VCE Advanced Master Gardener

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Advanced Master GardenerLand Care

• Unit 5 Living at the Wildland/Urban Interface
• Carol Heiser, Habitat Ed. CoordinatorVa. Dept.
  of Game Inland Fisheries
• Fred Turk, Va. Dept. of Forestry
• Frank Reilly, VCE Master Gardener

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Unit 5 Living at the Wildland/Urban Interface

• Objectives
• Understand the concept of the wildland-urban
  interface -Reilly
• Learn about fire behaviour - Reilly
• Understand and plan for survival in wildfire -
  Turk
• Learn how to plan for Wildlife Habitat - Heiser
• Understand Wildlife Damage issues - Heiser
• Understand Invasive Species issues and practices
  - Reilly
• Understanding Land Care Management
• Wildfire issues
• Wildlife Issues
• Wildlife Damage Management
• Wildlife Enhancement
• Invasive Species

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Wildland/Urban Interface

• If a tree fell in the woods..
• Fire Safety is more important when homes are
  involved
• People are inexperienced with rural life.

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Interface vs. Intermix

• NFPA 299, Standard for Protection of Life and
  Property from Wildfire, 1991 edition, defined
  wildland/ urban interface as "an area where
  development and wildland fuels meet at a
  well-defined boundary. Meanwhile another term,
  wildland/urban intermix, served to differentiate
  a more specific type of area.

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Interface vs. Intermix
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Fire Behavior

• Virginia Fires are less dramatic

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Virginia Fires are less dramatic
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Fire Needs

• Oxygen
• Fuel
• Heat/Source of Ignition

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Fire Laws in Virginia

• Open Burning
• Clear a safety zone that is wide enough to
  prevent the escape of the fire.
• Burn after 4 P.M. (state law February 15 - April
  30) and when the wind has calmed.
• Burning Law (10.1-1142) in Brief No burning
  until after 400 P.M. from February 15 through
  April 30 of each year,if the fire is in or within
  300 feet of woodland, brushland, or field
  containing dry grass or other inflammable
  material.
• Fire shall not be left unattended if within 150
  feet of woodland or dry fuel.
• No new fires set or fuel added after midnight.
• Law applies to campfires, warming fires, brush
  piles, household trash, stumps, fields of
  broomstraw and brush or anything capable of
  spreading fire.
• The law provides for a penalty of up to 500,
  plus payment of court costs and fire suppression
  costs if the fire escapes.
• Obey forest fire laws and air pollution
  regulations.
• DO NOT leave a fire unattended (State Law year
  round).

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Fuel

• Light fuels include grasses, shrubs, and tree
  leaves or needles
• Heavy fuels, such as large tree branches, downed
  logs, and buildings
• Ladder fuels, such as shrubs or small trees of
  intermediate height
• Fuel breaks are areas lacking vegetation or other
  fuels that stop or impede the horizontal movement
  of an advancing fire. Fuel breaks can be natural,
  such as rivers or streams, or artificial, such as
  roads or plowed agricultural fields.

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Understanding Fire Behavior

• Conduction

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Defensible Space

• SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 830 am - 950 am Firewise
  Landscaping. Fred Turck, Virginia Department of
  Forestry.
• How you landscape can have an important effect on
  your ability to survive a wildfire. Learn the
  concept of defensible space and Firewise
  Landscaping.

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Invasive Species

• Politically Charged term
• Accuracy is critical
• Implies Alien
• Be careful

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Invasive Plant Species

• Rapid growth and maturity
• Prolific seed production
• Highly successful seed dispersal, germination and
  colonization
• Rampant vegetative spread
• Ability to out-compete native species
• High cost to remove or control

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Virginia Ranks Invasive Species
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Ranking Criteria

• impacts on native species, habitats, and
  ecosystems,
• biological characteristics and dispersal ability,
  
• distribution and abundance in Virginia and the
  U.S., and
• difficulty of control

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Impacts on native species, habitats, and
ecosystems

• Displacement out competes
• Can replace native foods and habitat

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biological characteristics and dispersal ability

• More propagules
• Asexual reproduction
• No natural enemies

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Distribution and abundance in Virginia and the
U.S., and

• Avoid knee jerk reaction to a local population
  explosion
• Invasiveness other places is a good predictor
• but not absolute!

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Difficulty of control

• Manual
• Hand weeding
• Bush hogging
• Biological
• Introduction of pest from native land
• Chemical
• Watch out for by-kill
• Repeat repeat repeat
• Watch out for worse damage!

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Other Invasive Species

• Snake Head
• Mosquito Fish
• Emerald Ash Borer
• Hemlock Wooly Adelgid

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Master Gardeners Duties

• Be the voice of reason
• Ask Is it a pest, or is it really an invasive?
• Be very careful when planning interdictions
• Ask What comes after the Action?
• Keep abreast of Virginias Lists.
• http//www.dcr.state.va.us/dnh/index.html