CHEYENNE – For more than a decade, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has focused on keeping aquatic invasive species (AIS) out of the state’s lakes and reservoirs. However, as the danger of zebra and quagga clams increases, Game and Fish is taking extra precautions to prepare.
The department is now implementing quick response plans to act quickly if AIS is detected.
The department also wants public feedback on these plans. Game and Fish is accepting public comments on 22 proposed lake and reservoir plans across the state through May 16. Plans and an online feedback form can be found on the AIS website at https://tinyurl.com/ykf78xak.
If AIS, such as zebra or quagga mussels, are discovered in a body of water in Wyoming, those plans will shift AIS management to contain the mussels while preventing further spread in Wyoming and the west.
Due to the high likelihood of the introduction of zebras or quagga mussels, Rapid Response Plans have been drawn up for the Wyoming waters.
These criteria include high usage by boaters, especially boaters outside of the state, and water with chemical and physical properties that favor the survival and colonization of zebra or quagga mussels.
In total, Game and Fish will have 23 quick response plans. Flaming Gorge Reservoir was the first in the series to be released in early 2021.
Kevin Gelwicks, assistant fisheries management coordinator for game and fish, said the department’s fisheries biologists spent a lot of time creating these plans, which outlined the equipment, staff and other resources that will be used to combat mussel detection have to.
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