Invasive Species and a Simple Solution the Government will Never Approve Because it Would Work

Everyone says globalization is a good thing. Maybe for the economy, but there are little or no benefits for the environment from globalization. Aside from the atrocities that big business inflict upon poor countries with lax environmental protection laws, there is the introduction of invasive species that destroy natural ecosystems and endanger or crowd out indigenous plants and wildlife. Large boats bring exotic species to different ports worldwide when they dump their bilge water. Insects and RATS hitch rides on international shipping vessels. Plants whether ornamental escapees or accidentals crowd out native habitats and reduce biodiversity. Okay that is the rant Part 1.

Part 2 revolves around the plants. I live in the Pacific NW in Washington State, and like the rest of the United States we have non-native invasive species destroying the scenery. Thats great and all, but our programs to control and eradicated these non-natives are comical and wasteful of tax payer dollars. In otherwords they are ridiculous. Millions of dollars are spent on studies such as: Predicting Invasiveness of Plant Species Based on Biological Information, or Invasive Plants Versus Their New and Old Neighbors: A Mechanism for Exotic Invasion or even A Taxonomic, Biogeographical and Ecological Overview of Invasive Woody Plants. In other layman terms the government dishes out large sums of money, millions of dollars in grants for these overeducated intellectuals who have little to no grasp on the real world so they can push up their glasses and say, yes this plant appears to be invasive and these are the reasons why.

Truly I can look around my mothers property and tell you with just my few biology classes and a botany class which plants are invasive. You look in an area and a non native plant, like Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Blackberry, Scotch Broom or English Ivy are the only plants there. Oh and another hint is they preceding names like Japanese, Himalayan, Scotch or English although this is not always an indicator as evinced by the likes of purple loosestrife or spotted knapweed. Oh my goodness how did I forget the prickly Canadian thistle. I must be slipping. Irregardless we know what is invasive. So tell me why in the world do we need to study these things.

I can solve this problem. Easily. Yeah it might cost a little and utilize some generally underutilized concepts in our quick fix society . . but first a little background. I have had two jobs that would lend to my expertise in the ability to solve this problem. One I have picked brush or cedar for Christmas tree wreathes and two I have planted trees. Now there are a whole community of people to work these jobs in almost every region of Washington. Some are even our illegal aliens getting so much press these days. Okay to solve the problem of invasive species instead of wasting more money on brazilliant scientists going "Eureka it is invading the riverbeds" you hire real people to go out and "GASP" dig this stuff up. I know, it is an outrageous concept. Hire them you say, take 100,000 dollars and not waste it. But they won't work hard and they will go through that money like crazy.

Okay here is the kicker. You do not "hire" them in the classic sense. You set up a station and let them go out to public lands or private lands with property owners written permission and dig up ROOTS. It must be ROOTS. You pay them a reasonable amount per pound that will enable the hard working people to earn about $100 dollars a day. From experience I know that they brush pickers are some of the hardest working people I have come across but they are often forced to tresspass to get to their product, so in one simple maneuver (sp?) you have caused a group of people to stop breaking the law and you have found a simple way to reduce non-native species invasiveness. Oh wait, it is way to simple and might actually work. The snail paced bueuracracy will never go for it. Long live Japanese knotweed!!!

Ranting by willow, the non invasive kind!!!