Chenango County Dump the Bull Thistle Campaign

"Dump the Bull!"....Thistle, that is

About Invasive Species

          According to the Audubon Society: "The term invasive species describes the set of harmful, nonnative plants, animals, and microorganisms found throughout the United States that are causing widespread damage to bird and wildlife habitat and cause billions of dollars of damage annually to crops, rangelands, and waterways."..."Invasive species have infested more than 100 million acres of the American landscape, and continue to spread across more than 3 million acres each year, an area equal to a strip of land two miles wide stretching from coast to coast. Scientists, academics, government experts, and industry leaders are recognizing invasive species as one of the most serious environmental threats of the 21st century."
          If you want tolearn more about other invasive species, besides the Bull Thistle, the Audubon Society has created a website. At stopinvasivespecies.org you can learn how invasive plants threaten the habitat needed by native plants, birds, and animals, and what action you can take. They also have a New York Page about speciafic threats here.
          For example; At the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge in New York, American Black Ducks are threatened by invasive Phragmites, and another thistle, the Canada Thistle ( Cirsium arvense, a relative of the Bull Thistle and sometimes confused with it) is invading the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota, where Dickcissels are threatened by it.