This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.

Wyoming Game and Fish caught a boat with live invasive zebra mussels on Sept. 22. This was the first boat with live mussels found at a check station in the state this year.

The Beulah aquatic invasive species (AIS) check station is the first one when entering Wyoming from South Dakota on I-90.

So far this year, check stations across the state inspected 73,000boats. Out of those, 1,121 needed to be decontaminated and 43 had dead mussels.

Wyoming is one of five states in the lower 48 that is mussel free, according to Game and Fish. Zebra and quagga mussels are aquatic invasive species that damage freshwater ecosystems. They can harm shorelines, fish populations and clog dam systems. Game and Fish says an infestation can cause a decline in tourism.

“When the AIS Program launched in 2010, our stations were only open for the main boating season,” said Josh Leonard, AIS coordinator for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “In the last few years, given the increased threat of AIS we recognize the need to stay open into the shoulder seasons, when the bulk of boaters are off the water. Situations like this demonstrate the threat is at our borders—knocking on Wyoming’s door. Everyone in Wyoming, or coming to Wyoming, should be concerned and get involved.”

Any watercraft transported into Wyoming between March 1 and Nov. 30 must stop at a check station. That includes all motorized watercraft, as well as non-motorized watercraft such as kayaks, canoes, rafts and paddleboards.