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.
The spread and occupation of an invasive plant can be stopped only through regional and State plans and programs that are effectively implemented at the local level. Draw lines on maps to define zones of occupation severity and show areas where different strategies should be employed.
Managing Outlier Areas
Outlier (or satellite) infestations exist beyond highly infested areas due to long distance movement of plants or plant reproductive parts. Outlier infestations must be detected and eradicated early if containment is to be successful. Early detection rests with public education as well as organized search and surveillance efforts and strong reporting networks. Movement of contaminated equipment and materials must be effectively prevented to stop new outlier infestations from being established.
Managing the Advancing Front of Invasive Infestations
All infestations along the advancing front must be found, mapped, and documented through intensive search and surveillance programs. The search and surveillance programs must include all ownerships. To stop seed dispersal from worsening the situation, treatments must be timely and persistent. For all work near or inside infested areas, extra care must be taken to ensure sanitation of equipment and personnel to prevent spread. Special habitats of rare plants and animals within the advancing front zone should be carefully treated to save from ultimate loss. The front must be held and then pushed back.
Managing Severely Infested Areas
Surveys employing sampling techniques are required to quantify the acres of infestation. Concerted programs in cooperation with landowners with funded assistance are needed to fully implement, support, and maintain management programs in severely infested zones. Equipment and personnel sanitation as well as quarantines of product movement out of severely infested areas must be strictly regulated to prevent both short- and long-distance movement of plants and reproductive parts. Any forest and nursery product movement must be monitored for contamination. Special habitats of rare plants and animals must be safeguarded from destruction and restored using special techniques. People’s homes must be safeguarded against wildfire by highly flammable invasive plants.
