FERNIE, British Columbia _ Roads leading to this Canadian skiing and fishing hot spot a couple hours north of Kalispell, Mont., are smooth and well-traveled. But if you're trailering a boat, or have a paddleboard or kayak on your rooftop, plan on a few delays.
The reason? Canada's western provinces, along with states in the northwest U.S., are serious about keeping aquatic invasive species (AIS) out of their waters.
Compared with their efforts, Minnesota's early attempts in recent decades to prevent infiltration by the same creepy critters appear lame. And, one could argue, Minnesota's AIS prevention efforts are still lame.
My two sons, Trevor and Cole, my wife, Jan, and I traveled to Fernie recently to fish the Elk River, a wide, beautiful 140-mile-long ribbon of blue water famous for cutthroat and bull trout.
The fishing was great, and if you get a chance to be on the Elk, casting for these beautiful trout, do it. But the topic of this column isn't fish or fishing, it's AIS prevention.
