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There's a struggle underway, a secretive battle in the woodlands and wetlands of the Winooski Valley Park District. Oh, it's a frightening scene; I've seen it, and so have many others, though they might not be aware it. Those brilliant, magenta flowers saturating wetlands, those wispy tasseled reeds "sharing" land with cattails, those lush emerald leaves drenching Vermont woods. They all seem so beautiful, an inviting sign of spring and summer, but there's a price to their beauty. We pay for their presence with the loss of native habitat and wildlife.

Invasive species are a troublesome problem for our Vermont landscape. Not native to this area, these plants and animals have a real "hay day" here without the natural predators that would have kept them in proportion in their original lands. They overcrowd and create monocultures where Vermont's native plants and animals have a difficult time surviving without the habitats that once supported them.

In order to preserve the native integrities that are so enjoyed in Vermont, a great stewardship effort is needed. The Park District continually seeks volunteers to help with invasive species removal, and during the summer months we will hold various free training sessions to better educate people about the threat that these pesky invaders pose to native ecosystems, and how they can participate in their control and eradication.