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MAY 13, 2015 | 25
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MOUNTAIN EXPOSURE
MUSSEL-FOULED BOAT INTERCEPTED AT NEW BROWNING INSPECTION STATION
A partnership between the Blackfeet Nation and the Flathead Basin Commission to combat aquatic invasive species paid off last week when inspectors in Browning intercepted a mussel-fouled boat bound for Whitefish Lake.
Aquatic invasive species like zebra mussels have plagued bodies of water across the nation, and while Montana remains free of zebra and quagga mussel infestation – despite a handful of close calls – 26 states have not been so fortunate.
To combat the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS), the Flathead Basin Commission and the Blackfeet teamed up to operate a watercraft inspection station on tribal land and enact an ordinance requiring all boaters to obtain a certificate of inspection prior to launching on tribal waters.
The ordinance stands as the most protective in the region.
The Flathead Basin Commission is a state agency charged with protecting water quality in the Flathead Basin. During the 2013 and 2014 field seasons, the group and its partners funded an AIS watercraft inspection station outside of West Glacier, but there was still a need to fill gaps in the perimeter.
That led to the partnership with the Blackfeet, said Caryn Miske, executive director of the Flathead Basin Commission.
“The station was a team effort undertaken by stakeholders and agencies in the Basin to fill a gap in the watershed’s perimeter defense plan,” Miske said.
In addition, the tribe adopted a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a partnership between the FBC and the Blackfeet Tribe, and allows the FBC to operate a mandatory inspection station in Browning based on tribal authority and under Blackfeet jurisdiction.
Mussels are quick to reproduce and can clog intake pipes and damage piers as well as disrupt ecosystems. This week, inspectors identified adult zebra mussels attached to the motor of a boat from Minnesota. The boat was bound for Whitefish Lake.
Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld has proposed a $5,000 commitment to the Browning check station, and about $30,000 in funding for local AIS efforts in cooperation with the Whitefish Lake Institute, a nonprofit group that keeps a close eye on the Whitefish Lake
watershed. The money still must be approved by city council.
“Whitefish Lake is one of the biggest economic drivers in our community,” Muhlfeld said. “The city really stepped forward a couple of years ago and intercepted boats that were fouled with exotic mussels, which helped catalyze the local AIS program that has proven very successful. The threat of AIS is real and has been devastating to economics throughout the United States.”
MONTANA PREPPING FOR ABOVE-AVERAGE WILDFIRE SEASON
With an above-average fire season predicted for Montana and throughout the West, state officials are looking to alternative firefighting resources.
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director John Tubbs said last week federal resources could become stressed if active fire seasons occur in the multiple states in the midst of drought and dry conditions.
State forester Bob Harrington said without precipitation in the next six weeks, people could see some large fires in the state this year.
In preparation, the DNRC has been training 150 paid firefighters and hundreds of volunteers and has been in contact with National Guard teams that can be available at the call of the governor. Montana also has a large number of private contract firefighters that can be hired in a pinch, Tubbs said, and they’ve already sought pricing informationforthoseservices.
CONTINENTAL DIVIDES
BULLOCK VETOES PUBLIC LAND TASK FORCE BILL
Montana’s governor has vetoed a bill he says he says would have created a task force to study the transfer or sell-off of publiclands.
Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock on May 11 vetoed the act that would create a public land task force to study state and federal land management. It was the only major public lands management bill that made it through the 2015 Legislature.
Republican Rep. Kerry White of Bozeman originally introduced the bill as a “transfer of public land feasibility task force,” but the final version removed that overt language.
Bullock says he believes the intent was still the same.
White and other lawmakers have worked with the Utah-based American Lands Council on transfer issues. Council President Ken Ivory said Tuesday his group will continue to try to educate people about the issue.
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