Having recently gotten my seaplane rating, and having made two trips to Montana in the last two years, I've got a curiosity question for anyone who might know. Montana had boat inspection stations all over the place and inspections for (I think it was) snail infestation were required to launch boats. This raised the question as to how states (like Montana) handle this for airplanes? On straight floats, there's no practical way to land for inspection. So what do they do? Ignore it? John
No knowledge whatsoever on the snail (or more likely Zebra mussel) inspections, but I'd guess that since most seaplanes don't have a bilge or livewell, the risk associated with not inspecting them is probably pretty low.
"Adult and juvenile mussels move on boat hulls, sea planes, docks, and buoys from one body of water to another."
Eurasian watermilfoil might be more of a problem with float planes than zebra mussels. It's an invasive weed that can grow 2" per day. It's a big problem in MN but I don't know if it's serious in MT. It's taken very serious at boat landings here. Obviously you can't remove it before landing at a different lake on floats. Lots of seaplane bases here haul your plane out of the water and park it on land, then you can remove any traces of it.
