Missoula County To Recognize Watercraft Inspection Staff

Press release from the Missoula County Government:

July 29, 2021

Missoula County and partnering agencies will recognize the Clearwater Junction Watercraft Inspection Station employees as part of the inaugural statewide Watercraft Inspector Appreciation Week.

Media and the public are invited to attend the appreciation event at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 2, at the Clearwater Junction Watercraft Inspection Station at the junction of Highway 200 and Highway 83 in Greenough. Missoula County commissioners and agency partners will highlight the inspectors’ successful season of protecting Montana’s waters from harmful aquatic invasive species.

Stakeholders and the public are encouraged to visit the station throughout the week to thank the inspectors for the outstanding job they do to protect our waters. Visitors are invited to take a picture and share the appreciation on social media by tagging @ProtectOurWatersMonatana and using the hashtags #LoveYourBoatInspector and #ProtectOurWatersMontana.

“Inspection Station Supervisor Lindsey Bona-Eggeman and her team have done an outstanding job of being the first line of defense for our Missoula County waters,” District Manager Bryce Christiaens said. “Their work sets the bar for teams across the state. We are fortunate to have such
dedicated inspectors.”

Already this year, the 20-plus Montana watercraft inspection stations have encountered more traffic and intercepted a record number – 37 – zebra/quagga mussel-fouled boats, surpassing the 35 intercepted in 2020. The Clearwater Junction station is the busiest in the state and has
inspected 14,300 watercrafts this season. The inspectors have found 2,545 high-risk boats and no AIS mussel-fouled boats. The Ravalli station follows with 7,700 inspections, 2,009 high-risk boats and no fouled boats.

The Missoula County Aquatic Invasive Species District operates the Clearwater Junction station in partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The watercraft inspectors check all watercraft traveling east and west on Highway 200. This station serves as an interior line of defense for our local Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan watersheds. It also protects the Flathead Watershed and further downstream, the Upper Columbia Watershed.

More information about Montana’s Watercraft Inspection Program is at cleandraindry.mt.gov.

Visit missoulaeduplace.org/ais to learn about the first and only county AIS district in Montana. Inspection station data is updated every Tuesday on the Montana AIS Dashboard at https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/638965fb9c81440bbc154c52e6da84db.

This press release was produced by the Missoula County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.