Zebra mussels are knocking at Idaho’s door.
Montana, Utah and Nevada all have the invasive species, which attach to boats and can spread easily from different bodies of water. They can kill native lake species and cost millions of dollars in damage and mitigation. They first appeared in the Great Lakes after Eastern European boats introduced them in the 1980s.
Idaho House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, presented a bill to try and stop the spread of the mussels. The fee charged for out-of-state boaters would go up $6, and the money would be used to pay for checkpoints at the border. Erpelding sat on an interim working group that studied the issue, and says the fee change should raise at least another $100,000 for inspection work.
The bill will be debated in the House Resources Committee.
Find reporter Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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