Watercraft Inspection Stations Reduce Hours

After a busy season for the Montana watercraft inspection stations, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is closing some and reducing the hours on others. Watercraft owners still must stop at all open inspection stations as Montana tries to keep invasive species such as mussels out of the state waters.

The department had some initial figures from this year's 45 inspection and decontamination stations. More than 104,000 watercraft (including non-motorized craft) were inspected as of last week. Mussels were found on 14 boats coming into the state. Almost 100 citations and over 200 written warnings were issued during the boating season. Also, on-site inspections of lakes and rivers found invasive species including Asian clams, New Zealand mud snails and Curlyleaf pondweed. No adult mussels have been detected statewide this year. Sampling will continue into the fall.