In my apparently ongoing anger phase, I want to go on record that I despise the concept of “invasive species”. It is an unnatural concept. Nature does not have rules for who lives where. Nature is all about give life a go and congratulations to the survivors and their offspring. This whole “invasive species” idea is entirely dependent on the human desire for stagnant ecosystems – anything not present in 1491 SHOULD NOT be present in 2008! Besides, the whole premise is merely the smoke and mirrors covering the human desire to control everything.
DNR proposes stricter new rules to regulate invasive species: The rules being written by the DNR would create legal classifications of such invasive species, establish rules for sale and transportation of the non-native plants and animals, and prescribe fines and penalties for violating the law. … Two non-regulated categories — watch and non-restricted — would be set up for species that either are not currently in the state and for which there is little information or species that, though invasive, actually have beneficial impacts on the environment.OK – check list of species not present in Wisconsin prior to 1492: Starlings. Humans of European descent. Horses. Humans of African heritage. Dandelions. Norway maple trees. Honeysuckle bushes and many, many, many more. In fact, the more you look at the issue, the more you realize nature doesn’t pay attention to political boundaries. Nature is actually pretty adamant about changing over time. Oh yeah, and humans of Mexican decent.
Come to think of it, if you choose some other arbitrary point of time, say 168 million years ago, almost none of the species residing in Wisconsin in 1491 were residing in Wisconsin back then. Furthermore, since nothing but perhaps some bacteria exist at the GPS coordinates of Lake Mendota during the last ice age, is it not true that virtually every living thing in Wisconsin today descends from pioneering, colonizing, new to the area, competing and thriving invaders? If living here doesn’t make you a native, then what does? These are good questions for the DNR as they kill off the stuff on your property before sending you the bill for services rendered.
