I don't know much about any of this, but IMHO, there's non-native and invasive, and it may be a bit of overkill (literally) to rip out the former when the concern is more with the latter--assuming, of course, the former is not a problem in its own right (in terms of needing a lot of water or pesticides). As humans, we are forever bending nature to shape our will. There is a greater interest in and desire for native plants, and I gather the native plant store here is doing just fine. But most suburbs are loaded up with plants that are at least not native to this area, if not even the US, because that's just what the standard has been (and in some cases, what the HOAs demand). I'd be more interested in seeing people get rid of their lawns than their non-native flowerbed plants, personally. But as someone without a lawn, it's very easy for me to get on a soapbox about it. My balcony has a number of non-native plants--on a microcosm level, nothing is actually native to my balcony, LOL, except concrete. Many are not local, like the plumerias. Others are from other countries, like the mandevilla and perhaps a succulent or three. But then I read that mandevillas aren't even found in their original habitat now. Still, as some note, things move around whether you like it or not. The gecko is now found everywhere in the world, traveling about on ships, and largely fits in nicely wherever it goes. Of course, the Chinese rat flea did the same thing hundreds of years ago and was nowhere near as welcome. :-) Meanwhile, the invasives in Hawaii and Australia destroy ecosystems in a heartbeat. I guess my two cents about the OP's situation is this: If they were ripping out non-natives that weren't causing any issues on the basis of some philosophy that non-natives are inherently evil and must be destroyed, I think that's a bit messed up. On the other hand, if their goal was to create a native garden (and more or less bill it as such), it's fine. In other words, I'm looking at motive--is it to *destroy* the non-natives or is to *create* natives? For some reason, that matters to me.

Sorry, but 1/8th is by far the most common royalty payment in the USA and is so by a huge margin. For certain, a 50% increase over that rate is very rare. Occasionally, I will see lease agreements that include 1% or 2% over-rides but not 6.25%. Only those private mineral rights owners who happen to own minerals in areas with very good potential or have control of large contiguous tracts of land will get more than 1/8th. By far, most who hold out for more than 1/8th royalty get to settle for zero instead, and that goes for the US government as well. For the Federal government, by far the largest mineral holder in the USA, to hold out for a substantially larger royalty than is considered standard by the industry would likely amount to excessive interference of the government in interstate commerce. In regard to Yellowstone Park and the grizzlies, no oil and gas drilling is currently active in the immeadiate vicinity of the park, that I am aware and that is the business I am in. In fact, I am not aware of any drilling having occurred in that area for many years. Sounds like environmentalist or wildlife activist scaremongering to me. Most drilling is at least 50 to 100 miles away, either to the south around Rock Springs or Wamsutter, Wyoming or to the east in the Big Horn basin. Neither of these areas is likely to be grizzly territory at this time. The immeadiate Yellowstone Park area itself is not likely to have conducive geologic structures or lithology for oil and gas accumulation. However, the average American is so geographically challenged today that mentioning drilling anywhere in Wyoming probably equates to drilling next to Yellowstone Park regardless of the fact that much of the state is hundreds of miles from the park.

Thanks for the mentions of Staunton: we thoroughly enjoyed the Frontier Culture museum and the Blackfriar's theater. " 12th Night" was marvelous (and, serendipity, included a former classmate of DS's from theater school). Staunton is delightful, grabbed a quick visit to Woodrow Wilson's museum, bumped into a branch office of the outfit another DS is traveling with right now, very artsy and fun. Worth a day visit! Enjoyed the Skyline Drive, took a stroll, too. Humpback? Wow, am I out of shape! Enjoyed it, but DH really had to keep setting goals for me to make it up there. Nice walk, though. DH "collects" Civil War battlefields, so we got a few of those in; some nothing more than a stone marker. I'm more into "living history". The New Town site (for the VMI cadets who fought) is adding a "what about the women, children, and enslaved people) exhibit that I will likely find interesting. We also visited Monticello, amazing place. So innovative. Need to visit again for the "upstairs, behind the scenes" tour. People in VA are so nice! Every one of them :)

A number of years ago we did the out-and-back Narrows hike in late May or early June (around Memorial Day). Water was moving but current not too strong. It was beautiful but seemed there were a lot of folks out that day and I would like to do the hike again without seeing quite so many people. Same trip it snowed at Bryce Canyon. We stayed at Flanigan's outside of Zion and I would stay there again. There very well might be nicer places but budget was a big factor in our choice of lodging on that trip.