The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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Pennsylvania lawmaker wants Trump to rename Lake Erie — because apparently Ohio has enough

by

BS BULLETIN:

  • Pennsylvania state Rep. David Maloney wants Lake Erie renamed “Lake Pennsylvania.”
  • His reasoning: Pennsylvania has only one Great Lake, while Ohio has plenty of shoreline, New York has two Great Lakes and Canada has four others.
  • Maloney is preparing a resolution asking President Trump, Congress and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to make the change.

The Great Lakes may soon need a naming committee.

Pennsylvania state Rep. David Maloney, a Republican from Berks County, is preparing a resolution asking President Donald Trump and federal officials to rename Lake Erie.

His proposed replacement? “Lake Pennsylvania.”

And Maloney has come prepared with an argument that sounds suspiciously like siblings dividing up dessert.

“This is Pennsylvania’s only Great Lake,” Maloney said in announcing the proposal. “Its modern economy and identity are increasingly tied to the boaters, anglers, families and tourists who come to enjoy it.”

Then came the sales pitch.

“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!”

Maloney argues Pennsylvania has earned some naming rights despite controlling a relatively small portion of Lake Erie’s shoreline. His official memo points to the millions of visitors drawn to Presque Isle and Erie Bluffs and Pennsylvania’s investment in the lake’s recreational fishery.

The state stocked nearly 500,000 yearling steelhead in Lake Erie in 2025, according to Maloney — roughly 40% of all the steelhead stocked by the surrounding states and Canadian province. Pennsylvania also supplied all of the lake’s stocked brown trout that year.

There is one little geographical complication. Pennsylvania isn’t exactly alone on Lake Erie. The lake also borders Ohio, Michigan and New York, along with the Canadian province of Ontario. And Erie County Executive Christina Vogel isn’t exactly campaigning for Maloney’s idea.

“Lake Erie’s name reflects the layers of our history, from the Indigenous Erie people to the pivotal role our region played in the War of 1812,” Vogel said in opposition to changing it.

Maloney’s proposal follows Trump’s recent executive order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” for federal use — a change Canada has rejected. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded that Canadians would continue calling it Lake Ontario “then, now and always.”

Maloney’s proposal hasn’t gotten that far.

According to the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s website, he has circulated a co-sponsorship memo announcing his intention to introduce the resolution, but the document had not yet been formally introduced as of Saturday.

And even if Pennsylvania lawmakers approve it, the resolution itself wouldn’t rename the lake. It would urge Trump, Congress and the Interior Department to begin the federal process of doing so.

So Lake Erie remains Lake Erie.

For now.

MY QUICK TAKE

I love the argument.

Ohio has enough. New York has enough. Canada DEFINITELY has enough.

Pennsylvania would like a lake, please.

DBS WIRE SOURCES

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