Boat inspection program praised

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif (AP) - A regulatory agency is hailing a boating inspection program, saying it prevented the introduction of aquatic invasive species into Lake Tahoe this year.

The Tahoe Daily Tribune reports that Tahoe Regional Planning Agency officials think the lack of any quagga or zebra mussels in Tahoe shows the success of the program.

Inspectors managed by the Tahoe Resource Conservation District performed more than 8,000 boat inspections in 2010.

Of those, 11 watercraft containing aquatic nonnative species were intercepted and decontaminated.

Officials say decontaminations of suspicious watercraft doubled to 1,208 in 2010 from the previous year.

The goal is to try to keep nonnative mussels that attach to a boat's hull in other waters from becoming established in Tahoe and ruining its delicate ecosystem.