Invasive species are among the biggest drivers of biodiversity losses around the world. They’re also increasingly affecting tribal lands, and climate change is making it worse.
The Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen spoke with Mitzi Reed, an enrolled citizen of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians who also leads the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society’s invasive species program, about how she works with tribes on invasive species challenges — from freshwater mussels to plants like water primrose.
"[Invasive species] are not just affecting our lands or what we can see, it's affecting our past, our traditions, what our ancestors tried to thrive for us," she said. "It threatens all of that, too."