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Show i B8 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Vernal Express TINY CREATURES CREATE CONSTERNATION Boaters beware! Mussels are devastating bodies of water By Lfzm E. Whiting Uintah Basin News Service Natalie Muth has her work cut out for her. The young Vernal native has 4 I The prop on this boat motor at Lake Mead is covered with quagga mussels. Mussels can clog the water intakes on a prop. That can cause the motor to overheat and can seize the motor. The result can be thousands of dollars in repairs. Photo: Natalie Muth, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Let US Help You BASIN CLINIC MM mm m Motners ua Special 25 off Gift Certificates! BASIN CLINIC 379 North 500 West, Suite 1A Vernal, Utah 84078 (435)789-1165 Present this ad for discount Expires 53 107 4 Come See Vernal s fastest selling New Home Community!! Over 95 sold- Hurry only 25 homes left to sell!! Starting at only $159,950 (includes the lot)!! 1 00 Fin. avail. !! Builder pays closing costs 6 fixed rate 30 year loan!! Why rent? Monthly payments from only $1,000!! Open Monday - Friday 9 - 5 and Saturday 10 - 4 n ? Modular (Lender qualified "stick built") Homes 3 Parks with Playground 6 Floorplans to Choose From Quick Delivery A vailable Directions to Sales Center and Model Homes: From Main Street (Hwy 40), go South on 500 West approximately 2 miles, then turn left into Sunburst Terrace. Price effective 32808 and subject to change without notice See On-Site sales'agent for details Rate in effect as of 032108 and subject to market change. APR equals 6.25 been hired by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources as an aquatic tling zebra and quagga mussels, rapidly, forming huge, destruc-nuisance destruc-nuisance species biologist in its tagged by some biologists as "the tive colonies on just about any un- northeastern region. From now through the end of the summer Muth will spend her days - in- t r. -sr 4. V v Look Your Best Basin Clinic now offering: Laser Hair Removal Skin Rejuvenation for fine lines & wrinkles Vein Therapy for spider veins k A 5UN5UKST '4"rarnTSh"ed"MDd"ets" 9 r m Wmi mm mm m7mmm eluding every weekend - bat- most harmful exotic species ever to invade" freshwater ecosys- terns. , c: -vv v-t , " A This Summer! A A TERRACE. V 1 "These mussels reproduce derwatersurface,"Muthwrotein an article for the DWR Wildlife Review. "If either the zebra or (6, J Watch Out For Hitchhikers Before leaving any body of water: , Inspect your boat, trailer, clothing and any other wet gear for plants, fish or animals, and remove re-move them on site. Wash off mud and dirt, which can carry tiny mussel larvae. Clean people and equipment - and don't forget the dog! - Eliminate all water from all equipment, including in-cluding motors, live wells, boat hulls, scuba regulators, regula-tors, bait buckets and boots. Have a professional decontaminate your watercraft with scalding hot water (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Dip gear that can't be exposed to hot water in vinegar for 20 minutes, or soak it in a salt solution for 24 hours (see protecty-ourwaters.net protecty-ourwaters.net for recipes). Don't dump unused bait in the water. '"x X. a f-i i 3-4 Bedrooms 2 Full Baths 2 Car Garage Landscaped Lot quagga mussel establish populations popula-tions in Utah they are predicted to cost the state $15 million per year in increased operation and maintenance costs." The mussels alter ecosystems, clog water supply systems, and ruin boat motors. In numerous instances they have devastated the economies of the recreation communities where they have been found. Based on a survey of area boaters lakes in the tricounty area, specific lakes and reservoirs have been identified and ranked in order of the possibility for infestation by the mussels. "All of the lakes around here are just right for this to happen," said Muth. "In the survey we checked out water quality and boat traffic." Ranking first are Flaming Gorge, Starvation Reservoir, and Pelican Lake; second in terms of concern are Steinaker and Red Fleet, and third for possible infestation are Brough and Cottonwood Cot-tonwood reservoirs and Bottle Hollow Reservoir. These lakes will be monitored ' accordingly. Both the Forest Service Ser-vice and Ute Indian Tribe Fish and Wildlife officials are working with Muth and her team of four seasonal employees to monitor boats coming into these lakes and reservoirs. "I think the most important part of this beginning phase is just to educate boaters, and we found the best