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EFFECTS OF CATTLE GRAZING, GLYPHOSATE, AND
PRESCRIBED BURNING ON FOUNTAINGRASS FUEL
LOADING IN HAWAI‘I
J. Michael Castillo
West Hawai‘i Wildfire Management Organization, P.O. Box 6213, Kamuela, HI 96743-6213, USA
Gayland Enriques
U.S. Army, Installation Fire and Safety Office, 851 Wright Avenue, Wheeler AAF, HI 96857-5000, USA
Miles Nakahara
Hawai‘i Department of Lands and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Kamuela State Tree Nursery, 66-
1220A Lalamilo Road, Kamuela, HI 96743, USA
David Weise1
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Fire Lab, 4955 Canyon Crest Drive, Riverside, CA
92507, USA
Lawrence Ford
University of California–Santa Cruz, Environmental Studies Department, 5984 Plateau Drive, Felton, CA 95018-9253, USA
Rodrigo Moraga
Anchor Point Group, 3775 Iris Avenue, Suite 2A, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
Robert Vihnanek
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab, 400 N. 34th Street, Suite
201, Seattle, WA 98103, USA
ABSTRACT
Crimson fountaingrass (Pennisetum setaceum) is a nonnative invasive grass that has occupied a significant portion of the western side
of the island of Hawai‘i. As a result, several fires in excess of 4,049 ha have occurred in the area over the past 20 y. We are studying
the effectiveness of cattle grazing, aerial application of glyphosate herbicide, and prescribed burning to reduce the fuel loading of
fountaingrass in this dry, tropical setting. Grazing and prescribed burning were applied as whole-plot treatments to plots ranging in
area from 2.4 to 6.5 ha; glyphosate herbicide was aerially applied as a split-plot treatment. Plots were burned in January and February
2004, aerially sprayed in March and May 2004, and grazed by cattle in March and April 2004. Fuels were sampled prior to treatment
and at periodic intervals over the first year following treatment. Fuel and fire behavior variables were measured during the prescribed
burns. Pre-treatment fuel loading ranged from 9 to 11 Mg/ha and fuel h