We all know about the Grinch who stole Christmas, but, let's face it. Christmas comes but once a year (to coin a phrase) but the New Year is with us 24/7, 365. Sorry: 366. This is a Leap Year. And the Grinch may be poised to steal the whole dang thing. I speak, of course, of rock snot.

Rock snot is an alga of almost unspeakable loathsomeness. Didymosphenia geminata, or "didymo" for short, is a single-cell life form that reproduces with abandon, carpeting the beds of freestone streams with a thick, mucusy yellowish blanket of gooey, slimy -- snot. It chokes off all insect life, thus eliminating whatever fishery existed before.

Didymo may have originated in Vancouver. But the bizarre thing is, it was not an invasive species that was unwittingly introduced by some blundering angler. It had been there all along, apparently, but at this moment in history it chose to mutate and proliferate. The result has been catastrophic, and the catastrophe has spread. Rock snot has invaded New Zealand streams, probably on the wading shoes of a globetrotting angler. And it has also arrived in New England, fouling stretches of the Connecticut River.

If we anglers make one New Year's resolution, it should be to decontaminate our wading shoes after every outing, to prevent the spread of this menace to our prized trout streams. A bleach solution seems to do the job. Perhaps at places with somewhat controlled access, such as Upper Dam, visiting anglers could be required to dip their wading boots in a bleach solution before being allowed access to the pool.

Rock snot blooms have no natural enemy. Once in a stream, it takes over. There are reports that New Zealand scientists have found a way to kill the alga, but details are sketchy. Meanwhile, the only way to ensure additional happy new years seems to be prevention via voluntary decontamination. It's a little extra work, but the alternative is unacceptable. I have to note that anglers don't have a great track record in this area -- witness the knucklehead introduction of smallmouth bass into the Rapid River, and the spread of milfoil on boat hulls and props -- but let's resolve to keep rock snot out of trout streams. If we can do that, there will be many happy years of angling ahead.