[jimkirschvink]

I heard some scary news: The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department needs money to fund the muzzle testing at our lakes. They think they can raise the money by making us innocent paddlers register our kayaks and rafts!! We need to stop this in the bud, and quick!!

 

[caverdan]

Jim, where did you see this? Can you post a link to the story?

 

[stuntmansteve]

Couldn't find anything related on the CP&W website. Do you still work for them?

 

[mattman]

Hmmm. Sounds like a Bulshit plan to me.
If they legitimately need to test for mussels in RIVERS, then I am glad to pay a fair share of the bill, but i do not feel the need to register my Rafts, that actually does sound like overreach.
If they come up with a reasonable way to pay for it, add it to my permit or river access fees, charge for an invasive species tag like wyoming. But I would have to make some ears bleed with phone calls if they want non motorized boat registration in the State of Colorado, fuck that.

 

[mattman]

Once you determine if there are invasive Mussels in a water body, can you do anything about it? You would be able to classify it as affected, but you should always be practicing "clean, drain, dry" in between water body's any way, so unless we are able to wipe out an aquatic invasive safely, what useful purpose would the research serve?

 

[wyosam]

Drain clean and dry is basic, infected waterway needs a decontamination, or a longer period dry than most of us leave a boat during the season.


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[mattman]

Thank you for the reminder.
If I remember correctly this means very hot water, or a continuous freeze for three days, or dry for a month. Utah considers all of Colorado's water suspect, and you are supposed to use one of these methods before you put a boat in there water.

Even with periodic testing of water body's though, you can still end up with mussels after a test, allowing them to continue there spread, I wonder if we need to look into a better decontamination method for inflatables, to be used every time?

Unfortunately I get the feeling no matter how much testing they do, the stuff will continue to spread, kinda like Tamarisk.
Willing to help fund testing if it is really needed, just not by registering non motorized craft. Don't trust the State of Colorado with requiring registration, partly because of how they handled Motor Vehicle registration in the last few years.

 

[wyosam]

I hear a lot of resistance to these programs from the river community, at least here in Wyoming where we have to buy the stickers- much of that discontent seems to stem from the somewhat long odds of mussels beings transported in a raft or kayak (although, bladder boats seem like an increased risk, the Trib Tomcat we have will hold water for a long, long time when rolled), and somewhat from the fact that at the check stations they dont seem particularly interested in inspecting kayaks, only checking that we have the stickers. Personally, if my $5 bucks a year (x7 non motorized craft) helps fund the surveillance effort to keep track of what waterways are infected, then I'm happy to spend it (plus what I spend in Idaho stickers). I dont want to be the one who brings mussels to my home river, and that means knowing when I need to take extra measures to clean my boat and gear. Even if I was spending that money in every state I potentially boat in every year, its really pretty minimal in the big scheme of things.

 

[mattman]

I couldn't agree with you more wyosam, I think a $5 sticker like you guy's have is a perfectly reasonable. Might have to contact CDW and ask about all this, maybe even suggest invasive stickers as a possible solution?
Freezing my boat works for me a lot of the year in Tabernash! But wish I could find another way for the rest of the time, doubt high heat would be good for the glue.

Rafts are probly the worst for transporting invasives of any type, that crease is hard to clean, I end up using a presure washer a lot, to try and clean everything out of my raft after trips.

 

[SpeyCatr]

Sorry - so let me read this right (educate me) - (River/Whitewater) RAFTS and Kayaks can carry the invasive mussels (Zebra, etc.) that are a big concern for spreading even though they are only on rivers ? I thought that was mainly a still water/lake thing where they would need time to attach or get into the boat (haven't read up on them much in all honesty, just know that our Provincial BC Government does have a monitoring program for boats coming into the Province to check for them, but haven't heard of them going after inflatables, yet, anyways).

 

[wyosam]

It is a low risk concern- and they are not son much a concern of spreading adults attached to the boat, but the juvenile, often microscopic, veligers. Concern would be any time water is transported- bladder boats (Aire and tributary), can carry quite a bit of water, and it's pretty easy to have a small amount in a kayak as well. There are mussels spreading in rivers, though the spread appears to all be through dams from infested reservoirs. A few that come to mind- the Colorado between glen canyon and lees ferry, the black canyon of the bear, and Montana recently found them in the Missouri. Again, low risk, but if they need me to pitch in on the overall effort, I dont mind at all.


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