The Plant Police Are Coming for You

These two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are feeding on sunflower seeds that originated in North America, but we often feed wild birds seeds from other lands, such as niger (also spelled nyger) that is grown in Africa, India, and other places in Southeast Asia. Why is it okay to provide foreign foods in a feeder to native animals, but frowned upon to feed them by way of nonnative plants that have the additional benefit of also providing shelter and nesting sites?

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © Marlene A. Condon

 

In 2010, overpopulated deer herds denuded virtually every native plant in my yard. Consequently, the plants were unable to flower and produce fruits. If I hadn’t grown nonnative plants unpalatable to deer, such as Japanese Barberry shrubs (Berberis thunbergii) that did make fruits, a flock of bluebirds that visited the following extremely cold and snowy winter would not have found nourishment. 

When I excitedly reported to the state Internet bird-reporting site my discovery that bluebirds ate Japanese Barberry fruits, I was taken to task for growing “such an invasive alien plant in [my] yard!” Although my comment went out to serious birders who presumably care about these avian creatures, no-one expressed happiness that the bluebirds at least found something to eat.

 

In the ensuing eleven years, a huge invasive-plant mythology has been written to support waging an unjustified war against specific alien plants, and government at all levels has been brought on board to deny you the right to grow plants that can survive deer overpopulations, climate change, and vast alteration of our physical environment.

 

The City of Cape May, New Jersey, almost passed Ordinance 404-2020 in December of 2020 “relating to the control and elimination of invasive plants”. It was much supported by the Cape May Environmental Commission, a member of which wrote a letter to the editor which contained the usual misinformation that, nevertheless, often convinces unknowledgeable government officials to act in a manner that harms, instead of helps, nature.

 

The letter writer spoke of kudzu to say that “It outcompetes all native vegetation and creates a monoculture made up of itself. This is true of all invasive plants [emphasis mine].” This last pronouncement is simply not true.

 

So-called invasive plants grow where conditions are especially suitable for them, but not for native plants, which means aliens aren’t “outcompeting” natives. Rather, native plants are not growing there in the first place. Additionally, “all invasive plants” do not necessarily create a monoculture. Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellatus) shrubs often share fields with Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) and other species.

 

The next sentence of the letter reads that “You may control an invasive on your property, but if it has seeds, both the birds and the wind spread the tree, bush, or plant.” What does this statement tell you? It declares that the so-called invasive plant provides food for birds, and if it’s a tree or a bush, it goes without saying that it also supplies cover and perhaps a nesting site for them.

 

Yet the sentence following the declaration above tells us that “Monocultures do not feed our bees, butterflies, or birds.” This kind of conflicting information is extremely common in letters to the editor and in articles in which the author wants to convince us of the evils of supposedly invasive plants.

 

Continuing, the writer says that, “Planting native trees attracts insects that are needed to feed the birds [but] [a]lien tree species do not attract these specific insects, so they may be pretty, but as far as the environment is concerned, they might as well be stone statues.” Wrong.

 

Native trees may support more caterpillars and sawfly larvae (an animal commonly considered a “pest” when feeding in people’s yards) than alien plants, but that doesn’t mean the pretty nonnative plants “might as well be stone statues”. Flowers are typically what make a plant pretty, and many so-called invasive plants make flowers that attract a huge number of pollinator species. These insects are dwindling in number, undoubtedly due, at least in part, to the vast amount of lawn area in this country that is devoid of "weeds" (interpretation: flowering herbaceous plants) that could feed them.

 

The conclusion of the letter writer is that, “We need this ordinance as a way of supporting the need to educate and control invasive species.” Amazingly, the local government tabled the ordinance, but you can bet the Cape May Environmental Commission will be back pushing for some version of it yet again, even though the “facts” provided by this member of the commission are inaccurate.

