HARRISBURG — State Rep. David Maloney, R-130th Dist., says Pennsylvania has only one Great Lake, and maybe it is time we put our name on it.
Maloney is preparing a resolution urging the President of the United States, Congress, and the United States Secretary of the Interior to take the necessary steps to rename Lake Erie as “Lake Pennsylvania.”
The case is about the lake’s modern identity, Maloney said.
Rep. David Maloney
“Every summer, Pennsylvanians head toward the lake — north on I-79 from western Pennsylvania, west on I-80 from central and eastern Pennsylvania and along connecting highways from every corner of the Commonwealth — with boats, fishing gear and families in tow,” the Berks County representative said in a press release announcing the move.
Presque Isle and Erie Bluffs attract millions of visitors annually, and tourism is now one of Erie County’s largest industries.
Increasingly, anglers from New York and Ohio visit Erie for fishing because the area produces better fishing for walleye, perch and other tasty game fish and has easy access with many different boat launch sites. The area also produces many trophy fish, with Presque Isle being a productive, unique fishery in itself as it is protected from major shifting lake patterns.
This 26-inch walleye taken from Lake Erie allowed Doyle Dietz to check one goal off his
bucket list at the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Conference in May. (DOYLE DIETZ/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
According to research from Pennsylvania Sea Grant, while roughly 74 percent of surveyed anglers reside in Pennsylvania, they travel an average of 103 miles locally to reach the water, alongside significant seasonal waves of out-of-state visitors coming down from New York and up from Ohio to access Erie County’s famed “Steelhead Alley.”
Pennsylvania also punches well above its weight in maintaining our Great Lake’s recreational fishery. Despite having a relatively small share of the lake’s shoreline, Pennsylvania stocked nearly 500,000 yearling steelhead in 2025 — approximately 40 percent of all steelhead stocked and more than any other state or Canadian province. Pennsylvania also supplied all the brown trout stocked into the lake that year.
“This is Pennsylvania’s only Great Lake. Its modern economy and identity are increasingly tied to the boaters, anglers, families and tourists who come to enjoy it,” Maloney said. “Ohio has plenty of shoreline. New York already has two Great Lakes. Canada has four others. Pennsylvania has one. Let’s call it Lake Pennsylvania!”