 These days we hear a lot about globalization, mostly with regard to economics, electronic communication, and travel. But plants and animals also are transported between continents, sometimes with serious side effects. This attractive plant is called Tamarisk, but it's also known as Salt Cedar. The plant is native to North Africa, but somebody brought it to North America as an ornamental landscape plant. Unfortunately, Salt Cedar escaped from cultivation and spread along rivers and streams all over the west, crowding out native plant and animal species. Salt Cedar also uses tremendous amounts of scarce water, and it concentrates salts in the soil, making it difficult for other plants to grow and germinate. A similar problem is associated with this species, Russian Olive, that has actually been planted in the west along streams in shelter belts and windbreaks as a reclamation species since the Dust Bowl era. Unfortunately, it also spreads and crowds out native plants and animals. It's important to be very careful when importing plants and animals from other areas. They can be very valuable, but they can also cause huge unexpected problems. I'm Gene Gade from the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service.