Pennsylvania Lawmaker Pushes Lake Erie Rename, Citing 500,000 Steelhead Stocked
Updated
Updated · The Philadelphia Inquirer · Sep 12
Pennsylvania Lawmaker Pushes Lake Erie Rename, Citing 500,000 Steelhead Stocked
3 articles · Updated · The Philadelphia Inquirer · Sep 12
Summary
Rep. David Maloney plans a Pennsylvania House resolution urging President Donald Trump, Congress and the interior secretary to rename Lake Erie as “Lake Pennsylvania.”
Maloney argues the lake is increasingly central to Pennsylvania’s economy and identity, pointing to heavy tourism at Presque Isle and Erie Bluffs and the state’s role in the fishery.
A 2025 Great Lakes Fishery Commission report said Pennsylvania stocked nearly 500,000 yearling steelhead last year—about 40% of the lake’s total and more than any state or Canadian province.
The resolution has not yet been formally introduced, but it follows Trump’s Aug. 27 order directing federal agencies to begin calling Lake Ontario “Lake America” in official records.