Quarterly environmental meeting electrifies attendees

Photo By Molly Cooke | Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield Garrison Command team participates in an electro-shock boat demonstration, Sept. 29 at Holbrook Pond on Fort Stewart. During the demonstration, the command team was able to gain a better understanding of how the DPW Fish and Wildlife Division samples lakes and ponds for inventory and general overall health of the fish populations.  

FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES

10.04.2023

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Hanna 

Fort Stewart Public Affairs Office

The day was made for bringing attention to the environment at Holbrook Pond. The Directorate of Public Works Environmental Quality Control Committee’s 4th quarter meeting showcased the Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield hunting and fishing programs, endangered species management, and a demonstration of the electroshock boat that used for researching the vast population of the installation’s ponds and lakes.
During the meeting, Col. Marc Austin, Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield Garrison Commander, emphasized the importance of the Environmental Compliance Officer Program and the need for everyone on the installation to be good stewards of the environment for generations to come.
“We’ve been talking about this program and the impacts that we have not just in the immediate vicinity such as your motor pool, but how it contributes across the entire environment.” Austin said. “This program makes you larger than yourself, larger than just your organization, and that feeds into the larger community.”
John Garrow, a game biologist and program manager for the Fort Stewart DPW Environmental hunting and fishing program, provided an overview of the program for this fiscal year. Garrow noted that currently, the installation’s hunting and fishing program is the largest in the Army, with 7,575 permit holders. Adding to the success of the program, Garrow added that the amount of permit holders across the installation’s 250,000 acres of managed land, for hunting and fishing, is split evenly between Department of Defense affiliated passholders and the non-affiliated civilian population that surrounds the installation. Additionally, he added the funds generated from permit sales remain on the installation and are re-invested into the program which allows the Environmental Division to forecast long-range plans without funding limitations.
Garrow closed out his portion of the meeting by emphasizing the unique environmental opportunities that can’t be experienced elsewhere in the community.
“One of the coolest things about my job is that the same place that [the community] can go out and have some quality redbreast fishing, is the same place that Soldiers train in, from land navigation courses to where the Army’s Best Squad Competition is being held right now,” he said. “I think it is the coolest opportunity that’s unique to the Department of Defense and that’s what makes me excited to come [to work] every day.”
Additional updates were provided by DPW Fish and Wildlife representatives on the status of the endangered and threatened species that reside on the installation.
“We manage the threatened and endangered species on the installation in coordination with our partners like forestry and range control,” said DPW Fish and Wildlife representative, Justin Chafin. “We do this so the military can have a greatly reduced or no training restriction on the landscape.”
Chafin shared one of the team’s largest success stories is the proactive management program for the red cockaded woodpecker program which helped remove it from the endangered list.
Attendees were also updated on the Army’s Compatible Use Buffer Program, which was designed to limit the development along the installation’s boundaries, in order for the installation to focus on readiness through training activities and controlled forest burns without impacting nearby residents’ quality of life.
To round out the day, the Fish and Wildlife Division gave a demonstration on the electro-shock boat and how they use it to sample lakes and ponds for inventory and general overall health of the fish populations. During the demonstration, participants received a firsthand look at how the electrodes produce an electric current strong enough to stun the fish and they come to the surface for identification or collected for research. The fish are not harmed in this process, and swim away with no adverse effects.
The quarterly Environmental Quality Control Committee meetings are open to anyone on the installation who would like to attend. For more information contact DPW Environmental at 912-767-2010 or email Veronica Frazier at [e-mail]

• Date Taken: 10.04.2023
• Date Posted: 10.04.2023 16:03
• Story ID: 455188
• Location: FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US