Idaho Officials Work To Keep Invasive Mussels Away 

By Doug Nadvornick | March 24, 2009 3:52 p.m. | Sandpoint, ID

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Staying Ahead of Mussels in Idaho0324DN_invasive.wav (mp3)   :58   spot    3/24/09    Nadvornick/cf     EnvironmentThe state of Idaho is going to war against an especially invasive aquatic pest. State officials say the Zebra and Quagga mussels haven't made an appearance yet in Idaho and they'd like to keep it that way. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

Idaho would levy a $10 annual fee on every motorized boat registered in the state, 20-bucks for out-of-state vessels and five dollars for all non-motorized craft. The money would pay for mobile washing stations parked at boat launches and maybe even at the stateís borders.  Leslie Marshall, who heads the noxious weed department in Sandpoint, Idaho, says a pre-emptive strike is the right approach.

For years, her office has been battling another out-of-state pest, a plant called Eurasian milfoil, which makes boating difficult.

Marshall says the Zebra and Quagga mussels are just as pesky: they clog underwater pipes, attach themselves to boats and multiply.Leslie Marshall: "The milfoil, as bad as it is, we at least have tools to fight it. There's nothing out there right now to fight the Zebra and Quagga mussels."

Even though taxes and fees are not raised easily in Idaho, this one sailed through the state House and a Senate committee. A final vote in the full Senate would send it to the governor.

© 2009 Spokane Public Radio

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