Oregon House approves bill to expand boat inspection partnerships to guard against invasive mussels

House leaders on the floor of the Oregon House of Representatives on third reading approved House Bill 2,170, authorizing new partnerships to expand watercraft inspection and decontamination stations aimed at keeping quagga, zebra and related invasive mussels out of Oregon waterways.

The bill authorizes the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Marine Board and the Oregon Department of Agriculture to enter into memoranda of understanding with tribal governments, local governments and local service districts to staff and run boat inspection and decontamination stations, Representative Helm said during floor debate.

Those stations are intended to detect and remove mussel larvae—called veligers—carried on boats that travel between infested waters elsewhere in the country and Oregon…