According to the National Invasive Species Information Center an “invasive species” is a species that is: 1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and,
2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. Another definition of invasive species, and my favorite, is from Wikipedia, “An invasive species is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated with and harms its new environment.” You can do your own research but they all say basically the same thing.

In these two images you can see the harm done to the environment by an invasive species. I am standing in approximately the same location in both images but a year a part. Top image taken in June 2021 and the bottom image in June 2022. Those beautiful cottonwood trees I enjoyed seeing and photographing in the top image, have been removed. The green lush field is now barren dirt, piles of gravel/sand and about to have sewer lines, water lines buried underground then covered with concrete and cement. Gone.

I am saddened because earth movers are in the process of destroying complete ecosystems and calling it development. Sorry to differ but it’s called destruction. They both start with the letter “D” but that’s about as close as they get. I will boldly say housing is an environmental issue with its roots solidly based in money! Where we build housing says a lot about our views on and treatment of the land on which we live. And, I would suggest that those developers do not live in this sort of neighborhood. Nor do they care about the debt people will be getting into so they can increase their financial wealth. But more importantly the increases in housing density and associated development on rural forest lands and even farming practices has been linked to numerous changes to private forest services across watersheds, including decreases in native wildlife; changes in forest health, reduced water quality and availability. And, I’ve not even started with the impact of the maintenance of this infrastructure, environmentally and economically in years to come.

If I go with the definition by Wikipedia then the major invasive species I know is: humans. Interesting how man makes a list of invasive species such as thistle, bindweed, Zebra mussels, garlic mustard and the list goes on, but arrogantly leaves himself off the list. We have had people shouting warnings for years but many humans ignore it. Here’s a simple post by our friend Joe at JWSmithPhoto about this very thing.

Now that I’ve spent a few days writing and rewriting this post, I’ve uncovered how I really feel and discovered that I’m not just sad but I’m also pissed!

Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed.

Alan Paton