Giving Invasive Species the Boot

A friend of mine just took a job with a newspaper in Boulder, Colo., prompting me to check out the paper’s Web site and get a feel for the area (and more importantly its fisheries) in case I head up that way to visit in the near future.

While I was surfing the Daily Camera’s site, I came across an interesting piece by outdoors columnist Ed Engle.

Engle brings up an interesting issue that has really become a hot-button topic out West because of invasive species being transported from one water to another.

At a recent fishing expo, Engle said the most interesting thing he took away from the convention was “the movement away from felt-soled wading boots by many of the manufacturers. From what I could tell, it looks like it won’t be long before the wading shoe you and I buy will have a high-tech, sticky rubber sole.”

The hope, of course, is that invasive species like the Quagga Mussel will no longer hide out in our old felt-soled boots as we hike from fishery to fishery. Here are some additional tips to help prevent the spread of invasive species.