Kettle Falls Portage changes enlight of Rainy Lake zebra mussel contamination

We at the park are preparing our plan as it relates to the portage operation at Kettle Falls this summer given the State identifying Rainy Lake as contaminated with zebra mussels. We will be releasing details by mid-April, with an additional release in early May as a reminder. I will be meeting with elected officials associated with the park, and attending gateway community board of supervisor meetings in early April to provide a “heads-up” about the topic and to further inform/remind of our planned public messaging.
In the meantime, I have seen that there is some early “chatter” on social media about the fact we will be requiring decontamination at Kettle Falls. To advise the public of our up-coming communications on the topic I will be posting the comment below in an attempt to quell any misinformation and frustrations.
“Just giving everyone a heads-up that with Rainy Lake being identified as contaminated with zebra mussels there will be operational changes to the portage service at Kettle Falls. We are currently working out the details to define what those operational changes will be. The operation will be dependent on both NPS and concession staffing. The park will provide messaging on the portage operational changes in mid-April and early May. The one thing I do know is that vessels being portaged from Rainy up to the Namakan Basin at Kettle Falls will be required to be decontaminated, and to drain any water holding areas, including bait and live wells. These operational changes are being implemented to minimize the risk of human actions moving the invasive species up stream through the watershed. More to come, thank you for your patience.”