TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP):  Michigan Sen. Carl Levin and some fellow Great Lakes lawmakers are asking their congressional colleagues to fund programs designed to preserve and protect the lakes.

Levin is co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force.

The Detroit Democrat's office said Friday he and other members of the task force sent letters to Senate Appropriations subcommittee chairs, urging them to “fund critical Great Lakes programs as they consider spending bills for the 2015 fiscal year.”

The push from the Great Lakes senators comes as President Barack Obama's budget for next year requests the least spending yet on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a cleanup program for the lakes that his administration has championed.