Genetically-modified trees marching North

Just because you can do a thing, it doesn't necessarily follow that you should:

The commercial paper industry's plans to plant forests of genetically altered eucalyptus trees in seven Southern states have generated more cries from critics worried that such a large introduction of a bioengineered nonnative plant could throw natural ecosystems out of whack.

ArborGen, a biotechnology venture affiliated with three large paper companies, got U.S. Department of Agriculture approval last month for field trials involving as many as 250,000 trees planted at 29 sites during the next few years. Much smaller lots of the genetically altered trees have been growing in some of the states for years.

This issue, like so many others, pits advocacy groups:

But critics say that despite the USDA's assurance that the trees pose no environmental threat, not enough is known about their effect on natural surroundings.

"We have many reservations about it," said Neil J. Carman, a biologist who serves on the Sierra Club's genetic engineering committee. "We don't think the scientific evidence is in yet that says this is a good idea."

Anne Petermann, executive director of the activist group Global Justice Ecology Project, said eucalyptus trees are invasive, require vast amounts of water that could reduce groundwater levels, and increase the wildfire risk because they are so flammable.

"This is quite a dangerous tree to be mass planting," Petermann said.

against bought-and-paid-for experts:

Donald Rockwood, a professor emeritus in the University of Florida's School of Forest Resources and Conservation, has worked for about 30 years on developing eucalyptus trees that thrive in Florida. He uses traditional breeding techniques, not genetic modification.

The genetically unaltered trees growing in controlled plantations in Florida have not proven invasive, are relatively efficient users of water and are no more flammable than other hardwoods, said Rockwood, who was hired by ArborGen to do a report on eucalyptus trees' invasiveness because of his experience working with them at the university.

There's a reason some flora and fauna can only thrive/survive in certain temperate zones, and altering their genome to allow them to escape their ecological niche is dangerously arrogant.