abundant on xeric plot 3. . ." Site tf5 "One spring peeper was seen hopping in the 

 woods on control plot 2 . . . One red eft was seen walking ... in the swamp;" Site n9 

 "Skunk redolence was noted on and off the ROW between structures 28 and 29; Two 

 garter snakes were seen mating. . ." The significance of these observations was not 

 discussed. 



From all these bits and pieces, published and unpublished, we can be certain that in 

 a healthy landscape, a well-managed ROW, which encourages a patchiness of mixed 

 shrubs, low trees, and herbs, will have a positive and important effect on local wildlife 

 communities whether in thick forest or open plain. 



Herbicides 



The accumulation of relevant herbicide literature has been immense, outweighing 

 that of the other subject areas combined. Few ROW managers have the time, training 

 or inclination to evaluate the technical output of chemists and toxicologists. We look 

 trustingly at their published conclusions and summaries to see just how poisonous 

 these valuable materials are to non-target organisms, or how persistent they are in 

 soil or water. Clearly, the "objective Age of Science" is also a "subjective Age of 

 Faith." 



The wealth of articles on spraying technologies, and herbicide uses and results, are 

 more comprehensible and interesting to managers. Because chemicals are contro- 

 versial, those of us who believe herbicides are critical to management objectives must 

 "justify" actions to adversaries and review panels. In this context, the following 

 generalizations find abundant support in the scientific literature: chlorophenoxy 

 herbicides and picloram can safely be used in Vegetation Management programs 

 guided by the ecologic, sociologic and economic principles stated earlier in this 

 paper. Research tells us that ( 1) these substances are of low toxicity to animals; (2) 

 they biodegrade rapidly in the environment — except the picloram residues may last 

 for one to two years; (3) they do not accumulate in food chains; and (4) that the 

 contaminant TCDD or 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin occurs in miniscule 

 amounts (< 0.5 ppm) and is therefore non-hazardous under field conditions where 

 2,4,5-T is selectively and cautiously used. 



Further, herbicides bind well to vegetation and soils and therefore are seldom 

 detectable beyond a few feet from point of application. Greater movements are rare, 

 but may happen when a heavy application is followed by heavy rain, in steep 

 topography, with thin vegetation, or porous soil. Chemicals that get into lotic 

 systems rapidly detoxify due to molecular breakdown and dilution. Academic 

 findings and circumspection combine to suggest that special efforts should be made 

 to minimize aquatic contamination. Concentrations of 1-5 ppm of silvex have been 

 lethal to fish under laboratory conditions. 2'» About the only way to get such a level in 

 water is by direct application: no-spray buffer zones mitigate against this. 



Unfortunately, most herbicide research is the product of those with vested interests 

 in herbicide sales and use. Such research is therefore stigmatized. However, it is 

 unlikely that studies by the most impartial scientific organization would satisfy 

 certain anti-chemical activists if results go contrary to their emotional wants. 

 Legitimate claims of herbicide damage (real and suspected) are traceable to 

 carelessness, ignorance, apathy, unecologic management concepts, and war, all of 

 which occur too frequently.*' 



Vegetation Management 



Of concern here is research that goes beyond the level of individual species to 

 examine communities of species. In other words, vegetation is, by definition, a 



''The federal government ban on the selective use of 2,4.5-T on utility lines, no matter how rewo/e the ROW, 

 and how low the exposure hazard to pregnant women, was in my opinion the most "disillusioning failure" 

 (with respect to rational, scientifically-based decision-making) of the decade. 



215 



