The EE Sampler - Jefferson County Public Schools

Cory Child
Urban Water
“As you can see, we are striking a fast, hard and decisive attack to clear out as much as the Japanese
honeysuckle as possible. We need all the hands we can must. Will you volunteer and swell our ranks?”
“Of course! I visit Cherokee Park, often, and I will help keep it natural, sir!”
A troop leader fell in beside Barry, leading him to an open stop in the lines of volunteers. They
equipped him with the proper tools, a trash bag, gloves, and a can of greenish liquid, from which
emanated an acrid, chemical smell. After a few moments, the leaders called out orders and divided the
honeysuckle elimination forces into different teams.
“Can I have a chainsaw? What is this stuff? And how did all this Japanese honeysuckle get to
overrun everything else?” Barry asked rapidly to the woman marching beside him.
“Nope, the cutters are reserved for the trained forces. The green stuff in your hand is a dyed
glyphosate and water mixture. It’s an herbicide.” The woman lowered her voice. “Once the elites mow
down the enemy near their bases, we come up and lather some of that herbicide, keeping it from
regrouping. As for where it came from, the Japanese name gives that former location, but it was brought
over here in the early 1800’s, providing green leaves all year long, sweet aromas, and tasty nectar.
Japanese honeysuckle does not have any natural predators here – no herbivore eats it quickly enough -
and it thrives, killing the native brush and girdling trees. There are hundreds of different invasive plants
and animals threatening not only our ecosystems but our economic society as well. Fortunately though,”
said the woman, smiling with a determined expression, “the Metro Park Service here and in other cities
organize to protect natural parks and woodlands.”
Both Barry and the woman shared a silence, broken only by the buzz of chainsaws and the crash
of the invasive plants. Barry knew as he spread some herbicide over the remains of a fallen trunk that
today was going to be a very long, very green day.
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