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Military Sustainability Program

Land Grant Universities Supporting Conservation, Working Lands, and National Defense

Protecting Military Readiness, Sustaining Rural Communities

Institute for Renewable Natural Resources Texas A&M University

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Encroachment

“External influences that can threaten or constrain training”

– House Armed Services Committee, 5/2001

Impact is broad -- affects realistic air, ground, and naval training

Encroachment = Incompatible Land/Sea/Air Use

External

-Frequency -Air and space

Internal

-T&E Species -UXO

-Urban growth

-Noise control -Noise and light -Air quality

-Mission growth

-T&E species

“Encroachment” = 2

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Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative

Purpose: • Protect and sustain the capability to test and train • Develop and deploy tools and resources to relieve current

restrictions and avoid future restrictions Tools: • Buffers • Partnerships • -- Sentinel Landscapes

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NRCS

USFS

State

NGOs

DoD WMA

Linking Lands…

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Linking Lands…Linking Missions

National Forest

Military Installation

Public Lands “Anchor Points”

Primary Buffer (e.g., Conservation easements,

fee simple lands)

Target - >50% Longleaf Pine

Moving towards restore, maintain and improve conditions

Secondary Buffer (e.g., private forests, working lands)

Target - 25-50% Longleaf Pine Moving towards restore and

maintain conditions

Conceptual Model of Place-based Projects Within Significant Geographic Areas (SGAs)

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Sentinel Landscapes

Sentinel Landscapes: The convergence of conservation, working lands, and national defense

Sentinel Landscapes as:

– Place – Incentives

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Protecting Military Readiness and Sustaining Rural Communities

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Sentinel Landscapes – Place

Sentinel Landscapes are geospatially defined – watersheds, counties, or specifically bounded geographic areas – areas identified by the Military Services that possess important attributes supporting specific military operational, test, or training requirements, e.g. buffers to existing military facilities, habitat for wildlife species at risk, or compatible land use that underlie military training routes.

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Sentinel Landscapes – Incentives

identifying, developing, expanding, and applying incentives that alter or sustain existing land management practices in a manner that recognizes and compensates land owners for the unique value their land and the associated land management practices provide – supporting national defense due to the identified landscapes’ location and relationship to an military readiness mission.

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Sentinel Landscapes

Place Identification of geospatially defined space possessing

attributes supporting defined military requirements

Incentives Provision of incentives to reward land owners for land

management actions compatible with defined military requirements

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Market Based Conservation Initiative – North Carolina

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State Implementation Model Demonstration Explore what a Sentinel Landscapes State Implementation

model might look like How to apply a Economic Enterprise Zone framework

(incentive for compatible land use) Consider how to engage military to identify requirements

and delineate Sentinel Landscapes – Land Grant University as facilitator – Engage Commanders Council – Coordinate with State Technical Committees – Integrate with other planning endeavors, e.g. State Forest

Action Plans and State Wildlife Management Plans

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SENTINEL LANDSCAPAES Where Conservation, Working Lands, and National Defense Converge

— connecting land, connecting missions, and connecting people.

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