Having plenty of time to think while I’m out in the woods hunting the elusive NNIP (non-native invasive plant, of course…), some guidelines for landowners considering invasive management and land restoration sort of emerged from my ruminations. What, you ask, might these guidelines be? To my mind, there are three necessary considerations when thinking about taking on what sometimes (but not always) can be a serious project, such as restoring a twenty acre parcel from invasive colonization: what are your objectives, what are your values, and what are your resources. Each of these affects the other; a change in one can and will significantly shift either or both of the other two, and together these three factors determine what’s possible, and what’s not.
Let’s start with objectives. Do you want to clear your entire property (as much as this is possible) of all invasives? Do you want to just remove one or a few species? Do you want to reduce abundance across an area or parcel, or clear some dense patches? This takes reading the landscape; in Vermont a county forester will walk your property with you and do a rapid assessment, or you can hire a specialist (such as myself….) or a licensed forester to do an official assessment. If you have an NRCS contract they will set your objectives for you, but if not, again, think your objectives through carefully, especially relating to how much money you have to spend. Invasive work is expensive, from around $900-1000 an acre for straight herbicide to potentially much more for manual or machine removal. So the necessary corollary for any objective, is, can I afford it?
Second, what are your values? Maybe you don’t much care about the effects of invasives on native species and the health of the landscape; you just want to sell your property for the highest dollar and a parcel choked with buckthorn is not a high value item. Or maybe you care about promoting healthy native ecosystems but you don’t want to use herbicides, or you want to limit herbicide use. I highly recommend that everyone think carefully about their values regarding this kind of work, what's important to you and what's not, if only because you do not want to start a project you can’t finish or that suddenly changes direction; this can often lead to a worse situation than you started with. So know what your values are, at least for the most part, before you start.
Once you have a good idea of your objectives and values, what are your resources? How much money do you have to spend? Again, if you have an NRCS contract the reimbursement rate can be very high; the goal of the program is to pay back as much of the client’s expenditures as possible within the terms of the contract. How much time do you have to do the work? Can you spread the project out over several years? Five? Ten? The cost might be a lot easier to handle instead of all at once. Then again, maybe your values and objectives warrant spending the money now to get the work done asap. Also, will the landowner, family, friends, or others be contributing time and labor to the effort? This resource can greatly reduce costs. Whatever road you take, before you do anything you must have a solid, reality based idea of what resources you can bring to bear, and what you can’t.
Three factors that ‘fit’ together like an ever shifting puzzle. Things change; values change, finances change, objectives change. The key is to stay in touch with all three - know what your objectives, values, and resources are now and what they will most likely be in the future, and make sure you regularly check in with all three. Taking on a restoration job, again, can be a big commitment. Sometimes it’s just a small, easily understood and manageable job. But my experience has shown that for serious, large projects, or specifically demanding ones like knotweed or phragmites, you must have your objectives, values, and resources ducks in a row before you start anything.
On that note, I’m happy to do free phone consultations and/or site visits in the Chittenden, Franklin, Lamoille, Washington, and Addison County areas within a fifty mile radius of downtown Burlington. This is important work, and I’m happy to share whatever knowledge and insight I have to help folks make the decision that’s right for them. In the end it's about the health and well being of the land, and we must do everything we can - all of us - to steward it with care and respect.
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