I hope you all are staying warm as the winter season is now officially upon us.  As we enter the early days of 2018, the REPI team and I would like to take this time to reflect on what was an exciting and successful year for the Program in 2017.  Over the last year we developed new partnerships, engaged with new and existing stakeholders, and piloted innovative approaches to sustain military readiness, all of which helped to contribute to the REPI Program’s success.

Since its inception, the Program has received on average $45 to $60 million in annual appropriations from Congress.  In fiscal year (FY) 2017, REPI moved beyond that standard, with Congress allocating $75 million to support military readiness and enhance capabilities through REPI partnerships nationwide.  As Congress puts the finishing touches on a budget for FY 2018, I am hopeful that we can continue to build off all of last year’s progress in earnest.

Two recent achievements include the designation of the Georgia Sentinel Landscapes and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Conference Opinion for the Gopher Tortoise Conservation and Crediting Strategy.  Together these accomplishments represent the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by so many of our REPI partners.  These efforts also set the stage for new and exciting opportunities in the future, such as the establishment of the first Gopher Tortoise Conservation Area at Alapaha Wildlife Management Area in Georgia. 

The REPI office spent much of 2017 engaging with new and existing REPI partners across the country, including at the 2017 Land Trust Alliance Rally in Denver, Colorado and the ninth Western Regional Partnership Principals’ Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.  During the Principals’ Meeting, at which Mr. Tad Davis, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, served as a co-chair, the REPI team had the opportunity to highlight significant efforts to align federal conservation programs to protect the military missions of Fort Huachuca (Arizona) and Camp Williams (Utah). 

In Denver, the REPI team met with the land trust community to share best practices on how to overcome legal and technical challenges when implementing their REPI projects.  Rally 2017 also provided an opportunity to highlight innovative techniques to leverage different Federal conservation programs at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River (Maryland), Avon Park Air Force Range (Florida), and NAS Fallon (Nevada), each of which serves as a model for other projects nationwide.  In conjunction with Rally 2017, a number of current and prospective REPI partners attended a site visit to the nearby Buckley Air Force Base (AFB) REPI partnership – I cannot thank the staff at Buckley AFB enough for hosting a fun and informative tour of their facilities, aircraft, and REPI project.  They even managed to complete our tour before the Vice President arrived to visit the state!

Moving forward, we hope to make 2018 as—if not more—innovative and successful a year as 2017.  To jump start the new year, we invite you to participate in the 2018 REPI Challenge Request for Proposals.  This is a fantastic opportunity for military installations to develop effective land conservation projects; leverage additional sources of funding; and promote sustainability in surrounding communities.  We are accepting pre-proposals through January 26, 2018.

We are also pleased to announce that DoD will host the 2018 Sustaining Military Readiness Conference from August 13 to 16, 2018 in St. Louis, MO.  We encourage the entire REPI community to participate in this event, which will provide an excellent forum in which to discuss the full suite of issues surrounding sustaining and enhancing military capabilities.  Look for additional information on the agenda and logistics for the Conference in the coming months.

Lastly, I would like to thank our partners once again for your tireless effort in supporting and maintaining the REPI mission.

Best wishes for 2018!

Kristin Thomasgard-Spence

The 2018 REPI Challenge Request for Pre-Proposals and the downloadable PDF pre-proposal form are now available through the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities website.  The REPI Challenge, established in 2012, is a competitive process to seek projects that accelerate land conservation and military mission protection efforts through innovative partnerships and shared financing.

The goal of the 2018 Challenge is twofold.  First, the Challenge aims to leverage public and private funds for land conservation and management activities that utilize species crediting approaches, protect watersheds important to DoD’s water supply, or acquire water rights for the purposes of mission sustainment.  The second goal of the Challenge is to engage the private sector in incorporating additional philanthropic sources, alternative processes, and market-based approaches that are cost effective in acquiring land.

