Close to one half million living healthy trees to be cut down around San Francisco!!

[NickB79]

103. Creating the forest equivalent of a corn field isn't a real criteria for removal?

Eucalyptus outcompetes almost all other species when introduced somewhere without native predators to control it's spread, creating a monocrop with extremely low biodiversity. This is not speculation; this is borne out by decades of research. And that 100+ yr old tree you think doesn't need to be eliminated is probably producing enough seeds by itself every year to colonize hundreds of acres of land given enough time.

This has nothing to do with the all-native mindset of some ecologists. Almost all ecologists, even those who readily accept that introduced species have merit in the modern landscape (like I do, FYI), recognize the danger of certain uncontrolled invasive species to modern ecosystems. Species that reproduce and colonize so rapidly that they hit ecosystems like a bomb.

But please, go on. Perhaps you could tell us the merits of letting kudzu run rampant, or buckthorn in Eastern hardwood forests?

Heck, maybe you can even find a redeeming feature in the invasive wild parsnips that are taking over the ditch near my house, that cause blisters like this to appear when you get the sap on your skin:

Want me to mail you some seeds for your backyard this fall?