Glacier lifts motor-boat ban for inholders

Glacier National Park has allowed some inholders to use motorized boats on Lake McDonald, park spokeswoman Lauren Alley confirmed Friday.

The craft have been inspected for aquatic invasive species and were quarantined for 30 days, Alley said.

Glacier banned motorized watercraft earlier this year after non-native invasive mussels were found east of the divide in the Tiber Reservoir north of Great Falls and at Canyon Ferry Reservoir near Helena.

Those discoveries prompted the park to allow only non-motorized use from boats outside the park on its lakes. Concessionaire boats, like those run by the Glacier Park Boat Co., were initially the only motorized vessels allowed on the lakes.

But Alley said the park had been in talks with inholders about the motor-boat ban since it was implemented. Inholders are private landowners in the park. There are dozens of inholders along the shores of Lake McDonald and many are wealthy families with long ties to Glacier. Many put their boats up for the winter in boat houses on their own property.

Alley said the motorized use is being allowed on Lake McDonald only and currently only with inholders. She said the park is crafting a program that would allow the general public to use motorized boats on Lake McDonald through an inspection and 30-day quarantine program, along with a seal program similar to what is in place on Whitefish Lake.

While that plan could be in place in the coming weeks, it hasn’t been formalized yet, Alley said.

People with non-motorized craft can use park waters, but must get an inspection before launching.

Invasive mussels are seen as a significant threat to Glacier’s ecosystem. If they become established, they have the potential to turn the aquatic ecosystem on its head, as billions of the small mussels could colonize a lake, out-competing native fishes and other organisms for food.

To date, the mussels haven’t been found in the Columbia River Basin. Glacier is the headwaters to the basin, so if the park gets infected, the mussels would have the ability to migrate to all the waters downstream.