Officials at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced in June 2017 that DOI would coordinate with the Western Governors’ Association, states, tribes, federal agencies, and other partners in a project to help strengthen existing efforts to address invasive mussels.
The actions described in the 2017 report, Safeguarding the West from Invasive Species, Actions to Strengthen Federal, State, and Tribal Coordination to Address Invasive Mussels, vary from policy and program reviews to on-the-ground efforts to prevent, contain, and control invasive mussels.
One recommendation in Safeguarding the West was the development of a reference manual to facilitate rapid response activities in the event of mussel introductions in the Columbia River Basin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently finalized and released this manual, Dreissenid Mussel Rapid Response in the Columbia River Basin: Recommended Practices to Facilitate Endangered Species Act Section 7 Compliance.
In recent years, Western Governors have launched several efforts to address the spread of invasive mussels in the West. These efforts include the WGA Biosecurity and Invasive Species Initiative, WGA Policy Resolution 2019-06, Biosecurity and Invasive Species Management, and the WGA Invasive Mussel Leadership Forum held Aug. 27-28, 2019 in Las Vegas, NV.
