Mussel-infected boat intercepted in Yellowstone

JACKSON – For Sue Mills, it was simultaneously concerning and reassuring for her staff to find a quagga mussel attached to a boat that was about to hit the water in Yellowstone National Park.

As Yellowstone’s aquatic invasive species coordinator, it’s Mills’ chief professional responsibility to ensure that nonnative critters and plants don’t find their way into park waters.

And so Thursday, June 17, was a worst-case scenario kind of day: one of her seven seasonal inspectors discovered a lone quagga mussel aboard a rented pontoon that was intending to launch into Yellowstone Lake. That species...