Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force Meets

THOMPSON FALLS – The Sanders County Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force met on Wednesday, Feb. 25, with a major point of emphasis placed on watercraft inspection stations.

According to data from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, the Thompson Falls watercraft inspection station recorded the highest instances of Eurasian watermilfoil, other aquatic vegetation and the highest frequency of live fish transportation, compared to other watercraft inspection stations across the state.

Regardless of the high number of failed inspections, the task force noted the check stations were successfully educating boaters on the significance of limiting the spread of Aquatic Invasive Species.

“Fifty percent of the people who stopped at Thompson Falls said their knowledge of AIS was obtained at a boat check station. That is pretty significant,” Kim Bergstrom of the county task force said.

The Thompson Falls check station, located just west of Thompson Falls on Highway 200, had a total of 106 failed inspections last year.

Across the state there were a total of 454 failed watercraft inspections in 2014, with the Clearwater watercraft inspection station compiling the second highest number of failed inspections in the state with 99.

In total, the number of boats passing through the Thompson Falls inspection station was slightly over 2,000, with 1,687 in-state boaters passing through the station and 359 boaters from outside of Montana visiting the checkpoint.

In addition to the Thompson Falls check station, Sanders County hosted another FWP inspection site last year in Noxon.

Last year 488 out of state boaters and 258 in-state water recreationists visited the Noxon station, with only seven failed inspections recorded at the site.

At both the Thompson Falls and Noxon inspection stations the number one reason for a failed inspection was aquatic vegetation that was not Eurasian watermilfoil or Curlyleaf pondweed with 63 of these instances occurring in Thompson Falls and five in Noxon.

Though not as damaging to local ecosystems as those two aforementioned species, any vegetation found on a watercraft, even non-invasive are grounds for failure of an inspection.

FWP Game Warden Troy Hinck was in attendance at the task force meeting and noted the presence of standing water and live fish in boats being transported is an issue.

“From are agencies standpoint it is a big concern. ” Hinck said.

Hinck stated the main issue with standing water is the fact that you don’t know what is in the water being transported within the boat.

“We don’t know what is contained in it…We have addressed the big things but this is the next level we need to address,” Hinck said.

The high frequency of failed inspections led the Task Force to conclude that there is either a lack of awareness about legal fish taking and transporting regulations, or there is a willingness to break those laws.    

On the whole, the task force believes public awareness of Eurasian watermilfoil is quite high, however the importance of watercraft inspections, in addition to the importance of adhering to laws regarding fish transport are not wholly understood by the general public at this time.