way to educate people is right there at the boat ramp," she said. Muth met last week with members of the Manila and Flaming Flam-ing Gorge business communities to make a presentation to their . chamber of commerce on efforts to battle the destructive mussels this boating season. It's imperative that boaters, anglers and everyone who uses Flaming Gorge Reservoir understand under-stand the potential for devastation devasta-tion the fingernail-sized, stripped mussel could create if allowed to enter the water, Muth said. They are highly mobile creatures, crea-tures, hitch-hiking rides on the underside of a boat or even a bait bucket that has been in water where the habitat-killing mussel is present. " In just one year at Lake Mead veligers (baby mussels) are covering cover-ing everything," said Muth. Lake Mead is also infested with the adult quagga mussels. The mussels have also been found closer to home at Lake Powell, a popular recreation site for many Uintah Basin families who own boats. This adds to the urgency to protect local waters, she noted. The zebra mussel made its appearance in the Great Lakes 20 years ago, in the ballast water of a ship making a transcontinental passage from Europe. They commonly com-monly hitchhike rides in ballasts, as well as boat pipes, personal watercraft and even in standing water left on a boat. And they multiply exponentially, exponen-tially, said Muth. Once adult mussels are established in a lake it means that they have already reached a reproducing population. popula-tion. The quagga and zebra mussel This quagga mussel has been out of the water for two days at Lake Mead, and it's still alive. Photo: Natalie Muth, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources uJ W J fcJ M W' ' mm VCRNfil Express strike at the heart of the food chain, consuming plankton, the tiny organisms in the water that fish need to eat to survive. The Gorge's annual Villa Fishing Derby on May 17-18, will be the first big opportunity to check boats for the possible contamination. "These little veligers can live inside the clog vent if (boaters) don't clean their boat," Muth said. Even though the waters of Flaming Gorge are considerably cooler than those at Lake Mead or Lake Powell, the veligers can live under the ice cap and survive in temperatures as low as 31 degrees Fahrenheit. Throughout the summer boaters boat-ers heading to Flaming Gorge will be stopped and checked at ramps. Muth and her crew will be on the job 10 to 12 hours a day. On May 23, a special roadblock will be conducted in Manila. Boats where adult mussels or veligers are located or suspected will be detained and cleaned. The process will be time consuming and will result in backups at launch ramps but Muth and others oth-ers believe the majority of boaters and anglers will be appreciative of the effort. "I would think that most of the people who fish this lake want to see this going on and will cooperate," said Tina Bennington, Ben-nington, a KOA Campground operator in Daggett County. "All of our livelihoods depend on that lake." Muth said three decontamination decontamina-tion unit will be used at different lakes. The pressurized hot water will purge a boat of old water and even the mussels should they be found. "We'll introduce ourselves, we'll ask, 'Where has your boat been in the last 30 days?' If they've been here then great, be on your way," Muth said. A sticker maybe given to local boaters to show at check points so they can skip questioning. A law new this year will give DWR officials and others charged with prohibiting the invasion of the aquatic hitchhikers hitch-hikers the authority they need to detain vehicles and boats in cases where there is reasonable cause to believe they might have been used on an infested water or might be carrying quagga or zebra mussels. This includes vehicles and boats that are traveling down roads, entering or leaving parking park-ing lots, or anywhere the vehicle or boat might be. Senate Bill 238 also mandates that any boat that has been on an infected waterway must be decontaminated before it enters Utah or is launched on any water in the state. "If they knowingly or intentionally inten-tionally bring something in it's a class A misdemeanor," Muth said, adding that she will also meet with local law enforcement to bring them up to speed on the measure. "It's a brand new program and there will be a learning curve; it is critical that our efforts succeed," Muth said. Wow! Let me tell you, it is worth shopping in the pages of the... 54 North Vernal Avenue Vernal, Utah 435-789-3511 www.vernal.com |