Miller, James H.; Manning, Steven T.; Enloe, Stephen F. 2010. A management guide for invasive plants in southern forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–131. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 120 p.
Successful management of nonnative invasive plants will require a shift in mindset. The number of species, their area of occupation, and their spread are drastically increasing—a threat that demands new knowledge and approaches by land managers at a new level of regional, State, and local cooperation. Weed management has been a growing science and practice with intensive agriculture and horticulture, while weed populations, becoming toughened by hybridization and new introductions, are spreading across land uses. Forestry, right-of-way, park, and preserve managers should borrow and modify control techniques from agriculture and from one another. Accurate identification skills of both invasive and native plants are required for precise management. New tools, machines, products, and techniques should be acquired and mastered in a timely manner to effectively confront the invasions, beat them back, and restore lands. Mindset changes also should occur at all levels of policy and agency jurisdictions to complement and augment private and local efforts.
The three logistical areas where a mindset shift could result in more effective management of invasive plants are in recognizing the need for more comprehensive and integrated planning, better and more timely preparation, and a heightened resolve and persistence. All ownership, area, and site management plans should include goals and actions addressing prevention, eradication, and control of invasive infestations; but such plans are incomplete if they do not lead to site rehabilitation or restoration. Management activities such as timber harvesting, stand thinning, prescribed burning, and road and firebreak maintenance should include an integrated plan for minimizing entry and spread of invasive plants and planned reaction to any new infestations.
Preparation always has been critical to forest, roadway, and natural area managers and landowners. As invasive plant populations increase in size and density, land managers and owners must be willing to employ and deploy new concepts, tools, and materials. Preparation entails seeking the very latest information on invasive plant identification, prevention and control methods, and rehabilitation and restoration techniques. It also means finding reliable sources of noncontaminated fill dirt and rock, seed, and mulch for soil stabilization. To fully prepare for rehabilitation and restoration, managers and landowners may need to purchase newly available native seeds, planting tools and equipment, landscape fabrics and fiber mats for stabilization, and also may need to seek professional services.
Without persistence, all efforts to control and rehabilitate infested lands will be lost. To nurture a healthy native or noninvasive community of plants, managers and landowners will need to persist in a regime that includes timed treatments and retreatments as well as tenacious follow through. This will need to be followed by years of site monitoring for reappearance of the prior or new invasive plant species.
 |
 |
