AIKEN, S.C. -- The 25 million acres of land entrusted to the U.S. military may now benefit from more than 50 years of study in conservation and land management.
A new 500-page publication called ≥Conserving Biodiversity on Military Lands: A Handbook for Natural Resource Managers≤ is now available for the U.S. Department of Defense. The bookπs publication is due in part to the efforts of Dr. Gary Meffe, a senior research ecologist with the University of Georgiaπs Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. He wrote the book with Michele Leslie, Jeffrey Hardesty and Diane Adams, all with The Nature Conservancy.
≥The guidebook should be useful to anyone interested in ecosystem management, anyone dealing with land management resource issues,≤ Dr. Meffe says. ≥The book is not a set of regulations, and nobody is legally bound to follow it. But it is meant as a resource tool, a handbook to help managers follow the experiences of others and to incorporate the latest scientific information from the field of conservation biology.≤
The new book is in such demand that the natural resource managers at Ft. Gordon in Augusta, Ga., and Ft. Jackson in Columbia, S.C., have not yet received their copies. But they both say they are eager to review the handbook, which developed after Dr. Meffe and his colleagues discovered that they and officials from the U.S. Department of Defense all saw the need for a military land management guidebook.
Management of military lands is little different than other lands in the basic principles of resource management, but the tenets do have unique applications in these areas, says Dr. Meffe, who is the senior author of ≥Principles of Conservation Biology,≤ which is the nationπs most widely used college textbook on the subject.
≥Whether you are talking about a military base, a national forest or the Edisto River, you are talking about people interacting with the landscape,≤ he said. ≥But, instead of growing corn or building shopping centers, military bases are using their land for running maneuvers, firing artillery or landing paratroopers.≤
Some of those differences can be ironically beneficial, Dr. Meffe said. For example: ≥There are military bases in the Southeast where the native habitat was the longleaf pine-wiregrass community, which has been nearly wiped out during the past two centuries. But artillery practice on some of these ranges often starts fires which burn the forest. And fire is critical for maintaining or re-establishing the longleaf pine habitat, so some of our best remaining examples are on military bases,≤ Dr. Meffe explained.
At Fort Jackson Army base near Columbia, S.C., natural resource manager Mark Dutton is eagerly awaiting his copy of the handbook, he said. Mr. Dutton was a member of a review board that met at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, last year to monitor work on the handbook, and he said he was impressed with its practicality then.
≥There is definitely a need for it,≤ Mr. Dutton said. ≥Anything we can do to bring natural resource managers together and share training is something positive.≤
Mr. Duttonπs primary interest in the handbook is related to his major project at Ft. Jackson, which covers 52,000 acres of diverse habitat and shelters three endangered species -- the red-cockaded woodpecker, the rough-leafed loose strife and the smooth coneflower.
≥We are in the process of mapping where our biodiversity is,≤ Mr. Dutton said. ≥Then we can guide the military trainers to areas of low biodiversity and away from high biodiversity.≤
The handbookπs foreword by Sherri W. Goodman, deputy undersecretary of defense for environmental security, notes that much of the militaryπs land remains in a pristine natural state, including undeveloped coastline areas, prairies, forests and deserts. Much of it is remarkable for the endangered and threatened species that live there, she writes.
≥We have all grown increasingly aware of how the future of humanity is dependent on responsible stewardship of our natural heritage,≤ Ms. Goodman writes. ≥Stewardship is not just a matter of altruism. . . . The lands available for military training and operations are limited. . . . We must protect the condition of our ranges, so we can meet training needs in the future. We also must demonstrate that we are responsible stewards to continue to warrant the trust and support of the American people, who authorize our continued use of public lands.≤
Dr. Meffe is pleased with the handbookπs publication because of its applicability, he says. ≥The book offers the military a model process for natural resource management. We are putting theory into practice. This is not just another pie in the sky project, not another academic exercise. We are providing solid guidance to managers across the country. It can be put to work in the field to protect biodiversity over large areas,≤ Dr. Meffe says.
You may contact the following to obtain a copy of the handbook:
Office of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
(Environmental Security) ( Conservation)
3400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-3400
or
HQ USAF/CEVP
Directorate of Environment
Office of the Air Force Civil Engineer
1260 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20330-1260
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To conduct interviews, you may contact one of the public information officers listed above, or you may call the following parties directly.
1. Dr. Gary Meffe, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Phone: (803) 725-7266; email: [email protected].
2. Michele Leslie, The Nature Conservancy. Phone: 703-247-3675.
3. Jeffrey Hardesty, The Nature Conservancy. Phone: 352-392-7006.
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