 

Unfortunately, some states have fallen under the spell of the mythological “invasive-plant” narrative. In the state of Washington, “plant police” are authorized to charge you with a crime (harboring an illegal alien!!!) and assess fines should your yard contain a plant on the “Noxious Weed List”.

 

https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/washingtons-noxious-weed-laws

 

The Environmental Protection Agency is working to bring this reality to backyards everywhere across the land of the free. Susan Gitlin, Office of Sustainable Communities at the EPA, writes of “refining lists of plants that are regulated at the state and federal level”, positing that such plants “have moved from their native regions into new areas where they crowd out native vegetation.”

 

https://www.astm.org/standardization-news/?q=update/invasive-plant-listing-ja13.html

 

This now entrenched, but false, belief of nonnative plants crowding out native plants has been made “factual” only by perpetual repetition by native-plant societies and other special-interest groups, including invasion-biology scientists, but it contains serious errors of omission. For example, people ignore the factuality that growing conditions in many locations are no longer hospitable to most native plants.

 

Alien plants, such as Autumn Olive that these folks are determined to eradicate, are especially noticeable along highway edges created by construction of roadways or in fields abandoned by farmers. Like native colonizers, such as Virginia Redcedar, they can grow just fine in soil compacted for centuries by cows weighing a half-ton each or road-building crews that bulldozed the land, removing topsoil.

 

If you weren’t paying attention for the past forty-five years and now notice the abundance of nonnative plants in such areas, you could easily believe that nonnative plants pushed out native plants. This misperception forms the basis for the entire field of invasion biology.

 

But the actuality is that abandoned fields, roadsides, hiking trails, and clearcut forest not replanted filled eventually—I’m talking many years—with colonizers, whether native, nonnative, or a mix of both. I’ve been watching it happen since I was a college student in the 1970s, and you don’t even need a scientist to explain why this scenario makes sense.

 

Any avid gardener knows the saying, “right plant, right place”, meaning that every plant has specific growing requirements that must be met for it to thrive. Most native plants cannot grow in the corrupted soil profile of disturbed areas, which includes homeowner yards that have been cleared and graded. When I moved into my house 35 years ago, the gray-clay subsoil had been exposed and the yard looked like the surface of the Moon.

 

Alien plants quickly provided wildlife habitat, and my moonscape became a nature-friendly garden supporting a larger diversity and abundance of wildlife than had existed when the land was deeply shaded by forest. Over the decades, these plants rehabilitated the soil and numerous species of native plants have moved naturally into my yard, but I refuse to remove the alien plants that have been—and remain—so helpful.

 

I’ve seen far more wildlife—in species and numbers—in my yard over the past 35 years than most folks will ever see in a lifetime of visiting wildlife refuges and national parks. I know for a fact that nonnative plants are beneficial to wildlife by providing them with food and shelter and to native plants by rehabbing the soil for them to return.

 

If you want to truly aid our wildlife and the environment in its entirety, you must ignore the mythmakers of plant-invasion biology. But don’t ignore your lawmakers! Please let your congressional representatives know you don’t want laws restricting alien plants on your property—and tell them the excellent reasons why not.

 

 NATURE ADVICE: 

Before taking advice from those folks who may have their own agendas for pushing you to remove alien plants, make notes on which animals are making use of them, as I have done for many years. It may well change your mind as to what’s in the best interest of our wildlife.

 

 

Helping Nature Shouldn’t Be Against the Law

The south side of the author’s nature-friendly yard is filled with plants, providing habitat for a huge variety of wildlife that includes mice and the native Eastern Woodrat. Does a yard like this threaten anyone’s health, safety, or general welfare? Absolutely not.

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © Marlene A. Condon

 

Over the years, many folks have asked for my assistance when they’ve tried to do what’s right for the natural world and run head-on into government regulations. Unfortunately, it’s hard to fight City Hall if you don’t have a large group of citizens willing to speak out for the cause of “nature justice”.

