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<\/p>\nA Republican lawmaker wants Lake Erie to be renamed \u201cLake Pennsylvania,\u201d arguing that the state\u2019s economy and identity are increasingly connected to its only Great Lake.<\/p>\n
State Representative David Maloney, who represents Pennsylvania\u2019s 130th Legislative District in Berks County, is preparing a resolution urging President Donald Trump, Congress and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to take the steps needed to change the lake\u2019s name, according to a September 8 press release. <\/p>\n
Maloney said Pennsylvanians travel to the lake for boating, fishing and family visits, spending money along the state\u2019s shoreline. He also cited Pennsylvania Sea Grant research and said Pennsylvania stocked almost 500,000 yearling steelhead in 2025, approximately 40 percent of those stocked across the lake. <\/p>\n
Read More on News<\/p>\n
\u201cOhio has plenty of shoreline. New York already has two Great Lakes. Canada has four others,\u201d Maloney said.<\/p>\n
The move comes two weeks after Trump declared Lake Ontario to be renamed “Lake America” amid the United States’ trade conflict with Canada. <\/p>\n
Maloney’s office told Newsweek when contacted for comment: “The press release explains how Pennsylvanians\u2019 care of their great lake draws other lake state residents to it for recreation and world class fishing. Be proud and own it.” <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Newsweek also reached out to the White House for comment via email.<\/p>\n
Lake Erie\u2019s name comes from the Indigenous people living along its southern shore when Europeans reached the area in the early 1600s, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Erie is a shortened form of the Iroquoian word \u201cErielhonan,\u201d meaning \u201clong tail\u201d and referring to the eastern cougar.<\/p>\n
The National Museum of the Great Lakes says Europeans discovered Lake Erie last among the Great Lakes and that control of it was strategically important because it provided access above Niagara Falls.<\/p>\n
Where Is Lake Erie?<\/p>\n
Lake Erie lies along the U.S.-Canada border. Ontario is on its northern shore, while Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York border it on the American side. The lake is the smallest Great Lake by volume and the shallowest.<\/p>\n
Who Is Dave Maloney?<\/p>\n
Maloney is a Republican representing Pennsylvania House District 130, covering part of Berks County. He was first elected in 2010 and is the Republican chair of the House Game and Fisheries Committee. His official Pennsylvania House biography lists previous work as a building contractor, process engineer, school board director and athletics official.<\/p>\n
Suggested Renames Since Lake Ontario<\/p>\n
Trump signed an executive order on August 27 directing federal agencies to call Lake Ontario \u201cLake America\u201d<\/a> as trade talks with Canada failed, culminating in both countries announcing new tariffs. He subsequently suggested that the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean might also be renamed<\/a>. <\/p>\n On Sunday, Trump posted an image on social media proposing that New Mexico become \u201cNew America,\u201d<\/a> although the White House had not announced any formal effort to rename the state. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names says proposals to change existing names require a compelling reason and evidence of support, and it generally discourages changes.<\/p>\n If the federal government approved the change, \u201cLake Pennsylvania\u201d would become the name used by U.S. federal departments and agencies. Canada has its own geographical naming authorities, so a U.S. decision would not change its official name outside the U.S., just as with Lake Ontario. <\/p>\n Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Alabama Jackson<\/a> and Sam Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Republican lawmaker wants Lake Erie to be renamed \u201cLake Pennsylvania,\u201d arguing that the state\u2019s economy and identity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[75697,136,138,137,262,260,28,5019],"class_list":["post-282380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-david-maloney","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-great-lakes","tag-lake-erie","tag-pennsylvania","tag-republicans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}