Lake Powell loses Quagga mussel fight
By Emiley Morgan, Deseret News
PROVO, Utah — For 14 years, officials at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area focused on keeping Quagga mussels out of Lake Powell.
It was an undertaking, as National Park Service rangers tried to police about 2 million annual visitors and an estimated 400,000 boat launches at eight developed boat access points, and at least a half-dozen other access points along 2,000 miles of shoreline, said Todd Brindle, recreation area superintendent.
Last year, rangers learned they lost the battle against the invasive species in the vast lake.
“We did all we could,” Brindle said.
On Monday, Brindle announced at a meeting of local, state and federal representatives from various agencies at the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation office in Provo that the National Park Service is shifting its efforts from prevention to containment. The emphasis now will be on educating boaters and screening boats not as they enter the lake, as was done before, but as they exit.
Lake Tahoe is next. There simply are too many boats to stop it
Man vs Nature and man lost. Imagine that.
I think the culinary industry needs to find a cuisine that features quagga muscles as the center of dish. Seems they are abundant and could be available locally soon…
go figure, The Quagga muscles would not work as a culinary delight, they’re too dammn small. I would suggest harvesting them and using them to make necklaces. Kinda like the Puka shell necklaces that I wore in the 70’s.
Oh yes, I was quite the fashion plate back then, bell bottom pants, dingo boots, sort of a blousy type shirt with a v neckline, turqoise rings and puka shell necklace with turqoise mixed in.
Gawd, how emberassing to remember all that!!! Good thing nobody reads Lake Tahoe News , otherwise everyone would know what the “style” was in 1974.
So make the Quaggas into ornametal pieces and then we can all dance around to Led Zeppilin or Yes albums.
Planting more seeds! OLS
“We did all we could.” How many times have we heard this statement by government officials at Lake Tahoe? Solution: Stop all private boat launches at Lake Tahoe, which will not be popular with the boating crowd but will ultimately save our lake. Ever been to Crater Lake? No boat launches allowed there but you can still visit the water by boat. The well intended precautions already in place at Lake Tahoe are doomed to fail and are not worth the risk.
The Quagga Mussel problem is going to have to be turned over to Scientists at this point.
Rock, if this gets turned over to the scientists we are doomed
“Rock, if this gets turned over to the scientists we are doomed”
Don’t be mad because you struggled in bio, chem, phyiscs and calculus.
The irony is that you typed that on a computer, and used the internet.
It was turned over to them and they still failed
Gus has got it right. No private boat launches from outside the basin inspect the local boats before launch. It will keep the invasion at bay for a while longer maybe forever. Plenty of rental boats on the lake for water experience. Full disclosure: I am the owner of Ski Run Marina, but do not own the boat rental.
OLS, I remember those days. I still have my jewelry from those days, puka and turquoise. Still have my Yes and Zepplin albums too. Its the story of our lives and what a life its been. Its all good. ROCK ON
“It was turned over to them and they still failed”
Only because of ignorant people. You are a plague.
We can’t have our cake and eat it too. We can’t expect to keep invasive species out of tahoe as long as there is a proliferation of boats entering Lake Tahoe which also visit infected lakes, current practices reduce the risk but like lake mead its just a matter of time.
I think infected lakes should be locked down, all boats that leave them (if allowed to leave at all) are thoroughly decontaminated, and the cost covered 100% by the owner. Once your lake gets infected, you lose out on the traveling boat market.
fish, i think you meant they are a pague. Though you are correct in that there should be a decontamination on every boat both when they leave and when they come, as i am sure you know decontamination is paid for by the boat owners when they are infested as they enter tahoe. Also as I am sure you also know you can not legislate stupid or being inconsiderate and thoughtless.
Man can affect, but cannot control nature. This is so obvious.
We spend billions of dollars and whole lifetimes trying to save species that our own activities caused to be endangered. No matter what the cause, humans cannot stall, or reverse evolution.
Pre-human, millions of species went extinct due to natural causes. The natural causes can be really successful animals (like us) or meteor strikes, volcanic eruptions, forest and prairie fires, weather changes due to ice ages caused by some of the above, other things we haven’t figured out yet.
Humans are so arrogant. Their efforts to save weakened species could ultimately contribute to the combination of things that take humans out. And we’ll never see it coming.
Don’t get the idea I think there is no reason to try….this is not true. We just need to be smarter about our place on earth. Fewer humans would be a geat place to start.