Aquatic Invasive Species
What Are Aquatic Invasive Species?
Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are those that impact water bodies and wetlands. Whether they come on the trailers or hulls of recreational boats, or from the water of an angler's bait bucket, several non-native invasive species such as Eurasian watermilfoil and New Zealand mud snails have found their way into Montana's water bodies. Their presence can cause severe damage to local ecosystems, industry and tourism. The more you know about these invaders, the more you can do to help stop the spread to Montana's precious waters.
Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!
We've all seen the bright orange signs along the highway directing travelers towing boats to pull over for mandatory inspections, but do you know why or just how important it is that you get your boat inspected when traveling?
Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Idaho are the only states in the West still free of invasive quagga and zebra mussels. Boat inspections are an important part of the effort to keep our ecosystem clean and safe.
Let me introduce, Tobias, a conservation K-9 in training. Once training is complete, he will join the others on the aquatic invasive species detection team. This program helps keep invasive species, like zebra and quagga mussels, out of the ecosystem. When it comes to invasive species, once introduced, could cause billions of dollars in damage, and that's no exaggeration!
The dogs in these conservation programs are truly incredible. The crew at Captain's Marine fully supports the Working Dogs for Conservation Program and the Invasive Mussel Detection Project, which is why we were more than happy to allow them to use our location and the boats for training purposes. The WD4C team trains the world's best conservation detection dogs and puts them to work protecting wildlife and wild places.