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#1 | |
WG Staff
Join Date: Nov 2008
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Unwanted, unloved and living here
If it slithers, stings, eats or just grows, the state wants invasive species gone By Brian Nearing, Staff writer First published in print: Thursday, April 8, 2010 Unwanted, unloved and living here -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY excerpt from above: Quote:
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The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. -Mencius |
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#2 | |
WG Staff
Join Date: Nov 2008
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Council Proposes Action to Protect Forests, Farmlands and Waterway from Invasive Species
This story was released on 2010-04-06 Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency excerpt from above: Quote:
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The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. -Mencius |
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#3 |
POM Judge & Official Non Gardener
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
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gudgreef...no wonder the DEC people can't get their real work done...
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#4 |
Salamander
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Annapolis, MD
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Actually, I wish we had something like that here--even if things were just broadly labeled, "This plant/animal is not native to the continental US and may have the potential to become invasive" at least people couldn't say they didn't know, and it brings it to their consciousness that there are native alternatives available.
Many people just assume that if it's for sale in a nursery, it must be fine to plant. Dare I draw a parallel between the quality of plants in a nursery and the quality of "food" in a grocery store? I know several large mail-order nurseries that don't obviously identify native and non-native plants. It would be a simple matter to add a symbol. Without getting too political, I'd think that in this age of xenoph. . . Ahem. . . Patriotism!, nurseries and other similar businesses could easily capitalize on native plants' status by putting a little US flag symbol next to them to indicate that they are indeed native plants and not imported from some other country or continent. And wouldn't it be great if the non-native symbol was the same little flag with the universal 'no' sign over it, like the No-Smoking symbol. I wonder how quickly that would effect gardener's purchases and the nurseries that propagate all those non-native nuisance plants? Hmmn. . . today's cloudy, damp weather must be making me cross. . . |
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#5 |
Fox
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Wisconsin
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This kind of action is not only possible, it's doable. Wisconsin has already done it:
Invasive Species - WDNR Beside the obvious benefits to the environment, it allows environmentally responsible businesses to at least compete on a level playing field with environmentally irresponsible businesses.
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. Age is a biological fact. Old is a state of mind. I will age, but I refuse to get old. |
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#6 |
Fox
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: S. Grafton, Massachusetts
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Some time ago there was an article in one of the local papers talking about invasives and why they were a problem. One of the environmentalists interviewed stated that there should be fines for landowners who don't eradicate invasives on their property.
My friend has a 54 acre farm and many of the plants on it are non-native and some are invasive. He works full time and then some just to run his business. If faced with the potential for costly fines for not searching all corners of his land for invasives, I know what his response would be. He would clear his land of all plants, native and non-native alike. He would just mow everything down. It is ridiculous to think about penalizing landowners for not doing something that professional land-managers and botanists struggle for years to accomplish. If you want to regulate or prohibit the sale of invasives, that's one thing. Be careful, however, about asking too much of people or you may find you're making needless enemies and throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
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BULUCANAGRIA'S FLICKR |
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#7 |
Slapping, Swearing, Itching, Scratching Mosquito Bait
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: pennsylvania,usa
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Around here you can get into big trouble cutting down more than a certain number (5?) of trees over a certain size without a good reason and a permit, so the baby-with-the-bathwater problem has already been headed off.
The state of Washington has been doing this for twenty years. They started with a big public awareness campaign and it's been pretty successful. The state and federal lands are subject to the same rules as private landowners. My impression is that the laws were phased in very slowly, and mostly consists of notices from the state and possible fines. |
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#8 |
WG Facebook Administrator
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Lyme, NH
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Another approach to solving the landowner issue is to offer bounties to landowners who maintain healthy ecosystems on their property. A bit of carrot, a bit of stick...?
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#9 |
Butterfly Educator Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ventnor City, New Jersey, USA
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My boyfriend and I have been to every garden center within a 75 mile radius from our area and we have found very few that carry any natives! If you speak with the 'average' person who gardens, they are more concerned with how the plant looks and whether insects/deer/critters will eat it.
The garden centers 'could' do the right thing, but unless someone tells them to do the right thing, I doubt they will. Maybe other states will jump on the bandwagon and follow NY's lead!
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"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." ~Hans Christian Anderson http://mslenahan.edublogs.org/ |
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#10 |
WG Facebook Administrator
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Lyme, NH
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Unfortunately, NY isn't really leading here. New England, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other states are far ahead of NY in dealing with these issues. This state doesn't actually prohibit a single plant, even stuff like Heracleum mantegazzianum that can, in extreme cases, cause blindness in humans. Most of us here are saying "about time!"
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