 

I’m hoping that at some point, environmentalists will stop waging useless wars (on so-called invasive plants, for example) and start fighting for realistic changes that can truly make a difference for our natural world. In cities and towns, and in many rural subdivisions, regulations are put into place to control the appearance of the developed area and they are highly detrimental to wildlife. Yet very few people fight against this government overreach that is based upon a lack of knowledge.

 

Under the heading, “Tall Grass and Weeds” at the website for Harrisonburg, Virginia, you will read that “Whenever grass, weeds, brush or other foreign growth attains a height of twelve (12) inches or more, it shall be presumed to threaten the health, safety and general welfare of residents of the City.”

 

https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/tall-grass-weeds

 

Under the heading “Unlawful growth of weeds and other vegetation” at the Charlottesville, Virginia, website, you’ll find that “All weeds existing in violation of this section are hereby declared to constitute a public nuisance.”

 

http://vtod.frec.vt.edu/Documents/Charlottesville.pdf

 

Citizens of these two cities can be fined for disobeying these ordinances. But nature has gotten a bad rap. When left to its own devices in developed areas, wildlife habitat is viewed as overgrown, messy, and a place that will assuredly attract undesirable critters that carry disease (i.e., rats and mice), referred to as “vermin”. But does this picture accurately depict natural areas?

 

The answer is a resounding, “NO”. Mice and rats exist because they fulfill crucial roles in the functioning of the environment. Mice are Mother Nature’s gardeners that also practice natural plant control, and rats are part of her cleanup crew.

 

When mice carry seeds back to their nests and drop some along the way, they help plants to spread, which is vital for the perpetuation of wildlife habitat. When they feed upon the seeds they collect, mice limit the numbers of plants in an area, thereby preventing overcrowding of the plants, which ensures their good health.

 

Rats can be called opportunists that will feed upon just about anything edible they can find, such as dead animals, fresh and rotting fruits and vegetables, and seeds. Without them, the environment would not be cleared as quickly of decaying organic matter.

 

Are humans likely to catch diseases from mice and rats in a natural area located near people? It’s highly unlikely unless you handle one of these critters, which everyone should know better than to do. It’s your responsibility to teach your children not to touch dead animals, just as you must teach them not to cross the street without looking both ways first and not to stick their fingers into an electrical outlet.

 

So why is there so much fear about this issue? It’s because people don’t employ rational thought when considering their relationship to the natural world. Instead of behaving responsibly, they instead want to kill wildlife doing its job.

 

If you don’t seal your house to keep wildlife outside, and if your house is dirty with food crumbs on floors and furniture, you are going to attract animals to clean up after you. If you come into contact with saliva, urine, and/or droppings from disease-infected rats and mice, you may well become infected. You also need to avoid getting bitten.

 

The smartest strategy for preventing exposure to rodent diseases is to seal all entries to your home to the best of your ability and to minimize food sources that attract these animals in the first place. If you feed birds, only put out as much seed as will get taken each day (mice and rats are active mainly at night).

 

Nature-friendly landscaping around your house will invite the variety of creatures that keep your environment working properly. Owls, hawks, and foxes—all of which are well habituated to urban/suburban areas—can help to limit rodents, but they require habitat.  Whatever you do, don’t employ poisons of any sort. They are inhumane, causing intense suffering, and they kill any critter that feeds upon a dying poisoned animal.

 

It’s the height of silliness for local ordinances to limit the height of plants in a yard, and to speak of tall plants as threatening to the health and safety of citizens. If you reside in an area governed by outmoded thinking about our wild plants and animals, please speak against it.

 

NATURE ADVICE: 

It’s important for people who care about the environment to try to join with others of like mind to change laws that negatively affect it. One way to accomplish this goal would be to send a press release to the local newspaper to let folks know of your plans. Libraries and other public spaces often allow use of their meeting rooms at no cost for noncommercial purposes. Weed ordinances perpetuate prejudiced ideas that are invalid. Let’s get some justice for nature!