock closed. It isn't used for much anyway. I'd like to see electric barriers added on the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers too," Torkelson said.

Dahms said Asian carp pose a serious threat to Minnesota fisheries and that time is of the essence to prevent their spread in state waters.

Bluestem hopes that the legislature addresses this issue.

Photo: Rep. Paul Torkelson.

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Comments

[Greg Genz]

Mpls Locks aren't used for much, is a subjective statement. For the traffic that uses the Locks, they are important. I could ask Rep. Torkelson why the State of MN needs to support Hwy 4 when Hwy 15 is a perfectly good road to the East and can handle Hwy 4 traffic if we could close it. Hwy 15 goes through much bigger towns and is obviously more important to the region. See how easy it is? Transportation corridors are important to the people that use them, not so much to the majority of the population. Also, closing the Mpls. Locks will only save a small portion of MN's boating and fishing areas at a real cost in jobs and highway congestion. But then congestion is just a metro area problem, because there is hardly any traffic on those outstate highways we all pay for.