Chapter 10 - Center for Invasive Plant Management

CIPM Online Invasive Plant Management Textbookhttp://www.weedcenter.org/textbook/toc.htmlINVASIVE PLANT PREVENTION AND FIREFire PlanningImprove effectiveness of prevention practices through weed awarenessand education.• Increase weed awareness and weed prevention in all fire training.Provide weed identification aids.• For prescribed burns, inventory the project area and evaluatepotential weed spread with regard to the fire prescription.• Ensure that a weed specialist is included in a Fire IncidentManagement Team when wildfire or control operations occur inor near a weed-infested area.Avoid or remove sources of weed seed and propagules to preventspreading weeds.• Use operational practices to reduce weed spread (for example,avoid weed infestations when locating fire lines).• Locate and treat weeds in practice jump areas.• Maintain a network of airports, helibases, camps, and stagingareas in a noxious weed-free condition.FirefightingAvoid or remove sources of weed seed and propagules to prevent newweed infestations and the spread of existing weeds.• Ensure that rental equipment is free of weed seed and propagules.• Inspect and treat weeds that establish at equipment cleaning sitesafter fires.Avoid creating soil conditions that promote weed germination andestablishment.• Use fire suppression tactics that reduce disturbances to soil andvegetation.• Avoid moving water buckets from aquatic-weed-infested lakes tolakes that are not infested. There is no hazard in using waterinfested with aquatic weeds on terrestrial sites.• Avoid ignition and burning in areas at high risk for weedestablishment or spread. Treat weeds that establish or spread.Fire RehabilitationTo prevent conditions favoring weed establishment, re-establishvegetation on disturbed ground as soon as possible.• To prevent weed spread, treat weeds in burned areas. The firstpreference is prevention, such as planting desired species to competewith unwanted plants. Use a certified weed-free seed mix.• Determine soon after a fire whether revegetation is needed tospeed recovery of a competitive plant community, or whether desirableplants in the burned area will recover naturally. Considerthe severity of the burn and the proportion of weeds to desirableChapter 10-10