permaculture

["Bareis, Santa Cruz" <ibabambu@cruzio.com>]

Please when posting, if you would add the location of your perspective;
As "from where I'm sitting"  adds a dimension to the discussion.
Here is a recent  response to the discussion on introduction of 
"productive" species into the  environment.

Non-native plants and the loss of natural diversity...

> Where I work, in the 100th of 1% of what's left of the great
> Willamette Valley wet prairie, all of it is contaminated by non native
> plants and animals...some very aggressive...and some introduced by our
> well meaning government many years ago.  A dozen non native pasture
> grasses compete with native grasses.  Pears, crabapples, regular apples,
> and many other plants grown as ornamentals threaten wetlands..we have
> cotoneaster, rowan, juniper spp., hawthornes (which hybridize with our
> native Crataegus douglasii), pyracantha, and of coarse scotch
> broom...which lumberjacks in the early 20th century noticed invading the
> first regrowth after the old growth was cut here in OR.  The Nature
> Conservancy is dedicated to eradicating these pests wherever possible.
> Some will never be completely eradicated and we must live with them.  For
> some there is no known method to eliminate them and the best policy is to
> just leave them alone and prevent disturbing the soil.  We practice fire
> management here, much the same as the indiginous Kalapooya, before the
> coming of non native settlers.  Gil- Willamette Valley Oregon
> 
> .-