VIDEO: Documentary series highlights invasive species in national parks – Part 4
A series of short documentaries covering invasive species in the Great Lakes was released in October, showing how invaders are changing the ecosystems in national parks and what’s being done to stop them. Videos were created by the National Park Service funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
In Part 4, see how the emerald ash borer has decimated ash trees, wreaking havoc in the forest and on the baseball field.
When you think about it, it’s really the anti-government fervor which has exacerbated the spread of invasive species such as the Emerald Ash Borer. When I was young, I recall government check points even at state borders, which were meant to stop certain fruits and vegetables from crossing state lines and potentially spreading havoc (diseases) in a state’s agricultural crops.
Nowadays, however, we don’t even make much of an effort to inspect international shipments. We promote “free trade”, ostensibly for its economic advantages (but to whom?), yet the cost of this unrestricted access to U.S. markets undermines the U.S. ecomony, and has decimated natural ecosystems. The price we pay for cheap Chinese goods is much, much too high.
We must recognize that the problem with invasive species is almost entirely trade related. Congress needs to take steps to thwart invasive species, but a mindset wedded entirely to pro-”free market” and “anti-government” will not do the trick.
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Too bad about the deer hunters taking the EAB wood across the Mackinaw bridge to the upper peninsula.
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cant you just tell us not show us with a video maybe some people cant waacth them…. like me you should make this a better website or get rid of it
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