A Management Guide for Invasive Plants in Southern Forests James ...

6Strategies for Confronting a Spreading InvaderThe spread and occupation of an invasive plant can be stopped only through regional and State plans and programsthat are effectively implemented at the local level. Draw lines on maps to define zones of occupation severity andshow areas where different strategies should be employed.Managing Outlier AreasOutlier (or satellite) infestations exist beyond highly infested areas due to long distance movement of plants or plantreproductive 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 reportingnetworks. Movement of contaminated equipment and materials must be effectively prevented to stop new outlierinfestations from being established.Managing the Advancing Front of Invasive InfestationsAll infestations along the advancing front must be found, mapped, and documented through intensive search andsurveillance programs. The search and surveillance programs must include all ownerships. To stop seed dispersalfrom 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 rareplants and animals within the advancing front zone should be carefully treated to save from ultimate loss. The frontmust be held and then pushed back.Managing Severely Infested AreasSurveys employing sampling techniques are required to quantify the acres of infestation. Concerted programs in cooperationwith landowners with funded assistance are needed to fully implement, support, and maintain managementprograms in severely infested zones. Equipment and personnel sanitation as well as quarantines of product movementout of severely infested areas must be strictly regulated to prevent both short- and long-distance movement of plantsand reproductive parts. Any forest and nursery product movement must be monitored for contamination. Special habitatsof rare plants and animals must be safeguarded from destruction and restored using special techniques. People’shomes must be safeguarded against wildfire by highly flammable invasive plants.A Shift in Mindset Must Occur Followed by ActionsSuccessful management of nonnative invasive plants will require a shift in mindset.The number of species, their area of occupation, and their spread are drasticallyincreasing—a threat that demands new knowledge and approaches by land managersat a new level of regional, State, and local cooperation. Weed management hasbeen a growing science and practice with intensive agriculture and horticulture, whileweed populations, becoming toughened by hybridization and new introductions, arespreading across land uses. Forestry, right-of-way, park, and preserve managersshould borrow and modify control techniques from agriculture and from one another.Accurate identification skills of both invasive and native plants are required for precisemanagement. New tools, machines, products, and techniques should be acquired andmastered in a timely manner to effectively confront the invasions, beat them back, andrestore lands. Mindset changes also should occur at all levels of policy and agencyjurisdictions to complement and augment private and local efforts.The three logistical areas where a mindset shift could result in more effective managementof invasive plants are in recognizing the need for more comprehensive andintegrated planning, better and more timely preparation, and a heightened resolve andInvasive plants are still sold likesweet autumn virginsbower(Clematis terniflora DC).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 rehabilitationor restoration. Management activities such as timber harvesting, stand thinning, prescribed burning, and roadand firebreak maintenance should include an integrated plan for minimizing entry and spread of invasive plants andplanned reaction to any new infestations.Jane Hargreaves