The Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council (SE-EPPC) is a 650 member non-profit organization located in the southeastern United States. It emerged as a regional organization through efforts initiated by the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council in the late 1990s. Its eight state chapters are autonomous organizations under the umbrella of SE-EPPC. The organization's focus is on issues of regional importance, and it has developed a web-based regional data-mapping project to improve early detection and rapid response, to provide data for regional invasive plant assessments, and to provide data to improve state invasive plant lists. SE-EPPC has been active in fostering the growth of other Exotic Pest Plant Councils (EPPCs) throughout the eastern United States and has fostered the growth of the National Association of EPPC, which has formed a partnership with the Natural Areas Association to work together on all issues related to invasive exotic pest plants in natural areas.

The Upland Invasive Exotic Plant Management Program is responsible for the control of terrestrial invasive plant species infesting public conservation land in Florida. To assist in achieving this long-term goal, the program drafted a Strategic Plan based upon the structural principles of: (1) leadership from the state level; (2) partnership amongst all levels of government agencies and other affected parties; (3) dedicated funding and implementation procedures for a statewide program; (4) a system of inventory and monitoring of invasive species; and (5) adoption of adaptive management strategies on public conservation land. Although the plan is written specifically for Florida, the core principles and implementation strategies are applicable to any state seeking to initiate a statewide invasive species control program.

With only 49 known infestations, cogongrass, Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv., is an emerging invasive species in Georgia. To facilitate cooperation in all areas of management, both of cogongrass and other invasive species, state and federal agencies, university personnel, and Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council members have combined to form the Georgia Invasive Species Task Force. The task force has adopted a four-fold approach to managing cogongrass in Georgia: (1) management of known infestations, (2) discovery of any existing but unknown infestations, (3) reduction of pathways of spread, and (4) preparation for new infestations. United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - Plant Protection and Quarantine, or Georgia Forestry Commission personnel are currently administering control efforts on known infestations. University of Georgia faculty and staff are maintaining a database of known infestations and have created an online mapping program of their locations. Plans are underway to implement on-the-ground and remote sensing surveys to aid in discovering new infestations. Workshops, educational materials, and press releases are all being used to inform and educate the public on this new threat. To prepare for the inevitable increase in new infestations, the Georgia Invasive Species Task Force is developing protocols for handling new finds, initiating a land-owner assistance program, and training agency and Extension agents on identification, management, and control of cogongrass.

The National Park Service (NPS) established Exotic Plant Management Teams (EPMT) in 2000 to provide a “first response” program for dealing with exotic plant invasions in the National Parks. Three teams work at NPS units in the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, with a total of 16 operating in the nation. These three EPMTs serve 37 park units that cover a total of 1.5 million hectares. The EPMTs augment existing exotic plant control efforts with inventory and monitoring, control, education, and research.

Invasive exotic plants know no boundaries. If public conservation lands' managers wish to achieve long-term success, it is critical for them to reach out and collaborate with all stakeholders, including private landowners. In Florida, many regions are exploring uncharted partnership territories with private landowners and experiencing great results, unexpected benefits, political backing, and unrivaled efficiencies. Pilot programs involving landowner outreach, creative funding, grant matches, ordinances, tax breaks, and voluntary certifications are popping up throughout the state, spearheaded by stakeholder groups. Whether working with small lot owners, large acreage farmers, or retail nurseries, it is happening in Florida, and could be applicable to your region. The ideas and energy are spreading like weeds.

During the past 400 years, Florida's natural areas have been invaded by mostly tropical and subtropical nonnative plants; and, during the twentieth century, these invasions have increased with the rise of the ornamental plant industry and through unintentional contaminants of imported commodities. Recognizing that research is the basis of environmentally and economically sound invasive plant management programs, the State of Florida, through the Department of Environmental Protection, began funding invasive plant research in 1971. Early research funding targeted biological control methods using insects, herbivorous fish, and plant pathogens, as well as mechanical control and water level fluctuation control methods. In the 1980s, invasive plant management research in Florida shifted toward developing second-generation effective aquatic herbicides such as fluridone and glyphosate that have low toxicities for fish and invertebrates and are relatively selective in controlling invasive aquatic plants among nontarget plant communities. In the 1990s, research priorities targeted wetland and terrestrial species. By 2002, Florida's research program shifted its research priorities and state funding to find new management techniques for hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) and for the rapidly spreading Old World climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum). State, federal, and local agencies have spent more than $250 million since 1980 to control invasive nonnative aquatic, wetland, and upland plants on publicly owned waterways and conservation lands with research funding comprising less than 5% of that total amount.

