Fire aims to kill non-native plants in Everglades - Sun Sentinel

Actions being taken to rid the Everglades of invasive plant species, in particular the Old-World climbing fern. Click title for link to more details.

Ten thousand acres of Everglades National Park will burn Tuesday, as the park attempts to destroy an infestation of plants from Asia and Africa that can kill native vegetation.
Unless bad weather forces a postponement, a helicopter will drop plastic spheres of combustible chemicals over an area of sawgrass and tree islands just north of the main park road. On the ground, an engine crew will use drip torches to dribble flaming liquid on vegetation along about 200 feet of the road.
The object of this assault by fire is a plant called lygodium, or Old-World climbing fern, a plant that has overrun parts of the Everglades, from the southern end of Everglades National Park to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in western Palm Beach County.
The fern covers trees and plants with macabre green shrouds, killing them by depriving them of sunlight. It can kill mature trees, climbing up their trunks to smother them with dense green mats.