The 2017 REPI Challenge resulted in $9.2 million in awards that leveraged nearly $10.1 million in non-DoD partner funding to the Eastern North Carolina Sentinel Landscape Partnership. This partnership represents a coordinated effort between the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, other Federal agencies, state and local governments, and non-profit organizations to protect rural and natural lands important to the Nation’s defense mission across 33 counties in the state.

The REPI Program will make available to $15 million to fund one or more projects that fulfill the objectives described above.  The 2018 Challenge is open to any state government, political subdivision of a state, or private entity whose organizational purpose or goal is the conservation, restoration, or preservation of land and natural resources.  All pre-proposals must be coordinated with the Military Services.

Pre-proposals are due by 8:00pm EST on Friday, January 26, 2018. Applicants will be notified of their status no later than Friday, February 23, 2018.

Additional information on the Challenge, including descriptions of past Challenge projects, is available on the REPI website.

On December 19, the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership announced the designation of the Georgia Sentinel Landscape.  This designation officially recognized the role that protecting working lands and vital natural resources plays in sustaining the military mission as well as the long-term health of local communities in southern Georgia.

Spanning a significant portion of the southern part of the state, the Georgia Sentinel Landscape brings together more than 20 partners at the federal, state, and local levels to sustain working farms and forests; protect vital habitat for a number of important species; and promote land uses compatible with the military mission at nine of the nation’s most important installations and ranges, including Fort Benning, Fort Stewart, Townsend Bombing Range, Robins Air Force Base, and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.

The Georgia Sentinel Landscape joins six other Sentinel Landscapes in this nationwide partnership: Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington; Fort Huachuca in Arizona; Middle Chesapeake in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia; Avon Park Air Force Range in Florida; Camp Ripley in Minnesota; and Eastern North Carolina.  At each of these Landscapes, partners are working with local landowners to promote and protect the land, livelihood, and defense of communities within their boundary.

Additional information on the Georgia Sentinel Landscape designation is available in the DoD's press release.  For additional information on the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership in general, please visit the Partnership’s website.

We encourage you to subscribe to the Sentinel Landscapes mailing list to receive the latest updates, news, and announcements from the Sentinel Landscapes Federal Coordinating Committee straight to your inbox. To sign-up, click here.

On December 15, 2017, Leopoldo Miranda, Assistant Regional Director for Ecological Services of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Southeast Region, signed the Framework Programmatic Conference Opinion for the Department of Defense (DoD) Gopher Tortoise Conservation and Crediting Strategy (Strategy).  This represents a new milestone for the Strategy and a step closer towards establishing the first Gopher Tortoise Conservation Area (GTCA) at Alapaha Wildlife Management Area in Georgia.  The USFWS has concluded that effects from the Strategy are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the Eastern population of gopher tortoise.  Moving forward under the Strategy, participating military installations will be able to work with partners to create GTCAs, consult with USFWS on project-level activities in a streamlined fashion, and establish and use credits to offset military activities.

In the last three years, DoD, USFWS, and state governments within the range of the Eastern population of gopher tortoise have worked together to develop the Strategy to provide a net conservation benefit to the species.  The gopher tortoise is a candidate species for protection under the Endangered Species Act (Act) in its Eastern range.  The Strategy represents a new tool available for natural resource managers by which military installations in the Eastern range can implement conservation actions that can be used to offset impacts to the gopher tortoise if the species becomes listed in the future.  The Strategy focuses on high-priority conservation lands that host important gopher tortoise populations but are not under permanent conservation management.  Through these conservation actions, “credits” can be obtained for regulatory predictability and flexibility for the military if the species is later protected under the ESA.  The hope is that conservation actions taken through the Strategy will address those conservation priorities necessary to help avoid the need to list the species in the future.

Additional information on the Strategy is available in the USFWS Southeast Region's press release on its adoption in March 2017.

