Report of the Non-native

For Washington state, the invasion of non-native species stops in cyberspace.

A new app called WA Invasives, which the Washington Invasive Species Council just released, allows the public to report sightings of invasive species. The app gives individuals the ability to send photographs of and location information for their sightings to the council.

By involving the public, the app increases the possibility of removing invasive species from the state. The Washington Invasive Species Council uses the information sent to them through the app to verify the presence of non-native species and eliminate them. Without the public's participation, many invasive species would go unaddressed.

WA Invasives runs on both iPhones and Android phones. For more information about the app, click here.

Let's help the app spread, so the invasive species won't anymore.

An Idea Forged in Fire

Only you can stop thinking about forest fires in the old way.

Smokey Bear famously encouraged us to prevent forest fires. We took the slogan to heart, but perhaps we overdid it. While it's true that we need to take care not to start them, the idea that all wildfires are completely negative for the environment needs revision.

Recent scientific research, including this study by Oregon State University, has shown that wildfires are yet another important life force in ecosystems. Among other things, fire helps contain invasive species and functions as a starter for new life processes. This means that total fire suppression prevents the natural cycle from playing out.

We had the best of intentions in preventing forest fires, but this idea about the key environmental role of such fires needs to ... well ... catch fire.

Unwelcome Find

Invasive English laurel

Not all of my discoveries on nature walks have happy endings.

I've found plenty of cool things while on my walks. The evergreen huckleberry bush I blogged about recently is one example. I also found salal two years ago. However, last week, I came across two invasive species.

First, I found some ivy. Seven years ago, I removed a patch of ivy, but apparently, I left a piece because a new vine was starting to spread in the same place. I quickly pulled it up. A few days later, I found a plant I had never seen before. We checked with Sound Native Plants and the Washington Native Plant Society, and they informed us that it was an English laurel, which is starting to invade parts of Washington state. We'll be removing it.

It's always fun to find a native species, but finding an invasive species can turn a nature walk into a security patrol.

To learn more about plants native to Washington, visit the Washington Native Plant Society and Sound Native Plants. For information on removing ivy, visit Ivy Out.