Black spiny-tailed iguanas (Ctenosaura similis), invasive, exotic lizards native to Mexico and Central America, were studied on Gasparilla Island, Lee and Charlotte Counties, Florida, and found, during midwinter, to make extensive use of the fruit of Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), an exotic, invasive plant native to northern South America. The iguanas also find shelter and excavate burrows in thickets of Brazilian pepper. Seeds of the Brazilian pepper pass through the iguana's digestive tract intact and are likely deposited with a bit of fertilizer in areas conducive to the growth of the plant. This apparent mutualistic association is most significant to the iguanas in that the fruit of Brazilian pepper is available when the iguanas are under stress due to cold weather and short days and when other foods are limited. Control of Brazilian pepper may help control iguana populations.

There are several alternative herbicides with different modes of action for control of invasive plants in natural areas. Of the four classes of herbicides commonly used on invasive plants in natural areas of Florida, the acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors, imazapyr, imazapic, and metsulfuron methyl, are the most likely to select for resistance. Invasive plants that have attributes such as numerous seed or spore production and log distance dispersal capabilities are most likely to develop resistance to herbicides following repeated application. In Florida, these species include Old World climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum), cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica), torpedo grass (Panicum repens), and tropical soda apple (Solanum viarum). The best scenario for treatment of invasive plants in Florida's natural areas, to minimize potential for development of resistance, is to rotate herbicides with different modes of action or use tank mixtures of two or more herbicides with different modes of action.

Kudzu, Pueraria montana var. lobata, is an exotic invasive weed that is difficult to control with available products and management practices. The fungal pathogen, Myrothecium verrucaria, is being developed as a bioherbicide for kudzu and other invasive vines. This biological control agent might be applied with conventional herbicides to improve the efficacy or spectrum of weed control. The survival of M. verrucaria was measured over time in simulated tank-mixes of commercial formulations of the herbicides: amniopyralid (Milestone^*), metsulfuron (Escort XP), and fluroxypyr (Vista). The fungus was also grown in vitro in the presence of these herbicides to evaluate any growth inhibition. M. verrucaria was highly tolerant to all concentrations of amniopyralid and metsulfuron for up to two days in simulated tank-mixes, while mixtures with fluroxypyr resulted in a gradual loss of spore viability. The fungus grew on media supplemented with amniopyralid and metsulfuron with only small effects on the growth rate, but fluroxypyr caused growth inhibition. These studies provide insight for developing effective, integrated control strategies for kudzu.

Biological control is increasingly used against invasive weeds of natural areas. Scientific and regulatory review of safety-related research occurs before candidate biological control agents can be released. To increase safety, efficacy, and transparency of the process, we suggest that, prior to establishing a project, a feasibility study be conducted on a potential target for biological control to judge whether the project is appropriate. The present paper is both a feasibility study of an important invasive weed and a guide to doing biological control feasibility studies on other weed pests. The invasive weed Dioscorea bulbifera L. threatens the biodiversity of many natural areas in the southeastern United States. Current control efforts directed against this invasive species include herbicidal or manual removal, both of which are costly and ineffective. Biological control using insects that selectively feed on this species while leaving desirable native and economic species unharmed may be a useful option. As herbivore host range may be limited by taxonomic affinities and the lack of sympatry with potential host species, we propose that this weed will be a relatively safe target because of taxonomic and geographic isolation from desirable native and economic plant species. The family Dioscoreaceae is poorly represented in North America, north of Mexico, and the two native species that are sympatric with the weed are from a different subgeneric taxon than the weed. The West Indian and northern Mexican species, while more diverse, are also assigned to different subgeneric taxa, and are geographically isolated from the northern range of the weed. Initial searches for biological control agents have begun and will continue within its large transcontinental native range. However, further research is needed that will better delimit the geographic origin of the weed's North American population within its large native range. This will aid in the detection of suitable natural enemies. Much of the information we acquired and analyzed in this feasibility study is required for the environmental assessment normally submitted for approval prior to the introduction of a biological control agent. We suggest that this type of analysis will be better considered at the beginning of the process. If this type of analysis is done prior to or at the beginning of projects, potential conflicts and risks can be judged and then better addressed during the projects to ultimately produce safer, more acceptable agents for biological control.