The Idaho Senate Friday approved legislation clarifying and expanding how the state will try to keep water-based invasive species out of Idaho. The legislation would require that all boats and other vehicles, including cars and trailers, that could carry two invasive species, quagga mussels or Eurasian Watermilfoil, stop at check stations to make sure they’re clean. Police and other law enforcement officers would be able to stop or impound any vessels if they have reason to believe they could have mussels on them.
The Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) had 17 check stations last year, but will have 25 this summer, according to Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home. He said the expanded oversight on boats is necessary to keep quagga mussels out of Idaho. “These things will threaten our way of life,” he said. ISDA has estimated it could cost $90 million to clean Idaho lakes and rivers if quagga mussels invade.
Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, was one of eight senators to vote against the plan. He said he understood the problem of quagga mussels, but didn’t think this was the right solution. “I think it is a very, very large expansion of police powers of the state,” McKenzie said. Senate Minority Leader Kate Kelly, D-Boise, also said she was concerned with expanding police powers.
Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he’s OK with the extraordinary measures to protect Idaho. “Once contaminated, we may never be able to get those bodies of waters back to what they are,” he said.
Corder said Idaho narrowly avoided quagga mussels coming into Idaho when boats carrying the mussels traveled in from Utah. “Two boats were contaminated with mussels that just accidentally came into Idaho. We had no authority to stop them.” He said in one case, a boat was stopped once it crossed into Washington, where state officials can already stop boats. “This is a threat we’ve never had in the past, and this is a threat we can’t allow in Idaho,” Corder said.
The legislation now heads to the House. Read IdahoReporter.com’s story about an earlier version of the proposed legislation. The text of the legislation, with an amendment from Corder, is available here.
Thank you for having this information posted. I live in North Lake Tahoe. A similar program has been initiated at Lake Tahoe with some resistance but ultimatley accepted. We are not as far along as you are.
Thanks again !