Action | Amend noxious weed list |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 12/8/2023 |
I'm aware that current regulations do not permit listing plants that are "commercially viable". This is short-sighted and does not acknowledge the tremendous economic impact that is increasingly borne by landowners and localities who spend a great deal of money to remove and continuously monitor open spaces for invasives, or incur the high expense of felling trees that are killed by choking vines. With this regulatory obstacle in place, we will continue to lose the battle against invasives, despite overwhelming evidence of ecological and economic damage. Any economic injury to the Virginia-based horticulture industry could not possibly come close to the level of damage we are seeing in our farms, forests, meadows, and wetlands.
So, even though it is quixotic to put this species forward given the current regulatory environment, I am putting forward English Ivy as a plant for consideration.