NEWS Fisheries Biologist Stephen Siddons distributes plain pocketbook mussels to volunteers for placement in the North Platte River drainage. (Photo by Chris Martin/WGFD) Siddons said. "The mussels looked healthy and clean and stayed that way all day." Siddons said Game and Fish has found plain pocketbook shells throughout the North Platte River drainage from the Nebraska state line to Gray Reef Reservoir near Casper. But since 2000 only one live mussel has been found, and that was in the Laramie River. Wyoming is the western range for the mussels, and Siddons said historically there used to be a lot of them in the state. "With that we came to the conclusion they were gone from the state," Siddons said. Siddons said a follow-up four days after the stocking found no signs of mussel mortality. A more thorough survey will be conducted with snokel gear this month with to locate live mussels and document any losses. Monitoring will continue annually, and Siddons hopes to plant more mussels during the next two years. - Robert Gagliardi, WGFD Steve Gale, fisheries biologist, teaches volunteer Marshall Compton how to correctly place mussels on the river bottom. (Photo by Chris Martin/WGFD) Regional Fisheries Supervisor in Laramie Bobby Compton and Fisheries Technician Elise Huysman place plain pocketbook mussels in the North Platte River. (Photo by Chris Martin/WGFD) Wyoming Wildlife | 9