The prevention and management of aquatic invasive species is the focus of the Upper Columbia Conservation Commission’s two-day meeting in Evergreen this week.

The meeting, which begins at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Flathead Electric Cooperative off U.S. 2, will provide a forum for aquatic invasive species partners to share information and research and discuss prevention efforts. Meetings are open to the public.

Primary topics will be “strategic planning for the next two years, including direction, legislative involvement and AIS program support,” according to a press release. This includes discussion surrounding involvement in the 2021 legislative session and any bills that may address the aquatic invasive species in the state.

Wednesday’s agenda is broken into four planning sessions, during which the commission will go over items including education and outreach, watercraft inspections, response and preparedness, future agendas and meetings and more. On Thursday, an early detection and monitoring workshop will take place, as well as a review of existing challenges with aquatic invasive species and highlights from the commission’s 2019 report.

The commission, known also as UC3, was established during the 2017 legislative session after invasive mussels were detected in two Montana waterways in 2016. By its own definition, the 14-member commission, appointed by Gov. Steve Bullock, fosters cooperation and coordination among international, federal, regional, state, tribal, and local water resources managers.

The Columbia River Basin is the largest watershed in the lower 48 that doesn’t have mussels — small creatures that can be difficult to detect, but have detrimental impacts on recreation and infrastructure when they attach to underwater surfaces.

There have been some close calls recently, including one in late 2019 when a boat bound for Seattle was found to be infested with zebra mussels. According to officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the boat had made it through two watercraft checkpoints in Wibaux and Anaconda before being detected at a station in Ravalli.

In 2019, more than a dozen infested boats were intercepted and decontaminated in Montana.

For more information about the commission, the upcoming meeting and agendas go to invasivespecies.mt.gov/uc3

Reporter Kianna Gardner may be reached at 758-4407 or [email protected].