This past October, REPI partners shared best practices and lessons learned at the Land Trust Alliance’s annual conference, Rally 2017, in Denver, Colorado.  Nearly 2,000 land conservationists and practitioners gathered to discuss current issues related to land protection and management nationwide.  Before the conference, the REPI Program invited headquarters and installation-level staff from the Military Services, as well as current and potential REPI land trust partners to attend a site visit of the nearby Buckley Air Force Base REPI project.  The visit highlighted the various missions to which Buckley is home and included an interactive panel with project partners as well as a tour of parcels protected through the Buckley partnership.  Tour participants walked away with a number of great ideas to help start or further develop a REPI project in their home state.

During Rally 2017, REPI led a networking breakfast with current and prospective REPI partners to provide updates and answer questions on the Program.  This provided an excellent opportunity for current REPI partners to welcome prospective partners and share their experiences working with the Program on the ground.

The REPI Program also participated in a joint federal land protection session with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS).  This session focused on how federal programs can work together to enhance military readiness on a landscape-scale, with partners from three projects highlighting specific examples of innovative approaches to leveraging different federal funding sources.  These case studies shared information on a memorandum of understanding between USFWS and the U.S. Navy in the Middle Chesapeake Sentinel Landscape; a common easement template for U.S. Air Force and NRCS funded projects in the Avon Park AFR Sentinel Landscape; and a Grasslands of Special Significance project that leveraged REPI and NRCS funds in the NAS Fallon military influence area.  For more information on these innovative efforts, please contact the REPI office.

That is not all!  During Rally 2017, the Compatible Lands Foundation also made history by finalizing the sale of the first carbon credit from the Camp Shelby REPI project on the California Carbon Market, the first transaction of its kind in the history of the REPI Program.  REPI also hosted a meeting with installation and headquarters staff from the Military Services as well as current REPI partners to discuss legal and policy issues in implementing REPI partnerships nationwide.  

With a successful Rally 2017 in the books, the REPI Program is already looking forward to Rally 2018, which is scheduled for October 11 to 13, 2018 in Pittsburgh, PA!

The ninth Western Regional Partnership (WRP) Principals' Meeting was a huge success.  One week after Thanksgiving, members representing senior-level Federal, State, and Tribal leadership gathered in Phoenix, AZ to address emerging issues that impact homeland security and military readiness, while protecting natural and cultural resources in the Southwest.  The WRP Principals also emphasized the importance of developing partnerships with multiple perspectives.  For example, Justin Harding, Chief of Staff for Utah Governor Gary Herbert described how several groups throughout Utah support WRP’s mission and encourage public-partnerships to prioritize their public lands.

The WRP Committees also discussed how federal and state agencies can best meet their priorities in light of recent changes and evaluated opportunities to better coordinate efforts related to species protection, energy and infrastructure, and airspace utilization.  For instance, the WRP Natural Resources Committee evaluated issues in protecting certain species, listed under the Endangered Species Act, between the DoD and state level Bureau of Land Management.  We are eager to see the successes that will follow this meeting, and look forward to expanding on the meeting’s goals in the New Year.  For additional information about WRP, please visit the Partnership's newly-redesigned website.

The REPI Program is pleased to announce that the Office of the Secretary of Defense will host the 2018 Sustaining Military Readiness Conference from August 13 to 16, 2018 in St. Louis, MO.  All members of the REPI community are encouraged to attend this event, which will provide a forum in which to share lessons learned and best practices to support and enhance military readiness.

Additional information on the agenda and logistics for the 2018 Sustaining Military Readiness Conference will be available in the coming months.

The REPI Program is seeking your feedback as we plan the 2018 REPI Webinar series.  The REPI Program hosts webinars every four to six weeks on a variety of topics that touch on sustaining military readiness, conservation, and encroachment management.  We strive to offer webinars that speak to our broad and diverse audience of installations and partners. 

Please take 3-5 minutes to answer 8 questions in the following survey to help us identify the most interesting and relevant topic areas to cover in the coming year:

2018 REPI Webinar Survey  

Please submit your survey responses by Friday, January 5, 2018.  We appreciate your time and willingness to spend a few minutes participating in this survey.  We value your input and assistance in helping the REPI team create a Webinar schedule that best serves your needs and interest.

