Camp Blanding named top installation for conservation

STARKE, FL, UNITED STATES

05.30.2018

Courtesy Story

Florida National Guard Public Affairs Office

The Military Conservation Partner Award is given annually to highlight the policies and work of the military installation that is best able to balance conservation and habitat development with their military training. This year, CBJTC was showcased as the most environmentally friendly installation for its work conserving and rehabilitating the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, a bird native to the American Southeast considered to be endangered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

While military training and habitat conservation may seem incompatible, preservation groups and post operations have come together to develop a mutually cooperative and fulfilling partnership.

“We got together with the military trainers and the conservationists and asked, what do the Soldiers need, and what do the birds need and we found out that they both needed the same thing,” said Paul Catlett, the Forestry Program Administrator at CBJTC. “They both needed freshly burned brush, which adds to the ecosystem, and also allows soldiers to use the grounds for their training.”

The project intended to rehabilitate the ecosystem of CBJTC has proven so effective that the post’s model serves as an example for similar military installations, resulting in CBJTRC relocating many endangered species to other underpopulated conservation areas. This relocation project moves animals like the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker to sites with dwindling local populations, in hopes of rebuilding endangered populations, and expanding habitats.
“We’ve gotten to the point now where we’re the first installation to receive these woodpeckers, and built their populations to the point that we can export them to other posts which need to build up their threatened populations,” said Catlett.

The program is part of an agreement between the military and U.S. Fish and Wildlife known as the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances. The agreement commits organizations to enacting policies to restore dwindling wildlife stocks in an attempt to keep threatened animals off state and federal endangered species list.

"Our partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission allows Camp Blanding to maintain its position as the premier training installation in the southeast while the Florida National Guard maintains its combat readiness and we simultaneously conserve Florida's native wildlife," said Maj. Gen. Michael Calhoun, The Adjutant General of Florida.

This cooperation ensures wildlife is protected and Soldiers and Airmen have accessible training grounds to prepare to accomplish their state and federal missions in the case of mobilizations or natural disasters.

“Camp Blanding truly understands that wildlife conservation and military readiness are indeed compatible,” said Michael Oetker, Acting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Regional Director. “This award underscores the base’s commitment to protecting nature and the American people.”

• Date Taken: 05.30.2018
• Date Posted: 05.30.2018 15:48
• Story ID: 278888
• Location: STARKE, FL, US