CLEARWATER JUNCTION — With summer fully here and water recreation at its peak, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) has been busy inspecting over 48,000 watercraft, stopping hundreds of individual instances of invasive species from coming into the state.
“Zebra mussels have a microscopic life stage. So when they first spawn, they're invisible and they just float in the water. You can't even see them,” said FWP AIS Bureau Chief Tom Woolf.
Woolf says that zebra and quagga mussels pose a unique threat not only to the ecosystem but to the economy as well.
“They stick to the inside of pipes and pumps. So when we're talking about irrigated agriculture, hydropower generation, boats, they stick to the inside of boat motors and obstruct the flow of cooling water so that their impacts are significant,” said Woolf.
Here's a look at what happens at an AIS check station:
They are not the only invasive species FWP stops, however, as other invasive mussels, alongside weeds and plants, make up a significant proportion of what they catch.
Montana currently doesn’t have any zebra or quagga mussels, but with watercraft coming from states that may have the species, FWP is diligent in inspecting every watercraft that passes by.
With numerous inspection stations across the state, inspectors, like Sean Malec, work throughout the day, inspecting every watercraft that comes their way.
“An inspection basically looks like boats, either kayaks, motorized boats, or just paddle boards, will come into the station. We'll do a quick, "Hey, how's it going? Where are you going?" like water body-wise. So kind of like around here, it'll be what water body have you been to? It could be Holter, Seeley, Salmon [lakes]. How long ago have you been on the water?” said Malec.
An inspection typically only lasts five minutes, with inspectors looking to see if the watercraft is clean, drained and dry.
And with a friendly face greeting recreationers from across the county, it may be something they don’t mind stopping for.
“As boaters, you want to always do the right thing and protect your water. So even if it takes a little bit of time, it's well worth it,” said one boater coming from Missoula.
If you're heading out to recreate on the water in a watercraft, just keep in mind that it is legally required to stop at every boat inspection.
Learn more about aquatic invasive species here.
