Most invasive plant management projects in wildlands are undertaken to protect wildlife, either as the primary goal or as a secondary goal. Controlling invasive plants is an immediate action that can be taken to support climate adaptation. Invasive plants impact wildlife habitat by displacing important native plant species that provide food and shelter. Some also change ecosystem processes such as wildfire, hydrology, or soil chemistry. Major wildlife organizations and government agencies charged with protecting wildlife recognize the detrimental impact of invasive plants.
The Best Management Practices (BMPs) in this manual were developed to help wildland managers further minimize the potential impacts to wildlife from herbicide applications, based on practices developed by those in the field and on the latest toxicology for particular herbicides. These voluntary BMPs were developed with the understanding that each situation and entity has different needs, constraints, and resources.
Best Management Practices for Wildland Stewardship: Protecting Wildlife When Using Herbicides for Invasive Plant Management
BMPs can reduce the chance of harming nesting birds. Photo by G. Gentry, USFWS digital library.
This manual is available as a free download. Click here for a PDF of BMP for Protecting Wildlife when Using Herbicides for Invasive Plant Management.
- Contents:
- I. Introduction
- Herbicide use in wildlands
- The importance of BMPs
- II. Background
- Management methods used by wildland stewards
- Herbicides and application methods
- Potential impacts of herbicides to wildlife and people
- III. Best Management Practices (BMPs)
- General Wildlife BMPs
- General Herbicide BMPs
- BMPs for Foliar Applications
- BMPs for Stem Applications
- IV. Risk Charts
- Using Herbicide Risk Charts
- V. Land Manager Survey
- VI. Resources
- I. Introduction
Drill injection of herbicide is one technique to control invasive plants. Photo courtesy Jim Dempsey, CA State Parks
Acknowledgements
This manual would not have been possible without the expert knowledge generously provided by the technical team, reviewers, and the land managers who responded to our survey. Funding was provided by the Firedoll Foundation, the Marisla Foundation, and the True North Foundation.
Please cite this report as: Cal-IPC. 2015. Best Management Practices for Wildland Stewardship: Protecting Wildlife When Using Herbicides for Invasive Plant Management. Cal-IPC Publication 2015-1. California Invasive Plant Council, Berkeley, CA. Available: www.cal-ipc.org
For more information, contact Cal-IPC.