The REPI team will circulate the final 2018 Webinar schedule in late January.  As always, you can view the recordings of all past REPI Webinars, dating back to 2010, on the REPI website.

USDA is offering grants for innovative ideas for conservation strategies and technologies.  USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS​) plans to invest $10 million in the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program, funding innovative conservation projects in three focus areas: grazing lands, organic systems and soil health. Grant proposals are due February 26, 2018.

Additional information on this funding opportunity is available in NRCS' press release.  

Join us for this online series on best practices, tutorials, and knowledge sharing on REPI partnerships that support the military mission and accelerate the pace and rate of land conservation.  The 2018 Webinar schedule will be available in late January 2018. 

Upcoming Webinar

Can You Hear Me Now? Addressing Noise Impacts in Your REPI Partnership
Description: Learn about using REPI to address noise impacts on communities and wildlife outlined in your Air Installation Compatible Use Zone program and other planning efforts and hear from installations that have successfully buffered noise-generating operations without degrading mission capabilities.
When: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 at 1:00PM ET.
For instructions to join the webinar, please click here.

Past Webinars

If you missed the most recent REPI webinars, "Stakeholder Engagement 101" and "REPI and Water,” please visit the REPI website to view the webinar recordings or contact us for more information. Below are brief descriptions of some key points and lessons learned from the recent webinars.

Stakeholder Engagement 101: Building and Expanding Your REPI Partnership
•The REPI Program provided an overview of the REPI Primer Series, which is available for download on the Program's website.  Program staff also provided a brief demonstration of the newest addition to the REPI Primer Series, an interactive version of the Encroachment Management Partnerships Guide for State, Local, and Private Partners.
•Mr. Johnathan Lozier (Stateside Associates) shared information on working with state and local governments and the fundamentals of relationship-building and outreach.  Mr. Lozier walked through the intricacies of the legislative process and described the perspective that elected officials bring to the table.  Finally, Mr. Lozier provided best practices for REPI partners and projects to consider when engaging with elected officials.
•Ms. Mary Jane (Janie) Brady (460th Space Wing, Buckley Air Force Base) described the role that state, county, and city governments have played in contributing to the overall success of the Buckley Air Force Base REPI partnership.  Ms. Brady shared information on the project itself and shared insight into building successful partnerships with state and local government partners.

REPI and Water
•Mr. Todd Gartner (Senior Associate, World Resources Institute) shared information on World Resources Institute's work examining water conservation issues at DoD installations, the U.S. DoD Installation Water Risk Mapping & Conservation Opportunity Assessment.  The objectives of this effort are to assess watershed conditions as well as current and future risks to water supply and to identify geographies with the greatest opportunities for integrating natural infrastructure interventions around DoD installations nationwide.
•Mr. Peter Stangel (Vice President, U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities) shared information on the 2018 Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program, a collaborative effort between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Endowment that seeks to accelerate landscape protection to promote healthy watersheds.  Additional information on the Healthy Watersheds Consortium is available on the Endowment's website.

Watch recordings of past webinars on the REPI website.

Southern Georgia Named ‘Sentinel Landscape’ for Readiness Enhancement

The Department of Defense Public Affairs (Arlington, VA) reports that the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, and the Interior have designated southern Georgia as a Sentinel Landscape to maintain military readiness while preserving local agriculture, natural resources and wildlife habitat.  Spanning a significant portion of the southern part of the state, the Georgia Sentinel Landscape joined the cooperative partnership between DoD and the Agriculture and Interior departments, DoD officials said.  This designation was also announced in similar press releases by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

North Florida Land Trust, Partners Focus on Creating Ocala to Osceola Wildlife Corridor

The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, FL) reports that the North Florida Land Trust has acquired three parcels of land totaling 565 acres in Duval and Clay counties and is working with state and federal agencies to create a wildlife corridor from Ocala to Osceola.  The project, which seeks to preserve wildlife habitat and water resources spanning public and private land throughout North Florida, dovetails well with the military’s mission in this landscape.  Camp Blanding, a National Guard installation serves as a critical link in this potential corridor, which, if realized, benefits wildlife and the public in addition to protecting Camp Blanding’s training mission.

