Watercraft in Yellowstone Required To Be Invasive Species Free - NPS Press


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Posted by John (63.155.6.230) on 10:23:08 05/12/14

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

Yellowstone National Park
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2014 14-029

Al Nash or Dan Hottle
(307) 344-2015
YELL_Public_Affairs@nps.gov

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE
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Watercraft in Yellowstone Required To Be Invasive Species Free


All watercraft must be inspected for Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) before entering Yellowstone's waters.

National Park Service staff will conduct required AIS inspections seven days per week at the Bridge Bay and Grant Village boat ramps and at the South Entrance Ranger Station. Boats intended for use on Lewis Lake must be inspected at Grant Village or the South Entrance before launching.

All motorized and non-motorized watercraft, including float tubes, must also have a Yellowstone National Park boat permit. Grand Teton National Park permits are no longer valid for boating in Yellowstone.

All types of boat permits may be purchased at the South Entrance, Grant Village Backcountry Office, and the Bridge Bay Ranger Station. The Mammoth Backcountry Office sells only non-motorized permits. The Lewis Lake Campground, Northeast Entrance, Bechler Ranger Station, and the Canyon and Old Faithful Backcountry Offices sell only float tube permits.

Motorized boating is only allowed on Yellowstone and Lewis lakes, while non-motorized boating is allowed on most other park lakes.

Aquatic invasive species are non-native plants and animals that can have significant ecological and economic impacts on the park's natural resources. Examples of destructive species that have become established in park waters over the past several years include New Zealand mudsnails, whirling disease, and lake trout in Yellowstone Lake.

Aquatic Invasive Species not only damage Yellowstone fisheries but they have the potential to impact the entire ecosystem. It can take a great deal of time and money to remove AIS, and in many cases control or removal is not feasible. Since 2009, Yellowstone's AIS prevention program has performed more than 5,500 watercraft inspections, which resulted in more than 145 affected boats being cleaned with non-chemical AIS decontamination treatments.

Information on boating and boat permitting in Yellowstone can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/boating.htm.

Information on AIS can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/fishingexotics.htm.

Yellowstone's AIS education and prevention programs have been funded in part by generous donations from the park's official fundraising partner, The Yellowstone Park Foundation. Information on YPF can be found at www.ypf.org.



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