Boating restrictions enacted on Canyon Ferry, Tiber reservoirs

Montana has enacted restrictions prohibiting boats from launching in Canyon Ferry and Tiber reservoirs as part of its effort to reduce the threat posed by invasive mussel larvae, confirmed for the first time in state waters last month.

Special permission from state fisheries officials will be required prior to removing watercraft and other structures from either of the popular lakes, and all boats will be required to undergo inspections for aquatic invasive species.

The restrictions will remain in place until the two lakes ice over this winter.

The order became official Thursday evening, following the recommendations of an incident command team assembled Wednesday to respond to the issue. It also follows calls from members of the Flathead Basin Commission to close the two reservoirs as a precautionary measure to stop any potential spread to uncontaminated waters.

Bryce Christiaens, the chairman of the Governor’s Council on Invasive Species, noted in a Thursday afternoon briefing that no additional mussel contamination has been detected since test results indicated the presence of invasive mollusk larvae in the Milk and Missouri rivers last week. Similar “suspect” results had been detected previously in Canyon Ferry, while Tiber Reservoir is thus far the only water body with a confirmed mussel larvae presence.

Bullock declared a “statewide natural resource emergency” Wednesday, noting the “grave threat” posed by invasive zebra and quagga mussels to the state’s natural resources and convening an incident command team to assume responsibility for the response.

The governor’s declaration came three weeks after the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks confirmed Montana’s first detection of invasive mussel larvae in the Tiber Reservoir south of Shelby. Additional test results have revealed suspected mussel larvae in Canyon Ferry Reservoir, the Missouri River and the Milk River.

“The potential economic, ecological and recreational impacts for Montana and our region must be addressed quickly and every effort must be taken to prevent the additional spread of this threat,” Bullock said in a Wednesday press release announcing the declaration.

Bullock’s declaration also released $750,000 in state emergency funding to bolster the response.

“Part of what this process is going to do is figure out how we want to work on our containment and control strategies once ice-off happens, and the recreation and irrigation season kicks off again,” said Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Greg Lemon. “I anticipate how the money is going to be spent is going to be a topic of discussion in the next week and months as we work through this.”

Test results for additional samples taken from the three “suspect” water bodies are expected in the next two weeks.

Citing the backlog of water samples awaiting testing at the state’s laboratory facilities — which include those taken last summer from the Flathead River basin — Christiaens said during Thursday’s briefing that some samples would be shipped to a lab in Colorado to speed up the process.

“As a headwaters state for three major watersheds, we recognize that — and the governor recognizes that — there is a major impact that we may have on our region outside the state of Montana,” he said.

FOLLOWING THE Nov. 9 announcement of mussel contamination in Tiber, the state established a rapid-response team including representatives from the state wildlife agency, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the federal Bureau of Reclamation. That team will be folded into the new one under an incident command structure similar to those used to respond to major wildfires and other natural disasters, Lemon said.

“This really sort of takes it one step further in bringing together the agencies and MISAC (the Montana Invasive Species Advisory Council) to coordinate the response,” Lemon said. “It makes the response to the situation much more efficient when you clearly have one incident commander that isn’t necessarily involved in the issue of AIS (aquatic invasive species). Their job is to manage the incident.”

Matt Wolcott, the area land manager for DNRC’s southern land office, is the team’s incident commander.

While no mussel larvae have been detected west of the Continental Divide in Montana, members of the Flathead Basin Commission have urged the governor to temporarily close the Tiber and Canyon Ferry reservoirs to boating until the extent of the mussel contamination is fully known.

In the days after the state’s initial announcement, Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Nation enacted boating closures on their waters. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also closed a pond that supplies water to its hatchery in Creston.

Lemon said specific actions, from possible boating restrictions and closures for contaminated waters to the draw-down of the Tiber Reservoir are still on the table, but it wasn’t clear whether the team’s incident commander would have the ability to enact those measures.

“They’re trying to figure out, with the information we have right now, if we need to do more in terms of response,” Lemon said. “I think they’re looking at all possibilities and trying to evaluate the most appropriate and effective response needed.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.