Pennsylvania Guard Environmental Team Receives Awards for ACUB Project at Fort Indiantown Gap

The U.S. Army Public Affairs (Arlington, VA) reports that members of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s environmental office at Fort Indiantown Gap received two national awards this fall.  The national resources team won the for its efforts with the Army Compatible Use Buffer program at Fort Indiantown Gap and was also recognized for maintaining the installation's habitat and wildlife.  Their efforts with the regal fritillary butterfly, a rare species, were commended as well.  "This award recognizes many of the hardworking members of the team," said Patricia Rickard, environmental planning manager for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.  "It showcases how we maintain a healthy and sustainable habitat and wildlife population while running an active military installation."

Burlington County Reaches Milestone in Preserving Land around Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

The Courier Post (Mt. Holly, NJ) reports that Burlington County has surpassed 30,000 preserved agricultural acers on 250 farms with the purchase of easements on nine additional farms.  These latest purchases were made possible through a cost sharing partnership with Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which put forth REPI funds for the acquisition of easements on these parcels within the installation’s buffer zone.  Most of the nine farms, especially the four in Chesterfield, will be “filling the holes in the doughnut” formed by previously preserved farms around the base, said county farmland preservation coordinator Brian Wilson.

REPI Sustains Mission at Buckley AFB through Community Partnerships

The 460th Space Wing Public Affairs (Buckley Air Force Base, CO) reports that the 460th Space Wing led a tour of the Buckley Air Force Base REPI project on 26 October 2017.  The tour included representatives from the Department of Defense and prospective REPI land trust partners from around the country and was intended to highlight the project’s accomplishments and future goals.  “Buckley has an incredibly effective and inclusive REPI program,” said Col. Rob Riegel, 460th Space Wing vice commander.  “Our local, state and national partnerships allow us to focus our REPI efforts on enhancing vital mission and readiness capabilities for the base, and they provide enhanced use of public lands for the local community.”

North Florida Land Trust Acquires Land near Camp Blanding 

The Jacksonville Daily Record (Jacksonville, FL) reports that the North Florida Land Trust acquired 425 acres in Clay County, which is home to an endangered sandhill forest with a longleaf pine ecosystem.  Little Rain Lake Preserve is in Keystone Heights near Little Rain Lake Park, close to Camp Blanding.  The land was acquired through funding from the REPI Program.  Camp Blanding identified the land as a candidate for conservation and to protect military land from encroaching development.

Georgia Protects 165,000 Acres along the Altamaha River, Has Plans for More

The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, FL) reports that Georgia announced it has acquired 19,500 acres along the Altamaha River corridor, thereby protecting the last big pie e of the Altamaha Corridor from development.  This acquisition was made possible in part through partnership with the Department of Defense and the Marine Corps.  Through the REPI Program, the Marine Corps acquired a restricted use easement to buffer Townsend Bombing Range along a portion of the Altamaha Corridor, thereby protecting the vital mission of this range from encroachment due to incompatible development.

Sansavilla Wildlife Area Expansion Complete

The Defense Media Activity (Fort Meade, MD) reports that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources held a ribbon cutting ceremony in Hortense, Ga., Oct. 16 to announce the acquisition of land for the Sansavilla Wildlife Management Area.  The funds for the purchases came from the Georgia DNR conservation fund, the Nature Conservancy, the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program. The Marine Corps purchased a restricted use easement to buffer Townsend Bombing Range.  “We are proud to be a part of the team effort to protect Sansavilla,” said Col. Timothy P. Miller, the commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. “The conservation of this critical property along the Altamaha River provides needed encroachment protection that will enhance our training at TBR and will ensure our pilots and crew are prepared for today’s enemies and tomorrow’s conflicts.”

