Season-long boat checks planned for Loma entry point

By DENNIS WEBB

Dennis.Webb@gjsentinel.com

People hauling motorized or trailered boats into Colorado on eastbound Interstate 70 will likely need to make some time for an inspection at the Colorado State Patrol Loma Port of Entry this boating season.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be conducting its inaugural season- long roadside aquatic nuisance species inspection program at the Loma site and the Trinidad Port Of Entry on Interstate 25, starting on Thursday and continuing through Oct. 31. The inspections will be conducted on Thursdays through Mondays and are intended to intercept invasive quagga and zebra mussels and other nuisance animal and plant species.

The season-long program follows a two-year pilot program during which roadside inspections were conducted on a much more limited basis at various locations around the state. Based on those results, Parks and Wildlife determined that the Loma and Trinidad locations would be the highest-impact locations for the next phase of the program, as they saw the highest number of highrisk out-of-state motorized boats, according to a news release.

The Loma location proved to be particularly effective for catching infested boats. In 2022 Parks and Wildlife focused its roadside inspections on that site, over one day each in May, July and September. Of all the boats that were inspected, 60

See CHECKS, page 8A ➤

This picture shows the first invasive mussel found at Highline Lake. After a pilot program, Colorado Parks and Wildlife this year is implementing season-long boat inspection stations at the Loma and Trinidad ports of entry to help keep invasive aquatic species out of the state.

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were decontaminated and 26 were confirmed to have adult mussels. The Loma site tied with McPhee Reservoir for first in 2022 in terms of the number of mussel-infested boats intercepted per inspection location in Colorado.

Loma was the focus of the pilot program’s first year because the large majority of mussel-fouled watercraft entering Colorado come from Lake Powell.

Last year’s pilot inspection program focused on one-day inspection events at a number of other locations in the state rather than Loma. Out of 21 inspected watercraft, two had adult mussels. Despite the low number of boats inspected, “we still prevented two boats with mussels from entering Colorado waters and gained a better understanding of motorized boat travel into the state,” Robert Walters, Parks and Wildlife’s Invasive Species Program manager, said in the release.

INSPECTIONS AND DECONTAMINATIONS

Quagga and zebra mussels reproduce quickly, and attach to things such as boat propellers, docks and water infrastructure such as pipes and pumps. Colorado has an extensive boat inspection and decontamination program at lakes and reservoirs and other locations, but despite such efforts zebra mussels were found at Highline Lake starting in 2022, marking the first-ever discovery of adult zebra or quagga mussels in state waters. Motorized boating is banned at Highline this year as Parks and Wildlife draws down its waters in anticipation of emptying it in the fall to try to eradicate the mussels.

Last year, 119 mussel- fouled watercraft were intercepted at Colorado inspection sites. That’s down from 148 the previous year. But more than 100 mussel-infested boats have been intercepted each year in Colorado since 2018, after fewer than 20 were found each year from 2009 to 2017.

AROUND THE STATE

Last year McPhee Reservoir continued to lead the state in terms of number of boats intercepted with invasive mussels, with 28. Seventeen were intercepted at Parks and Wildlife’s Denver headquarters, and 13 at Horsetooth Reservoir. Where interceptions occurred at other locations they were in the single digits, including Blue Mesa Reservoir with five, Parks and Wildlife’s Grand Junction office with four, and Ruedi Reservoir with three.

A 2021 state law authorized Parks and Wildlife’s pilot roadside inspection program, and its ability to continue it permanently. Agency spokesperson Rachael Gonzales said Parks and Wildlife anticipates needing five full-time, temporary personnel to operate the Loma inspection station at the height of the boating season.

“We will also have law enforcement assistance from CPW park rangers and wildlife officers, as well as external law enforcement help to our agency when available,” she said.

Parks and Wildlife has been partnering with Colorado State Patrol Port of Entry staff and the Colorado Department of Transportation on the roadside inspection program.

“We are excited to see this program that helps to protect Colorado’s recreational and economic interests through our highly visited lakes, reservoirs and rivers continue,” Yulonda Winterberg, deputy director of the Colorado State Patrol Port of Entry, said in the release. “We appreciate this opportunity to partner with Colorado Parks and Wildlife in such a meaningful way.”

Gonzales said Parks and Wildlife plans to fund the program for this boating season with revenue from the Mussel Free Colorado Act combined with Aquatic Nuisance Species Fund dollars, federal grants and partner contributions. The 2018 Mussel Free Colorado Act provided a new funding source through the creation of an ANS stamp that is required for motorized boats and sailboats entering state waters and costs $25 for state residents and $50 for nonresidents.

Parks and Wildlife advises that boaters who will be subject to roadside inspections can help expedite the inspection process by ensuring their boats are clean, drained and dry prior to arrival at the station. Boats with mud, plants, water or mussels on them will be subject to decontamination procedures. Boats that are clean, drained and dry will receive a green seal and a white inspection receipt showing they passed inspection.

While all trailered and motorized watercraft still must undergo an inspection at their final destination, those with a green seal and white receipt from Port of Entry check stations will be expedited, Parks and Wildlife says.