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December is a quiet time for the Southeast Alaska fresh water sport fisher. Most if not all of our regional fishing opportunities are now peacefully hidden under sheets of mirrored ice and thick blankets of snow. Days spent swinging flies to chrome bright salmon, streamside lunches with family and friends and the excitement of adventuresome fly-outs to remote watersheds are now cherished memories of the past summer. To the chorus and colors of the holiday season another angling chapter in our lives quietly closes. As residents of Southeast Alaska, we're fortunate to live and fish in an area that is known throughout the world for its pristine rivers and creeks and lake basins. The same is true of our local fisheries. Recreational sport fishers from the Lower 48 to Europe congregate to our local waters to enjoy the pleasures of casting to wild stock salmon, steelhead, Dolly Varden and coastal cutthroat trout. The small communities of Southeast Alaska value and depend on this vital revenue that fuels their economy, but at the same time, these visitors can unknowingly be the bridge for invasive species into our precious watersheds.

Recently, the state Board of Fisheries boldly accepted to implement a regional ban of felt sole waders specific to Southeast Alaska. This particular ban of felt soles to all wading boots and waders went into affect in January of 2011. This aggressive move to prohibit all felt sole waders in Southeast Alaska was not only a first of its kind to be adopted by a state regulatory body, but it also recognized and addressed the seriousness of the potential impact of invasive species to our local watersheds and their fisheries.

Local fly clubs, sport fishing circles and Trout Unlimited all applaud the Board of Fisheries for taking such an aggressive, proactive step in an attempt to curtail the spread of invasive species to our watersheds by banning the use of felt soled boots and waders in Southeast Alaska. All are even more pleased that effective Jan. 1, 2012, felt soled waders and boots will be prohibited statewide in Alaska. This action sets a major president for future fresh water fisheries management policy throughout the country.

As significant as this ban is, however, I feel it's important to mention that this initiative began at the community level here in Southeast Alaska, generated by the vision and insight of Juneau resident, Mark Vinsel. A member of the Rain Country Fly Fishers, a local Juneau fly-fishing club, Vinsel's broad awareness of the large-scale potential impact of invasive species on our watersheds was both scholastic and insightful. He not only understood the obvious implications of the transmission of invasive species via felt soles to our region's watersheds, but also understood the broader impact this might have on all Alaskans as we ultimately depend on a healthy sustainable fisheries to fuel our local economy.

Recreational sport fishing is an outdoor activity that we Alaskans both enjoy and depend on. It fuels our local economy at multiple levels, but it's also vitally dependent on a healthy sustainable fisheries. As we enter this holiday season and reflect back on this past summer - maybe the king salmon that placed in the Derby, or the smile and joy on your daughter's face when she caught her first salmon - let's not forget how fundamentally important our local fisheries are to our community and to our state. Finally, let's challenge ourselves to become active members in our community and engage in fisheries-related projects either as volunteers, chapter affiliates or student mentors, or by submitting a management proposal to the state Board of Fisheries. By doing this, we can all share an active role and be responsible for molding our future fisheries and fully enjoy what this precious resource has to offer.

Rich Culver is a fly-fishing freelance writer and photographer. He can be reached at flywater@alaska.net.