Battling invasive weeds

The Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) task force in Sanders County has worked tirelessly to keep Eurasian watermilfoil, a nonnative, noxious and rapidly spreading weed, at bay. In the past few years, the EWM task force has managed to keep the weed contained within the Noxon Rapids and Cabinet Gorge Reservoirs.

The Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) task force in Sanders County has worked tirelessly to keep Eurasian watermilfoil, a nonnative, noxious and rapidly spreading weed, at bay. In the past few years, the EWM task force has managed to keep the weed contained within the Noxon Rapids and Cabinet Gorge Reservoirs.

"We are saving Montana millions of dollars. Idaho has spent 9 million on Eurasian watermilfoil alone in the past 3 years. It is not a cheap problem," said Heidi Sedivy, Education Coordinator for the EWM task force.

In the past two weeks the EWM task force has held two public meetings in Thompson Falls to discuss the group's further efforts to halt the spread of the weed. The public meeting centered around discussing the passing of an administrative rule that will set up a mandatory boat inspection in Plains and Troy for boats coming and leaving the reservoirs.

"The only way to keep it from going from water body to water body is to clean the boats and cleaning every boat that we can," said Sedivy.

The check stations will be free to the public and will include power washers to clean the boat off from any remnants of the noxious weed.

An additional public meeting discussing the area is set for June 3 in Helena and the final decision to make the boat checks mandatory will take place between June 10 and 14. The EWM task force is also working closely with the Idaho Department of Agriculture to include two inspection stations on the border in addition to the Troy and Plains stations.

The Plains inspection station officially opened the past Saturday allowing for voluntary boat inspections until the final decision is made in coming weeks. The boat inspection site will now be open seven days a weeks, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

"The boat inspection stations are also patrolling for boats that could be contaminated with quagga/zebra mussels and many other weeds, viruses and invasive species that pose a threat to Montana's pristine waters. We are getting the message out to boaters to ‘Inspect, Clean, and Dry' their watercraft," said Sedivy.

Eurasian watermilfoil, according to an EWM task force informational brochure, is an aggressive aquatic plant that form dense mats, which can congest waterways and crowd out native aquatic plants. The growth of the weed may impair recreational uses of a waterway and lead to deteriorating water quality in infested waterways and alter the habitat of native fish and wildlife.

The weed is spread by plant fragments that may be carried by the wind and water currents or dispersed by recreational tools such as boats, motors and fishing gear.

Sedivy said the most common misconception about watermilfoil among boaters in Montana is the degree to which the weed has spread throughout the state. The EWM task force wants to reinforce the fact that the weed has not spread outside of the Noxon Rapids and Cabinet Gorge Reservoirs and through efforts, such as the boat inspections, the spreading of the weed can remain contained.