Minnesota adds teeth to mussel fight
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota DNR has added 17 specially trained officers to require boaters to inspect and decontaminate their boats — and use their authority to refuse a boat entrance to a lake.
It’s part of a new $1.9 million inspection effort by the DNR to fight the invasive zebra mussel invasion into state lakes. In addition to the increased force, the funds also purchased three high-pressure washers that can remove zebra mussels from boats, according to the StarTribune report.
For now, most inspection efforts will be focused on Lake Minnetonka, Mille Lacs and Pelican Lake — all of which contain the mussels. Eventually, they plan to expand to lakes that are not infested. Boats will be inspected for vegetation and mud.
“The majority of boats won’t need to be decontaminated,” said Luke Skinner, the agency’s supervisor for invasive water species, in a statement released Friday. “Only boats that don’t pass an inspection will need to be decontaminated with the new equipment, and we suspect there won’t be too many of them on any given day.”
To read the full article, go to: Muscling up against mussels
- Can’t get enough boating news? Subscribe to our blog’s RSS feed, follow us on Twitter or look for “Boating Industry” on Facebook and LinkedIn.
- For more of the latest news, click here.
