"ROCK SNOT" -- The Next BIG Scourge For Americans To Worry About![You Are Permitted To Forget Global Warming, Again ...]

"Footwear blamed for 'rock snot' invasion of Md. streams"

By Associated Press
02/21/2011




Felt-soled fishing boots, of all things, are apparently the latest
threat to local fish populations, prompting Maryland to ban the shoes
in hopes of stopping an invasive form of algae -- appropriately dubbed
"rock snot" for its resemblance to yellow-brown mucous -- from hurting
pristine trout streams, the Associated Press reports.

Maryland's Department of Natural Resources plans to prohibit wading
with felt soles starting March 21 after discovering that "rock snot,"
or didymo -- a type of algae that coats riverbeds in thick mats --
thrives in the shoes' damp fibers and hitches a ride from one body of
water to another.

Rock snot has found its way across the U.S. and as of March 21,
Maryland will become the first state to enforce a felt boot ban. It
was found in 2008 in the Gunpowder Falls north of Baltimore. A western
Maryland stream, the Savage River, also has tested positive for the
organism but hasn't had a rock snot bloom. Similar bans will take
effect in Vermont on April 1 and in Alaska in 2012.

Maryland fishery regulators say the algae can smother aquatic insect
larvae such as mayflies, stoneflies and caddis flies -- favorites
among trout populations.

It's unknown how the rock snot will impact Maryland's waterways, but
ecologists agree on a cautionary approach.

"We've got to keep it from spreading," Jonathan McKnight, associate
director of the state Wildlife and Heritage Service in Maryland, told
AP.

Anglers have one month to stock up on new wading boots, and until Feb.
28 to submit comments on the proposed ban. Maryland officials say 2011
will be an "education year," with violators getting warnings and
information cards instead of tickets. Fines and penalties haven't yet
been determined and won't be effective until 2012.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the...rock_snot.html