“We just keep finding more of these things.
One-third of those boats were identified at the Anaconda check station on Interstate 90.
That’s because the majority of the boats passing through Montana – about three-quarters – are from eastern states, with most coming from the Great Lakes area, where mussels are a problem.
Woolf said boats in the Great Lakes area are less expensive, so people will often buy them online and then pick them up or have them shipped west.
Since then, the Legislature has invested about $5 million a year to fund water sampling and boat check stations to try to keep the mussels out.
After 2016, the AIS sampling laboratory got a lot more attention and a little more money, because part of the original problem was the lab didn’t get around to processing the important Tiber Reservoir samples for a number of months.
Woolf said all the money that’s been spent on extra safeguards for Tiber could now go toward FWP funding for four check stations that have been financed by other groups.
There is special concern about mussels getting into waters west of the Continental Divide, because the Columbia River basin is the only region in the U.S.
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ check station at Ravalli is the last line of defense before people get to Flathead Lake and they stopped four contaminated boats last summer.
The AIS program ran a nighttime check station in Hardin over a July weekend and no contaminated boats were found.
Continuing education and outreach is needed so people know how important it is to have their boats checked and to clean, drain and dry their boats when they get home so they aren’t moving any invasive species.
In the meantime, FWP is investing more into digital outreach, such as webpage banners, and will lean on fly shops to spread the word.