State does an about-face on boat ban

In an about-face, Montana issued temporary emergency restrictions on the launch or removal of all boats, docks, and other structures for Tiber and Canyon Ferry reservoirs.

The move came about a week after a Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks spokesperson said the agency would not close the waters to boating, mussel invasion or not, because such closures hadn’t worked in other states.

But a lot has changed on the mussel front since then. Last Wednesday, Gov. Steve Bullock issued an executive order declaring a statewide natural resource emergency because of the mussel detections.

Bullock then directed the Montana Invasive Species Advisory Council, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to form a coordinated Rapid Response Team to immediately respond to the situation.

That team, led by incident commander Matthew Wolcott, then instituted the boating ban.

The Flathead Basin Commission had asked Bullock to close the reservoirs immediately when it learned of the detection of mussel larvae, known as veligers. In a letter last week to Bullock, the commission put its concerns in writing to Bullock.

But the proverbial cat might already be out of the bag.

The sample that contained the veligers from Tiber was taken in the summer, but wasn’t tested until mid-October, a panel of interested parties learned during a conference call with the team on Thursday.

In short, boaters were going in and out of Tiber Reservoir for months before the mussels were detected.

Having said that, to date, no adult mussels have been found in either reservoir. The next step is to do environmental DNA testing of the water. This method would confirm whether adults exist in the reservoir and would also allow biologists to trace the mussels back to their original water body.

The eDNA testing would be completed by biologists at the Flathead Lake Biological Station.

The weather will soon be a factor, however. With arctic cold spilling in this week, the reservoirs will start to freeze over, making diving and sampling more difficult. It will, however, stop boat traffic until spring.

Wolcott said the response team, which includes officials from DNRC and FWP, will reassess whether to extend the closure following ice breakup in spring.

Bullock’s declaration also releases $750,000 in state funding to the team, according to FWP spokesman Greg Lemon.

In response to the discovery, Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Tribe closed all of their waters to boating several weeks ago.

Residents who need to remove a boat, dock or other structure during the closure period can contact the Mussel Response Team at (406) 444-2440 to request assistance.