USDA, DoD sign conservation partnership agreement

Agreement is win-win for military training, land and water conservation

Department of Agriculture Natural Resources and Environment Deputy Under Secretary Merlyn Carlson and Department of Defense Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health Assistant Deputy Under Secretary Alex Beehler signed an agreement recently, establishing a national partnership in conservation efforts near military bases around the nation.

"This partnership announced today is good news for the environment," Carlson said. "Through cooperative conservation, USDA and DOD will enhance and improve sensitive environmental lands adjacent to military bases across the country."

In recent years the encroachment of urban development has become a serious threat to military bases, their training facilities, and surrounding areas.

"DOD's new national partnership with USDA will greatly enhance the sustainability of our military installations and the working landscapes surrounding those installations. The agreement reflects the military's increasing interest in working with other partners to promote better regional conservation planning in areas across the country," said Beehler.

As part of DOD's efforts to address urban encroachment concerns, DoD has created the Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative and other programs to work with partners to promote "compatible use buffers" and conservation planning around military bases. Such buffers also provide wildlife habitat and conserve the land.

In cases where priority conservation objectives can be met, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service programs such as the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Grassland Reserve Program will add to these efforts. This partnership enables NRCS and DOD to gain greater efficiency by sharing technical information and services necessary to continue conservation efforts.

For more information about NRCS conservation programs, contact your local USDA Service Center or visit NRCS online at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/.

For more information about DOD's REPI Conservation Buffer Program go online to www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/Sustain/Ranges/REPI-FACT-SHEET.doc.

Date: 11/22/06

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