All you Montlake loosestrife pullers (and others) will be interested in
this message about an alternate way to possibly control this noxious
weed....I wonder what else they will eat when (if) the loosestrife runs
out??? Haven't we been here before????

Roger Olstad
Seattle (Lake Forest Park)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 21:10:24 -0500 (EST)
From: "Maxine L. Wolfson" <MLW at MATH.AMS.ORG>
Reply-To: mgarden at listproc.wsu.edu
To: mgarden at listproc.wsu.edu
Subject: Re: non-native introduction to ecosystems

*The other piece was about an experiment taking place in New Hampshire
*introducing predators of purple loosestrife from Europe, where it
*(loosestrife) originated. Weevils and leaf beetles are being tested, but
*as of the date of this article, results were not conclusive. Again, does
*anyone know anything more recent about this experiment?

I was hoping to go to Roger Williams Zoo on Friday to visit the animals.
While I am there, I will see if anyone is there who knows how their
experiment with the loosestrife predators is going. 2 years ago, they
set up a tent in the wetlands area, with no signage or explaination.
I asked, since I suspected they were introducing some new creature or
plant, and got some *very* vague responses. Last year, the tent was
gone, and signage was up showing the beetle that they were importing
to take care of the loosestrife. Did the wetlands look any less choked
with loosestrife? Not this year, to my untrained eye. But since the
seed has been known to be viable for goodly lengths of time, and since
one plant can produce millions of seeds each year, it may be a while
before the casual visitor notices a difference.

I will ask. By the way, RWZ is in Rhode Island, so it may be another
site you heard about. We are a good distance south of NH, and coastal,
so our weather patterns will make a difference in the viability of
the introduced species.