High Bridge to Califon June 30, 2016

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Goffle Brook June 29, 2016

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house wrens hatched out

invasive species

The alien invaders are threatening to take over

Unless we eradicate them all the natives will be goners

That’s the message I hear repeated almost universally

That conclusion I am beginning to question.

A story in the local paper features our nearby nature preserve

Listing many unwanted plants but nothing there is native

In the sense that it has been there longer than my lifetime

What was a celery farm and before that a peat bog.

The attempt to restore native plants is a form of gardening

As if there is a static state in nature anywhere in the world

But considering it hasn’t rained in weeks the pond is drying up

Exposing the mud that is soon sprouting new green.

You might say that new growth is invading the pond

What changes whether or not the plant is native or alien?

Are not the native deer invasive thriving in the suburban setting

Browsing the native plants while leaving the aliens?

Then the problem is the native species

Though the ecology is complex and nuanced

Some aliens are harmful and some are beneficial

Some natives are beneficial and some are harmful.

The flora and fauna everywhere are dynamic and evolving

Some newcomers will thrive and some hybrids will happen

Biodiversity may increase though some species will be lost

In the Anthropocene we encourage a new outlook.

The conservation ethic that wants to defend the natives

Against the marauding invaders has a xenophobic echo

Ironic when raised by the descendants of European immigrants

Who inflicted genocide on the native people living here.

Who brought other invaders with them besides disease

Sowing alien seeds in the ploughed fields

Importing horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and all

While cutting down the forests and fouling the rivers.

Though going back in history around the world

Our entire species is the dominant invasive species

Causing extinctions that will peak with climate change

I am sympathetic to humanity and optimistic for life.

For who would say the result of our presence is all bad?

Our population growth is a measure of success

And when the social good not private profit rules

Surely we will find a way to harmonize with nature.