AIS inspection sites between Seattle and Butte

cole_p

cole_p

Yelling at trout
Getting geared up for the annual trip to MT. Excited to bring my new raft along for the first time and was wondering about the various Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) inspection sites along the way. There appears to be 6 in total but curious if any of them only apply to eastbound or westbound traffic. Perhaps you fine folks will know. They are all along i90.

Happy to do my part to prevent the spread of invasive species, just trying to get an idea of how many additional stops I'll have. I know the Cle Elum one is very quick.

The six sites:
  1. Cle Elum, WA (eastbound)
  2. Spokane, WA (westbound)
  3. Huetter, ID (eastbound?)
  4. Cedars, ID (westbound?)
  5. St. Regis, MT (eastbound)
  6. Anaconda, MT (westbound)
 
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Spokane is only westbound just as you cross the ID/WA state line and St. Regis is actually at the Drexel exit, MM28 5 miles west of St.Regis.
I don't know about Cle Elum as I don't travel that way but I think you are right on the others.
You're probably already aware but you will also need an AIS pass for your boat.

Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Passes | Montana FWP

Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Passes are required for fishing and nonresident boat launches in Montana.
fwp.mt.gov fwp.mt.gov
 
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Cle Elum is Eastbound. Hard to get inspected when all my boats are deflated. I've pulled in and they just ask me questions.
 
Also, if you're taking 90 to the east coast, AIS inspections seem to stop as soon as you arrive in Illinois. I don't recall seeing one after the border, or in Indiana, Ohio, or Penna
 
When did you experience the Cle Elum one as quick? If it's lately, that's good news. I sure hope it's quicker than the times I've stopped there. The first stop was about 25 minutes and the 2nd time was almost 15. I haven't stopped the last few times. I check and clean my raft and boat so I'm not too thrilled about wasting even 15 minutes for them so do essentially the same thing. I can't be the only one.

Have fun!
 
I didn't know that I could get my boat checked in WA and then be good for MT. I was under the impression I had to have the raft checked in the state I was planning on using it in. I have only done this once so I'm not that up on how it all works but stopped at the St Regis one a couple years ago. Didn't realize I could have stopped at any other one along the way and been good.
 
Old406Kid said:
This seems odd as quite a few of the vessels that are contaminated seem to come from the Great Lakes area waters.
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No argument there. My normal route before I started using more of 80 than 90 was over to Minnesota and Wisconsin then south through Chicago to 80 and then east. I just don't recall seeing any inspection points past the locations I mentioned
 
Normally I have an inflatable raft packed away and I just wait till the promised land to have it inspected. Drift boat… that’s a little more obvious…that being said it’s pretty easy to detour around most of them in WA state or skip their operating hours without breaking the law.
 
Just read up on this, I've totally been doing this wrong. I only have rafts, so they are packed up inside and I have not been stopping at every station. I get it to some extent, but if I'm not going to be using the raft in a state, I don't know why I need to have it inspected by that state. When I did get inspected in St Regis, the raft was all rolled up in the RV basement and they didn't even really look at it other than my pyramid anchor; they just gave me what I needed and sent me on my way.
 
DKL said:
Just read up on this, I've totally been doing this wrong. I only have rafts, so they are packed up inside and I have not been stopping at every station. I get it to some extent, but if I'm not going to be using the raft in a state, I don't know why I need to have it inspected by that state. When I did get inspected in St Regis, the raft was all rolled up in the RV basement and they didn't even really look at it other than my pyramid anchor; they just gave me what I needed and sent me on my way.
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Boom…
 
DKL said:
Just read up on this, I've totally been doing this wrong. I only have rafts, so they are packed up inside and I have not been stopping at every station. I get it to some extent, but if I'm not going to be using the raft in a state, I don't know why I need to have it inspected by that state. When I did get inspected in St Regis, the raft was all rolled up in the RV basement and they didn't even really look at it other than my pyramid anchor; they just gave me what I needed and sent me on my way.
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The Regis station is out of sight and an easy one to accidentally miss.
I’ll be going by there tomorrow so I’ll stop in and tell them to keep an eye out for you.😂
 
wanderingrichard said:
No argument there. My normal route before I started using more of 80 than 90 was over to Minnesota and Wisconsin then south through Chicago to 80 and then east. I just don't recall seeing any inspection points past the locations I mentioned
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I've never seen the types of AIS inspection ststions along major roads in the Midwest like there are in western states. However, inspectors often set up at boat landings on popular lakes and perform full checks. I spend this week in MN and Ontario each year, and got checked at a landing on Upper Red Lake in MN this past Saturday.
 
I'm not a scofflaw by nature, but sometimes I stop, and sometimes I don't. My Watermaster is cleaned and dried when I put it in its dry bag. Honestly, I ain't gonna' bother pulling it out for an inspector. My raft is rolled up and sitting on the rowing frame on the trailer on the way to MT, not exactly convenient to inspect. It's more likely inflated on the trailer for the trip home and inspectable in that configuration, so I might stop. When I wash and dry either of these, they get a more detailed inspection than occurs at a state inspection station, so I'm confident that I'm not spreading invasives.
 
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