Thoughts on a plan

[Treeflea24]

Hey all,
Im looking for a sanity check on a plan I have in mind, and any words of wisdom this might bring out:
The short story: I have an strip of my property that I am contractually obligated (EQIP) to kill the invasive understory, within the next year. Its an area (15' x ~150') that currently serves as a visual screen to a neighboring suburban area. It is mostly mature bush honeysuckle that is about 15' high, with wild grape vines growing in it.
Ive planted my own replacement screen of pine and spruce parallel to it, but they arent grown up enough yet to serve that purpose. They probably need another 3-4 years to be big enough to do that job.
The neighbors and I are both interested in keeping the screen in place.

The tentative plan at this point is to kill the large honeysuckle with an oil based basal spray this winter - they remain standing. The other, smaller honeysuckle get foliar spray (roundup) or cut stump (round up also). The grape vines are left in place, to the extent possible. The idea here is that the honeysuckle skeletons act as a trellis for the grape vine during the time that it takes for my evergreen screen to fill in. After that point I would go in and kill the grape and knock down the dead HS. I checked with the authority that evaluates whether or not the job is done, and he is OK with dead HS and prolific grape.

I wanted to get any thoughts on if this makes sense, or if you would do it differently.
I have a lot of experience with glyphosate (foliar and cut stump), but none with triclopyr or the the others that would be the oil carried herbicide. I've read the basic lit from the extension offices, but I wanted to check in with yall to see if you had any sage advice for someone in my position.

[Southside]

Can't help with the how, but curious as to why.  Can you get an extension from the EQUIP manager given the mutual desire for the privacy screen? Perhaps the dry conditions slowed down growth of the replacement barrier which negatively impacts the overall project desires of keeping the peace while removing what I am guessing is an invasive there.  As long as the current growth was kept in check would the invasive really spread further?  Maybe modify the contract to prevent further spread while allowing the replacement time to get in place.  Just food for thought for the FSA folks. 

[Ron Scott]

Work out a revision to your EQUIP plan with the involved agency to meet your management objective of a vegetative screen between you and your neighbor.

Be sure to follow the instructions closely for any herbicides that you may use or seek out the services of a certified chemical user.

[Sod saw]

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Treeflea,
 
A few years ago we completed an EQUIP forestry plan.  During the initial time I was unable to complete all of the items on the list due to some health issues.  The time was extended.

I was unable to finish a small section before the second time was up.  As a result I was simply not paid for the uncompleted area.   Simple solution and no big deal.

I have since worked in the unfinished area and did not get paid but am comfortable with the outcome of the overall whole project and appreciate the help of all the foresters and office personnel.

Not only did I learn to "see" the potential of a forest, I also met some fine folks.

You are lucky to have been chosen for participating in the EQUIP program.  Around here it is very competitive.

Enjoy your privacy.


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[RPF2509]

Carefull with trichlopyr around spruce and pine.  Basal is much better option than foliar - easier to keep off the trees.  No worries about soil uptake though.

[Treeflea24]

Thanks all for the input. Plan A is what Southside & Ron Scott had suggested - working with the EQIP program admins to adjust the treatment boundaries to exclude these areas, or to extend the timeframe for treatment within these particular areas (I measured the area that Im talking about and it adds up to 0.15 acre). So far Plan A is meeting a lot of resistance. Here's an excerpt from the most recent comms with USDA: "we can't really come to a solution that would not be considered detrimental to the contract by leaving the bush honeysuckle alive in the spots you've indicated.  Modifying a contract to exclude areas that were originally planned for treatment could only be done if it would be better for the land, addressed the resource concern in some other way, or the basis for a hardship could be declared.". This effort is still in the works, but it's not looking promising.

Plan B is the basal herbicide. I will probably give this a try this winter. The target bush honeysuckle is 5-10' away from the nearest conifers that I've planted, so hopefully I'm far enough to not have to worry about soil activity..? These areas already have a lot of grapevine in them - I will leave that intact and hopefully it creates a green screen next season. Then, after the spruce & pine have had a few years to catch up I will go in and clear the wild vineyard and make a bunch of wreaths.

At this point, the moral of my story seems to be: If/when you get funded for an EQIP contract - be careful during the mapping & delineating process to make sure you wont have regrets later.