The War on Weeds
The Dominion - News From the Grassroots
Canada Goldenrod - a favourite food plant for pollinators - one of the
hundreds of "weeds" on Manitoba's hitlist for eradication. PLT photo
hundreds of "weeds" on Manitoba's hitlist for eradication. PLT photo
Manitoba farmers grapple with impacts and legality of municipal herbicide use. Full story here.
Comments
presenting the greatest danger to the environment,... our water sources, the food we grow, and yes, even our human health?
The weeds,? of course not. It's the poison that the Province allows and permits the Municipalities to spray in the public ditches.
Another point to consider is that, if plant species really do deserve to be "controlled", herbicide spraying isn't necessarily the best or only couse of action. A good example from Ontario would be Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). It is an invasive wetland plant that was spreading dramatically some years ago. Botanists were very afraid it would take over its habitat and out-compete a range of native plants. However the controlled introduction of 2 species of Galerucella beetles from the plant's native range has succeded in reducing the population to manageable proportions in fairly short order. Poison isn't the only answer.
Thanks for an interesting article.