Protections may ease as mussel threat grows

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Lakes Commission put out an urgent call Friday for residents to urge lawmakers not to reduce funding for the state’s aquatic invasive species boat inspection program.

Tom Woolf, acquatic plants manager for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, told the commission on Friday that budget limitations are expected to force the state to scale back the inspection program. The duration of the annual inspection program could be rolled back and inspection station hours of operation could also be reduced.

The announcement comes as the presence of invasive mussels were confirmed in the Canyon Ferry and Tiber reservoirs in central Montana.

Invasive mussels are a well-established scourge in the Great Lakes region and the southwestern U.S.

“There’s no more urgent an issue than this for our lake,” commission Chairman Ford Elsaesser said.

See Saturday’s Bonner County Daily Bee for more information.