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RE: [RC] Wildlife encounters - bobmorrisKaren: Stop and think about all the invasive species now present in the North American Continent. Think about all that has been introduced since pre Columbian times. Cows, horses, sheep, pigs, pheasants, potatoes, many other types of vegetables, many of our grains, your lawn grass, a multitude of garden plants as well as our basic lifestyle. It is difficult to winnow the good from the bad. Rush Skeleton weed, a scrooge of the Northwest was introduced as silage plant back east. Now it is a weed. Purple loose strife is a garden plant still sold to home owners while we are trying to eradicate it. Kentucky Blue Grass is wonderful for your lawn but a problem for the farmer. Even your tasty peach trees are an introduced species and were a problem back in the early days of this country as they went wild. This problem of invasive plants and animals is not new. It has been recognized for several centuries. But with the world wide instant media coverage now in place it has become a popular rallying call. The fight against weeds is not new. Just a current popular cause. Bob Morris Bob Morris Morris Endurance Enterprises Boise, ID -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Karen Sullivan Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 10:08 PM To: ALYCIN HAYES; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] Wildlife encounters Sighting wildlife is one of the more wonderful aspects of horseback/endurance riding. Let's keep it wild, Alycin Alycin, I totally agree.....and what goes along with preserving wildlife is preserving the native plants....so I strongly urge people who move into rural areas NOT to plant invasive exotics (scotch broom comes to mind in Calif, or Pampas grass, or does Arundo ring a bell for your So.Cal folks?)....these plants will take over and invade and destroy and entire healthy ecosystem....next the insects, birds, reptiles and wildlife will leave....Scotch Broom is also extremely flammable. It;s a huge threat very vew people are aware of.....according to my recent U.C.Davis alumii magazine, "invasive species are second only to habitat loss (development) as a cause of species extinction....and cost the U.S more than $138 billion a year.....invasive plants and animal constitute one of the greatest threats to Earths natural web of life or ecosystems......ecologists studying invasive species have come to fear the interactions between invaders may disrupt ecosystems so extensively that human health and well being will be affected." I prefer also to ride where the plants and wildlife are native... Karen =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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