Dewey, Steven A.

English

DigitalCommons@USU

Wildlife habitat, wilderness, and recreationareas invaded by yellow starthistle.Picnic areas and campgrounds overrun bySt. Johnswort.  Noxious Weeds . . .A Biological WildfireApplying Fundamentals of Wildfire Management to Improve Noxious Weed Control Steven A Dewey, Extension Weed SpecialistAugust 1995 AG 500BIOLOGICAL WILDFIRE:Invasive noxious weeds have been described as a raging biological wildfire—out ofcontrol, and spreading rapidly. The devastation from these alien plants includes enormouseconomic losses to agriculture and irreparable ecological damage to wildlands. Millions of acreshave been invaded or are at risk including rangelands, forests, wilderness areas, national parks,recreation sites, and wildlife management areas.Wildfires and weeds share much in common, including impacts, spread, andmanagement.Temporary impact of wildfire on plants andanimals.Permanent change in wildland plant andanimal community caused by noxious weeds.Leafy spurge infestation “out of control”and expanding.Single leafy spurge plant—the beginning ofa new noxious weed infestation.IMPACT:Like an unwanted wildfire, noxious weeds can drastically affect wildland plant andanimal communities, damage watersheds, increase soil erosion, and adversely impact recreation.However, unlike the temporary negative impacts of wildfire, ecological damage from extensivenoxious weed infestations is often permanent. Lands affected by wildfire are self-healing,whereas lands invaded by noxious weeds don’t return naturally to their pre-invasion condition.Weeds continue to spread and the damage worsens.When considering long-term ecological effects on the land, invasion by aggressive non-indigenous noxious weeds is far more damaging than any wildfire.SPREAD: Weed infestations enlarge and spread much like wildfires, beginning small, thenexpanding to cover huge areas if not controlled quickly. Weed seeds, like embers, can be carriedlong distances by wind or other means. Resulting new “spot” infestations grow and merge, muchlike spot fires ahead of an advancing fire front.3%59%23%15%0 10 20 30 40 50 60SITE REHAB.SUPPRESSION(CONTROL)DETECTIONPREVENTIONMANAGEMENT:Modern wildfire management is based on elements of Prevention, Detection,Suppression (Control), and Revegetation; the same fundamentals of effective weedmanagement. A balance of all four elements is essential for effective management of wildfires orweeds. Resource/budget allocationwithin effective firemanagement programs. A similar balance shouldexist in weed managementprograms, with significantefforts in prevention,detection, and revegetation. PREVENTION:Prevention is the first line of defense against wildfires, and the same should be true fornoxious weeds. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” appliesperfectly to both. Weed prevention means placing a priority on preserving and protecting landsnot presently infested. Wildfire prevention depends on widespread public awareness and concern achievedthrough a balance of education and regulation. Fire prevention messages appear in a variety offorms and places to remind people of the critical role everyone plays in this effort. Regulationssuch as campfire restrictions contribute significantly to wildfire prevention.Education and regulation are the key ingredients needed to raise public awareness andgain greater support for weed prevention. More land managers and users need to recognize theadverse effects of noxious weeds and become involved in efforts to reduce spread. Informedhikers, campers, hunters, bikers, 4-wheelers, and other recreationists also could do much toprevent the spread of weeds. A significant portion of every weed management budget should bedevoted to awareness education and to other forms of prevention.DETECTION:Early detection of wildfires makes rapid and complete control much more likely. Thesame is true for weeds. Wildfire detection is the primary duty of assigned individuals, but allfield personnel within land management agencies are expected to watch for and report wildfires.Weed detection requires field surveys and accurate mapping by designated weed managementpersonnel. As with fire detection, other field personnel could be trained to recognize and reporttargeted noxious weeds. The public also plays a significant role in fire detection and reporting.Ways should be explored to involve volunteer groups, recreationists, and other interested publicland users in noxious weed detection and reporting. 54%24%15%5%2%0 10 20 30 40 50 601000 ACRES100 ACRES10 ACRES1 ACRE0.1 ACRESUPPRESSION (CONTROL):The third element of weed and wildfire management is actual control. Wildfire controlactivities are called suppression. Fire fighters follow a proven step-wise process of (1) rapidresponse, (2) size-up, (3) containment, and (4) mop-up. Suppression efforts may fail if all foursteps are not completed in proper sequence. Adoption of a similar four-step approach to noxious weed control could increase theeffectiveness and efficiency of almost any weed program. Rapid ResponseControlling wildfires when small reduces costs and minimizes resource losses. An initialattack fire crew usually is dispatched within minutes of a report, and control begins before mostwildfires exceed 0.1 acre in size. In contrast, control of noxious weeds is often postponed untilinfestations have covered hundreds or thousands of acres and are beyond hope of eradication.Adopting a “rapid response” attitude about new noxious weed infestations is vital to success.Size of wildfires wheninitial attack (active control) begins. A similar response patternshould exist for control of new weed infestations,beginning before mostexceed 0.1 acre.Size-upDeveloping the best plan of attack against each new wildfire requires information onincident size, direction and rate of spread, location and value of threatened resources, and controlconstraints (terrain, accessibility, safety, method restrictions, budget, etc.). Gathering andincorporating this information into a plan is called size-up, and must take place before controlactions begin. Similar factors must be addressed when developing a weed control plan.Bypassing the “size-up” step in weed management is an invitation to inefficiency and possiblefailure.Contain / ConfineThe first objective in wildfire suppression is always containment—protecting nonburnedareas by stopping further spread. Efforts are focused on the fire’s advancing perimeter, not onthe core. If full containment is not practical, the goal is to stop spread on one or two sides to savethe most valuable resources. Spot fires outside of a containment zone always receive highestcontrol priority. The same strategy should be applied to weed management—stop the advancing perimeterbefore controlling the interior of an extensive infestation. Sometimes weed managers may betempted to direct most or all control efforts at the core of large weed problems, ignoring the needfor perimeter containment and control of isolated spots. This approach is like dropping firefighters into the center of a huge wildfire and ignoring the expanding fire front. Spreadcontinues, as if nothing had been done.  Mop-upThe final step in fire suppression is called “mop-up.” It involves hours of tedious labor tofind and extinguish every live ember inside a containment area. Until mop-up is completed, afire is not considered controlled, and may flare up and escape.In weed control terms, mop-up means total eradication. It involves killing every weedand exhausting the soil of all seeds. Years of dedication and persistence are required. The effortneeded for eradication may be justified only on relatively small patches, or along containmentedges of larger infestations. However, failure to fully “mop up” any weed infestation essentiallyguarantees its eventual re-establishment and spread.  REVEGETATION (Site Restoration):The fourth fundamental of wildfire management is revegetation. Often it occursnaturally, but other times it must be assisted. Weed managers also should place emphasis onrevegetation following control, realizing the value of healthy desirable plants in protecting sitesfrom re-invasion by noxious weeds.A MODEL:Essentially every aspect of wildfire management has close weed management parallels,making it an excellent example or pattern from which to develop more effective weed controlstrategies and programs. Thinking of weeds as a slow-moving fire can provide a valuableperspective when developing and implementing weed management plans.Utah State University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action InstitutionIssued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, incooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Robert L. Gilliland, Vice President andDirector, Cooperative Extension Service, Utah State University. (EP/09-95/DF)

Applying Fundamentals of Wildfire Management to Improve Noxious Weed Control

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Applying Fundamentals of Wildfire Management to Improve Noxious Weed Control

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