The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) Commission held their September meeting at Rapid City’s Outdoor Campus West. The commission finalized proposals which will now be up for public comment.

AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES

The commission finalized four changes to the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) rules:

• Allow shoreline property owners to possess and transport invasive species away from their property for disposal in a manner that minimizes their spread to other waters. This means that individuals who own homes or cabins on a waterbody can remove AIS species on docks, boats, shorelines, or other similar structures.

• Provide an exemption to allow boats, docks or boat lifts with zebra mussels attached to be removed from, and launched directly back into that waterbody, without having mussels removed, if the boat is stored on the owner’s lakeside property or at a marina on the lake.

• Allow vegetation cut above the waterline to be attached to boats or blinds, as camouflage.

• Remove current rules requiring decontamination of boats that have used zebra-mussel-infested waters before their next launch.

If you would like to comment on any of these proposals, visit gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions. Comments can also be mailed to 523 E. Capitol Ave Pierre, SD

To hear the discussion on these proposals, audio from the meeting is available through South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will soon be available on the GFP website as part of the meeting archive. To see the proposal in its entirety, visit gfp.sd.gov/commission/informa tion.

To be included in the public record and to be considered by the commission, comments must include a full name and city of residence and be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on October 3.

The next GFP Commission meeting will be held October 7 to 8 in Deadwood.