Fear of mussels closes lakes, irking boaters

Now, the boat sits agonizingly close to the water, idle and dry. She, and an untold number of other Western Massachusetts boaters like her, have found they have fewer places to go.

“It’s free of zebra mussels, I promise,’’ Balfanz said of her boat, which she scoured with hot water and bleach before letting it bake in the sun for four days, to minimize the risk of introducing the mollusks to the popular lake. “I’ve done everything I can do, yet I can’t take it out. I have a dock right in front of my house that I can’t use, so I’m definitely not very happy about it.’’

It was already a frustrating summer for boaters, with a rain-drenched June and temperatures that stayed stubbornly in the 60s. This week, as several Berkshire County towns closed public boat ramps to check the mussels’ spread amid fears they could rapidly infest surrounding lakes and ponds, some boaters wondered whether they would ever get back on the water.

Many boaters and fishermen have turned to the state, demanding that the Department of Fish and Game override local closings, while blasting local leaders for denying water access just as the weather cooperates.

“We couldn’t take advantage of a lot of the boating season,’’ said Nathalie Grady, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association. “So it’s that much more frustrating to have access cut off. It’s a trigger reaction to place the blame on boats.’’

Yesterday, Mary Griffin, the fish and game commissioner, said she believed that every town except Stockbridge had complied with the state’s directive to open the ramps. Griffin said the department is posting warning signs at boat ramps throughout Berkshire County and hopes to hire ramp monitors at some of the larger lakes.

Noting that the mussels have been confirmed in only one lake, 175-acre Laurel Lake in Lee and Lenox, many criticize the closings as an overreaction that will probably have little success in stopping the fast-spreading shellfish, a barnacle-like creature blamed for destroying aquatic life, clogging pipes and engines, and absorbing high concentrations of pollutants.

Many, including Grady, point out that small unmotorized vessels, such as kayaks and canoes, are more portable than boats and pose at least as great a risk of carrying the mussels to new waters.

Local officials contend that extreme measures are necessary, saying the mussels can wreak untold ecological and economic damage if given a chance to take hold.

“We’re really nervous about this,’’ said Gary Kleinerman, president of the Stockbridge Bowl Association. “You know how fast this will get to Walden Pond? As fast as a car drives on the Pike. Every other car has a kayak and boat going in every direction, and who knows what they are carrying.’’

Originally from Russia, zebra mussels - resembling small clams, often with striped shells - were first found in the United States in 1988 and now infest the Great Lakes region, which spends millions to combat them, and lakes in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. They move from one lake to the next by sticking to nearly any surface.

After ecologists confirmed the mussels were in Massachusetts, both in Laurel Lake and a stream that feeds the Housatonic River, state environmental officials closed the boat ramp at Laurel for 45 days and on Wednesday closed Quabbin Reservoir - a primary source of drinking water for Eastern Massachusetts that is also a popular fishing spot - to private recreational boats.

Officials said that the ban is strictly precautionary and that divers are continuing to collect samples and search the waters for any sign the mussels have arrived. In the Berkshires, volunteers are also taking water samples in numerous lakes and ponds for testing.

The mussels’ arrival is particularly alarming because waters in the area often have low acidity and high calcium.

“It’s the perfect environment for them,’’ said George Shippey, a Stockbridge selectman, who said he has met a strong backlash from sportsmen since the lake closed. “A number of people are quite angry, but they need to see the bigger picture.’’

Shippey said he hopes to have a central facility to wash boats within two weeks. He hopes the state will not force them to reopen the ramp before then.

“To be honest, I think the state’s got their head in the sand on this,’’ he said.

But Kate Plourd, spokeswoman for the Department of Fish and Game, said it has warned the towns they have no right to close the ramps and noted that boats are only one way the mussels are transported.

“To our knowledge, none of the other states that have experienced this have shut ramps down,’’ she said. “We have no plans to close any others.’’

The department received many calls from fishermen frustrated by the closings, she said.

Jon Puhalski, the fishing guide at Berkshire Fishing Club, said boaters should hold themselves responsible for carefully cleaning their vessels.

He fishes in Twin Lakes in Connecticut, which is infested. The fishing is still good, he said, since the mussels made the water clearer. But the sharp shells can slice through fishing lines.

In Pittsfield, local officials have urged the state to let them close ramps, without success. Instead, volunteers are inspecting boats and asking owners whether they have recently traveled in contaminated waters.

Lewis Cuyler, an avid rower, said he can see both sides of the argument, but comes down in favor of caution.

“It’s a very tough deal,’’ he said. “People love to use the lakes, but water is so precious you can’t allow it to be infected.’’

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.