Hi, First let me say there are no bird sightings in this post. If you feel the list serve is only for sightings you can either ignore this missive or go here: http://www.ohiobirds.org/site/emaillist.php#guidelines and carefully READ the guidelines. That said... The cutting at Headlands dunes has stopped, for now. Thank you ODNR for listening, being responsive, and delaying the removal of the invasive honeysuckle. However this incident brings up a major issue the entire Ohio birding community should be concerned about and involved in. That is invasive plant species in our natural areas, preserves, and state parks. Why should birders care? The Headlands incident is a prefect example. While invasive plants provide needed forage cover for birds, they are non native and do not provide the best possible habitat for attracting birds. People in charge of keeping natural areas in a natural state, hate invasive plants and seek to eliminate them. Further they see our beloved birds as a primary vector in spreading these invasives. The attitude of land managers is get rid of it and hope something else comes up, if it comes back get rid of it again. From the bird lover's perspective this seems like insanity, that is, doing the same thing and hoping for a different result. We ask: Why not plant native stock rather than using the strategy of cut and hope? Here is the crux and where birders need to get involved. The simply is no native stock available. It is not gown by nurseries or greenhouses. So there is not an alternative to cut and hope. What can we do? I don't know, I have some ideas, but during this biggest week in American Birding I am hoping this becomes a topic of discussion among all the birders who are gathered in our state. What do they do elsewhere? What might work? How can efforts to create native plant stock be funded? If there is something all birders agree upon it is that we want high quality habitat for our birds. The next question is: Are we as a community willing to put up the brain power, the time, and the money to create or restore that habitat in our state's natural areas and preserves our birds depend upon? So when you see that Garlic Mustard, Honeysuckle or Glossy Buckthorn, ask what can we do? While we don't want these invasives in our favorite bird habitat, we do want plants so we have bugs to feed the birds. There must be a solution. What is it? Haans Petruschke Kirtland ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]