So why can’t we just let nature take its course? Because of the influence of human activities from the time of early settle-ment days. We have had continuing and mostly unrestrained development, suppression of wildfires, introduction of foreign plants and animals and elimination of predators. “Nature” just isn’t what it once was.
Examples abound. Suburban office parks, golf courses and shopping centers are built surrounded by lawns and lakes. We have created ideal habitat to encourage the overabundance of Canada geese, which foul everything. Wolves are eradicated, and deer multiply in numbers beyond what our shrunken forests can support.
Thus, after devouring the woodland understory of native plants and wildflowers, they overrun our gardens. Misguided early settlers think how nice it would be if those familiar Old World songbird species were here, so they import just a few starlings, house sparrows and others. But our native bluebirds and other cavity nesters haven’t had thousands of years of evolution to learn to compete with the aliens. They are overwhelmed and brought to the brink of extinction.
Thus, entire communities of plants and animals are out of balance. The only chance we have for not just withstanding the onslaught but redeeming a semblance of our natural world is with proven, science-based control and restoration methods.
Here are some actions that can be taken. Some are controversial and need your support:
– Invasive plant species must be cut, herbicided, burned or even biologically controlled. One alien weed, purple loosestrife, can completely overtake a wetland. But it is vulnerable to an otherwise harmless beetle that voraciously eats loosestrife!
– Since no natural predators exist to keep deer numbers under control, populations must be reduced until effective sterilization is available.
– Our native animals cannot successfully compete with the introduced zebra mussels, gypsy moths, fire ants, house cats (outdoor, free-roaming ones) and similar species. They must be controlled.
In short, nature must be managed. By letting nature “take its course,” it will be diminished and, in the end, so will we.
