After reading the Forest Service publication, Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests: A Field Guide for Identification and Control, we discovered that a some of our backyard plants are listed in this guide!
To name a few:
Chinese/European Privet (Ligustrum sinense)
Bush Honeysuckles (Lonicera sp.)
Climbing Yams (Dioscorea sp.)
Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
Now that we have identified some of them, the next step will be removing them. I am not ready to arm myself with chemicals, so I think we will start in hand pulling and then go from there.
If you would like a copy of this forest service publication, they will send you one for free! You can request this publication to be mailed to you by sending your name and complete mailing address, publication title (Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests: A Field Guide for Identification and Control), author (James H. Miller), and publication number (GTR-SRS-062) to: pubrequest@fs.fed.us
You can also access this guide online at: http://www.invasive.org/eastern/srs/