The Mussels Are Coming! The Mussels Are Coming!

Remember that great comedy? No? Well, I guess it was Russians, not mussels.

The threat of zebra mussels invading Rock Lake is not a comedy. The environmental costs of their starting a colony in the lake are serious enough for the state of Wisconsin to now have a regulation requiring that aquatic plants (weeds, in layperson’s terms) and zebra mussels be removed every time you launch your boat. A law enforcement official is allowed to prohibit the launching if the boat is not clean. Fines for violation are $50 for the first offence of the season and $100 for each subsequent one.

Rock Lake boaters, however, do not need the threat of fines to keep them from protecting the lake. They know that Eurasion water milfoil and zebra mussels are no good for swimming, boating, fishing, or any other recreational activity on or in the lake. If you are not sure why, there are two websites that explain it:
www.dnr.state.wi.us/naturalresources (Look for “invasive species”) www.ltgov.state.wi.us (Look for “Governor’s Task Force on Invasive Species.”)

By the way, “The Russians Are Coming…” is a good movie, maybe even funnier now that the Russians never did invade. Let’s hope the mussels never do!

Making Waves
May 21, 2002
Johanna Chworowsky