Commission assesses AIS efforts in Upper Columbia Basin

The newly created Upper Columbia Conservation Commission co-hosted a workshop last month in Polson to assess current efforts on the ground and to enhance coordination moving forward on aquatic invasive species prevention in the Upper Columbia Basin.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes also hosted the meeting, along with the commission known as UC3, to meet to meet with state agencies and partners in the Upper Columbia.

“We witnessed in this two-day workshop an unparalleled level of commitment by organizations and individuals to form new and stronger partnerships in the effort to understand, detect, prevent, monitor and eradicate aquatic invasive species in the basin,” said Lori Curtis, chair of the UC3 commission, in a prepared release.

Curtis represents Montana’s Conservation Districts on the commission and is the director of science and education at the Whitefish Lake Institute and is a Flathead Conservation District Supervisor.

In response to the invasive mussel detections in two Montana waterways last year, the 2017 Legislature established the UC3 to enhance aquatic invasive species coordination, monitoring, and rapid response efforts through increased coordination with water management agencies within the Columbia River Basin in Montana, as well as provincial and state partners in the basin.

John Tubbs, Director of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, said in a statement, “UC3 represents the Northwest’s strongest commitment to invasive species protection.”

Montana is home to the headwaters of two of the largest river systems in the United States, the Columbia and Missouri Rivers. The Columbia River Basin is the last remaining drainage free of invasive zebra and quagga mussels. The UC3 was created partly to acknowledge the importance of preventing these harmful aquatic invasive species from being introduced into the Columbia Basin, and to protect the multitude of economically and environmentally important water resources of the basin.

“We face an enormous challenge in our effort to combat aquatic invasive species,” says Curtis. “The collaborative nature of this Commission signals a new and stronger defense in the Upper Columbia Basin.”

All UC3 member appointments to serve on the commission have now been made by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock to the following individuals/organizations: Curtis represents the conservation districts; Tom Woolf, of Helena, representative of the Invasive Species Council and is the Chief of the Aquatic Invasive Species Bureau at the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Dennis Clairmont, of Pablo, representative of Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and represents the Pablo District on the CSKT Tribal Council; Mike Koopal, of Whitefish, is a member-at-large and is the Executive Director of the Whitefish Lake Institute; Paul Kusnierz, of Noxon, is representative of the hydropower utility industry and is a fisheries biologist at Avista Utilities; Phil Matson, of Columbia Falls, representative of private landowners in the Upper Columbia Basin and is a research specialist at the Flathead Biological Station; Stacey Schnebel, of Coram, is representative of electric cooperatives in the Upper Columbia basin and serves on the board of the Flathead Electric Co-op and the Montana Electric Cooperatives Association; hris Parrott, of Kalispell, is representative of private industry and is the general manager of Jesco Marine. and Brian “BJ” Johnson, of Kalispell, is representative of recreation organizations and is the owner and lead guide for ‘Sea Me Paddle” kayaking tours on Flathead Lake.

In addition to the appointed voting members listed, the UC3 is comprised of Sen. Gene Vuckovich, D-Anaconda, Rep. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and partners such as Glacier National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the National Resource Conservation Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. For more information, visit http://dnrc.mt.gov/divisions/cardd/montana-invasive-species program/upper-columbia-conservation-commission-uc3