Saturday, May 18, 2002

Palm Beach Plant Perils

A while ago, Palm Beach County in Florida came close to instituting a very strict policy regarding the introduction of dozens of invasive and potentially invasive plants. Due to a move by the Florida state legislature superceding the Palm Beach ruling, their list is instead restricted to a few of the worst invaders. Removal of the species from Palm Beach County property is required as each of nine species are added to the banned list over the next decade.

One major problem with this is that species on the list are the most well-known and populous invaders. It's a lot easier and cheaper to avoid introducing non-native species, vs. removing established ones. Landowners are starting to raise concerns about the ruling, wondering how they will be able to afford to remove big shrubs and trees such as Melaleuca quinquenervia from their property. I wish Palm Beach County the best of luck, but I have doubts as to whether they'll ever be able to rid their land of those big bad invasives.

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