In Defense of Nature

 Condon’s Corner

With native trees dying, it’s time to embrace “invasive” plants

© Marlene A. Condon 2026 All Rights Reserved

[Published May 14, 2026, by The Daily Progress, the daily newspaper of Charlottesville, Virginia] 

 

Oaks have been dying for many years now, and more species are following suit, such as White Pine (Pinus strobus) and Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). If you expect to feed and care for our wildlife, grow plants erroneously called “invasive” and fight new restrictions placed upon doing so.

The Daily Progress newspaper of April 16, 2026 included this article headline: “Outpacing evolution: Scientists using DNA to battle climate change”. Apparently, scientists have given up on getting people to change their ways to avoid climate problems brought about by our extensive employment of fossil fuels.

 

Instead, they’ve decided it would be “easier” (don’t believe it) to completely alter the genetic blueprint for the estimated one million species facing extinction so these creatures can tolerate climate extremes, disease, and drought. In other words, man has finally begun to think of himself as God, the Almighty. (The hubris!)

 

You can see the acceptance of our situation by other news stories, too, such as an AOL story that told us, “As the planet warms, scientists burn homes to figure out how to best protect them in wildfires.” Even more concernedly, some scientists are putting a positive spin on what’s happening: “Five ecosystems transformed by climate change give birth to new, sometimes even richer worlds.” [From an ad for a PBS program]

 

And then, AOL recently published, “Climate doom and gloom? Try laughing instead. Activists embrace joy in the fight to save Earth”. If only it were a laughing matter, but here in Virginia, it isn’t.

 

On April 9 of this year, abc7News printed an article about Virginia’s recently elected governor, Abigail Spanberger, signing bills to create “4 laws to combat invasive plant species in Virginia”.

 

Gov. Spanberger signs 4 laws to combat invasive plant species in Virginia

 

The article states that the bills will “protect the state's land, water, and wildlife.” It quotes executive director, Laurn Yatkor, of Blue Ridge PRISM, an environmental group “that helped draft three of the four new laws.”

She’s quoted as saying that “Invasive plants are one of the most urgent and under-recognized threats to Virginia’s pollinators, songbirds, livestock, waterways, tree canopy, and recreational parks,” She goes on to say, “The scope and the scale of the problem are vast, and it will take a village to repair the damage done and ensure a healthy environment for future generations.”

 

But where’s the factual information to support these statements? None exists because nothing could be further from the truth. Removing so-called invasive plants will only deplete desperately needed food and habitat for our critters and doom them to the extinction people supposedly are trying to avoid.

 

When you truly want to do what’s best, you take the time to make sure you understand the problems, rather than simply repeating dogma put forth by numerous groups who don’t actually know how the environment works.

 

We are told that these “new laws aim to support long-term solutions that are more effective at prevention and species management. Specifically, it illegalizes the planting of invasive species along state highways, expands the Noxious Weeds List, incentivizes local jurisdictions to raise funds to control invasive species, and gives state agencies the ability to use volunteers to control invasive species on state lands.” Yikes.

 

What are the alternatives to planting “invasive” species along our highways? For numerous decades, Virginia insisted upon nonnative lawn grass as the only plant to be used there, despite the huge cost—monetarily and environmentally—to keep it mowed regularly throughout the growing season. Yes, grass had to be kept cut due to societal expectations for this type of plant, which you can see all around you locally as you drive by the vast majority of yards.

 

Even now, with the number of mowings reduced to twice a year, we still spend an enormous amount of money on Virginia’s almost 60,000 miles of interstate, primary, secondary, and frontage roads.

 

But the beauty of leaving these strips to do their own thing throughout much of the growing season is that a huge number of nonnative wildflowers have moved in, creating beauty and interest for the traveler. Now this scenery will be replaced by native plants that are not going to thrive along interstates. After numerous decades of constant mowing, the soil has been compacted, which is not conducive to native plants that have mostly evolved within forests of loose, rich soil.

 

Common sense should tell you that the best plants for degraded habitats are, therefore, plants known as “invasive” because they do so well in areas where the land would otherwise be quite barren because native plants would struggle. In point of fact, the term “invasive” is a prejudicial word meant to fool people into believing these alien plants are somehow “bad” and thus should be hated and removed.

 

And, adding insult to injury, nonnative plants are usually removed with pesticides that poison the ground, the plants they’re used on, and any organisms that happen to be upon the plants when the pesticide is applied.

 

Yet, in truth, so-called invasive plants are actually critically vital saviors, not only for our wildlife but for our native plants! Over the course of time, nonnative plants rebuild the soil so that native plants can one day return. And, in the meantime, they feed and/or provide nesting sites for our wildlife so they can survive.

 

Indeed, we should be grateful for alien plants that can grow in degraded areas instead of denigrating them out of prejudice based upon ignorance that’s been taught from elementary school on up for some decades now. And to think such useful plants are now going to be added to an official “noxious weeds” list, a name that is exceedingly pejorative and is probably employed to slyly implant the idea in people’s minds that they should feel contempt for alien plants.

 

But should they? Absolutely not. So-called invasive plants feed Virginia’s insects and hummingbirds with nectar or pollen and songbirds with fruits or seeds—a truth native-plant folks are loathe to accept.

 

These new laws meant to “help” wildlife will instead shepherd its demise. If you own property and truly care about our critters, my advice is do not follow the recommendations of government agencies and groups like PRISM who influence them. Stand up for what is truly best for our environment.