Letter to the Editor: March/April 2026

To the editor;

As the founder of Arlington MA Invasives ArMI, I read your recent post about the need to coordinate invasive plant management [“Opinion: Treat Invasive Plant Removal as a System,” BCF Newsletter, January/February 2026] with interest. You mention the need to work across jurisdictions. Absolutely! Yet there are systemic roadblocks to making that happen.

It has been my experience that the slicing and dicing of “owners” of town lands can create significant hurdles to coordinating actions, even in contiguous town lands being stewarded by different departments, boards, or commissions as “owners.”

Effective invasives control is complicated where private lands abut public properties. And difficulties coordinating efforts are amplified further where town land abuts state-owned lands. The state often simply answers “No” to requests to remove invasives on state land.

I’m wondering whether you have shared your excellent piece with State Representative Dave Rogers, whose proposed Invasives Bill could create the state structure capable of breaking through these systemic jurisdictional barriers, toward achieving the coordination you and I envision. It would be wonderful to develop the common vision that improving the lands we all steward is important for posterity, town, private, and state lands alike.

Thanks for writing this,

Elaine Crowder, PhD

Arlington Town Meeting Member

Founder, Arlington MA Invasives ArMI