Washington is upping efforts to keep an invasive freshwater mussel from gaining a shell-hold in the state’s rivers and lakes, using tactics ranging from DNA testing to shellfish-sniffing dogs.

Quagga mussels can cause major problems as layers of them crust over components of hydroelectric dams and locks, or clog drinking water or irrigation systems. Fisheries and fish ladders that allow salmon to bypass dams could be disrupted, too. The mussels can also outcompete native species, throw off water quality, and otherwise degrade ecosystems.

They were found last year in Idaho, stoking new worries about their threat to the region.

Washington’s Invasive Species Council cites estimates that it will cost $100 million annually to keep the state’s power and water infrastructure running if quagga mussels or non-native zebra mussels were to invade. That amount doesn’t factor in the cost of harm to habitat or fishing.

Even taking the potential problems for dams out of the equation, Justin Bush, aquatic invasive species policy coordinator at the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the mussels would have “a devastating, catastrophic impact to our environment and our economy.”

The Columbia River Basin for years has been the last major U.S. watershed free of the invasive mussels. But last September Idaho officials said they’d detected quagga mussels near Twin Falls in the Snake River, which runs into the Columbia. 

So what’s to be done in Washington? The Department of Fish and Wildlife has some new money to deal with the shellfish. The Legislature approved $1.81 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1 to combat invasive mussels and the Army Corps of Engineers is providing an equal sum, for a total of $3.6 million.

“We’re significantly increasing efforts,” Bush said this week during a meeting of the Invasive Species Council.

Monitoring for quagga mussels

The main way the mussels tend to spread is on recreational boats moved between bodies of water. When grown, they’re 1 to 2 inches and easy to spot but larvae, known as veligers, are microscopic. 

Fish and Wildlife wants to fully staff watercraft inspection stations, Bush told the council. 

The agency is turning to a variety of techniques to detect mussels in the water. These include measuring calcium levels (the bivalves rely on calcium to build their shells), using a grabber device to pull up and check material from lakebeds, and looking for traces of mussel DNA.

Bush said the department will also add a monitoring crew to three two-person crews it has had.

And he said the department is looking to bring on another mussel-sniffing dog. The dog would join Fin, a canine already doing this work. Puddles, a dog that had been, is retired, Bush said.

More public outreach is also planned to remind people to clean, drain, and dry boats and other gear that’s been in the water and could spread the mussels.

It’s unclear if Idaho’s attempt last year to kill quagga mussels in the Snake River worked. The $3 million project involved treating a 16-mile stretch of the river with a copper-based chemical to kill the mussels. There was collateral damage as thousands of fish died, too.

Idaho Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt told state lawmakers that it was the largest operation of its kind ever attempted in the U.S.

Along with zebra mussels, quagga mussels were first documented in the U.S. in the 1980s in the Great Lakes, having made it there in the ballast water of ships. They’ve spread since.

In addition to detection and monitoring, Washington Fish and Wildlife officials are also preparing to respond if the mussels aren’t stopped and become a fixture in state waters.

“We’re planning for the very worst, but we’re hoping that Idaho was successful in eradicating this problem,” said Bush.

While the Oregon Ducks haven’t always been a prominent program, the Oregon football team has a very rich and storied history. There have been numerous high profile games and memorable matchups throughout the years. 

But, interestingly enough, one of the Ducks’ longest-standing series is also one of the most lopsided in Oregon football history. It’s also a series that hasn’t had a game played in it in 20 years. That changes in 2024 as the Oregon Ducks football team welcomes the Idaho Vandals to Autzen Stadium in Eugene for the first time since 2004. 

That’s right, one of the Ducks’ longest series is against the Idaho Vandals, a matchup that spans over a century and showcases Oregon’s growth as a program.

The first matchup in the Oregon-Idaho series was back on November 6, 1901 as the two teams struggled to a 0-0 tie. It’d be five years before the two teams met again, but in 1906, Oregon grabbed the first victory in the series, beating Idaho 12-0. 

Oregon then grabbed 12 more victories before the next tie in the game occurred. Then, in 1924, Idaho grabbed its first win in the series, beating Oregon 13-0. The next year, the Ducks lost again by a score of 6-0. 

It’d be until 1950 that Idaho would actually manage to beat Oregon again. And the Ducks haven’t lost to Idaho since then.

This is a lopsided series and there’s really no foreseeable path to it becoming a competitive one (which is not at all a bad thing for the Oregon football program or Oregon football fans). Oregon should strive to keep winning (by rather large margins) anytime Idaho ends up on the schedule. There’s just too much talent between the two programs for anything else to be okay.

BOISE— Several changes are coming to the Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on July 1 as new legislation takes effect. These changes will improve customer service and offer more options to Idahoans. 

Driver’s License and ID Cards

• Customers who are eligible to renew their driver’s license online will get a $5 discount for completing the transaction online. 
• The requirements for getting a free identification card (ID) for voting have been reduced. Legislation has removed the rule that applicants must not have had a valid driver’s license for 6 months before applying for the free ID.

Commercial Drivers and Vehicles

• Commercial drivers will now be able to get a commercial driver’s license (CDL) for eight years. The previous limit for CDLs was four years. CDLs will also be checked against the National Drug and Alcohol Clearing House. 
• DMV will now issue two-year weighted registrations for commercial and non-commercial vehicles up to 60,000 lbs. The previous limit was one year. 

License Plates

• Idaho will offer a Space Force Plate to eligible customers. 
• All Purple Heart recipients will be able to get a Purple Heart plate for free. Previously the fee exemption only applied to disabled Purple Heart recipients. 
• Legislation also created a Gadsden Flag “Don’t Tread on Me” plate. Plate sales will help fund educational grants for firearms safety training. While the legislation goes into effect on July 1, per the timeline included in the law, plates will be made available by January 1, 2025. 

Driver’s Education

• Parents in rural school districts or districts without driver’s education programs will be able to teach the on-the-road portion of driver’s ed. Parents must keep a log of drive time and skills learned. Students will complete the classroom driver’s ed course through the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA). More information is available from the Idaho Department of Education. 

Other

• The definition of “resident” to get a vehicle registration, title, license, or identification card has been changed from 90 days to 30 days. This does not change the definition of resident for voting purposes. 
• If an owner wants to sell a vehicle that has no active registration, they can get up to two 30-day temporary registrations for the purpose of selling the vehicle.