Navy Preserves More than 3,310 Acres in Jefferson County

The Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA) reports that the Navy has partnered with conservation organizations to preserve more than 3,310 acres in Jefferson County in areas near ongoing naval operations.  The Navy paid land easement fees of $4.92 million to obtain usage rights for the acreage that spans from the east side of the Puget Sound from the Hood Canal Bridge up north toward Naval Magazine Indian Island.  "We work with our partners to identify areas with common interests and protect working forest, agricultural lands and high-value habitat," said Lynn Wall, Naval Base Kitsap Community Planning Liaison Officer. "In the Chimacum Valley, our partnership supports agricultural lands and helps further and develop agribusiness, while protecting the watershed and the Navy mission."  This story also appeared in the Peninsula Daily News.

Land Conservation Would Buffer White Sands Missile Range

Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, NM) reports that officials with the New Mexico Land Conservancy were invited by the U.S. Army to explore conservation opportunities adjacent to White Sands Missile Range near Alamogordo to help create what they call “Army Compatible Use Buffers.”  One avenue of achieving the goal may be to acquire permanent conservation easements that allow for continued private ownership, and may permit compatible open space uses such as agricultural, utility infrastructure and passive outdoor low-intensity recreation, a conservancy release stated.  The missile range contract agreement, which conservancy officials recently signed, states that land and easement acquisition also may provide for ecological protection of off-post habitat for threatened, endangered and at-risk species, including the White Sands pupfish, which has developed in isolation in a few water tributaries near the range.

Emerald Isle Secures Funding for Property Purchase to Support MCAS Cherry Point

The Topsail Advertiser (Emerald Isle, NC) reports that all the funding pieces have come together for a land purchase by the Town of Emerald Isle that will help preserve a buffer between military training in the area and future community uses.  A critical piece of the purchase plan includes federal funding available through the REPI Program.  The 29.7-acre property is the last remaining large vacant tract of land within the Town of Emerald Isle and is located in the flight path for Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue.  The plan is to preserve 20 acres in its natural state and reserve the remaining 9.7 acres for future recreational uses for the surrounding community.

Fort Indiantown Gap Helps to Preserve Land Using the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program

The Defense Media Activity (Fort Meade, MD) reports that More than 4,000 acres of pristine land near the De Hart reservoir was preserved in perpetuity during a ceremony at the Keystone Conference Center here September 18.  More than $4 million from the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program helped protect the land in its natural state through a conservation easement.  Other agencies were integral to the process, including the Capital Region Water authority who agreed to the sale and the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, Fort Indiantown Gap’s partner conservation agency.  The area surrounding DeHart Reservoir plays a significant role in low-level rotary winged aircraft training for Fort Indiantown Gap.  “It’s such an honor to be involved with Fort Indiantown Gap to protect the fine training you all do here,” said Ward Burton, NASCAR driver and founder of the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation.

Department of Defense Helps Finance Farmland Conservation in Fauquier County

Fauquier Now (Warrenton, VA) reports that Fauquier County completed a $212,500 funding agreement with the federal government to offset the cost of permanently protecting from development 250 acres of farmland near Marine Corps Base Quantico.  Funding for the program is available through the Department of Defense’s REPI Program, which aims to protect compatible land uses in the vicinity of important military installations.

Congressman Mike Coffman Names REPI Program as Key to Buckley AFB’s Mission

The Aurora Sentinel (Aurora, CO) ran an op-ed from Congressman Mike Coffman (R-CO) highlighting the Congressman’s efforts to protect the long-term mission of Buckley AFB. The Congressman named the REPI Program as a key “solution” for mitigating incompatible development and preventing BRAC closures while also providing recreational opportunities and environmental benefits around the fence line of the installation.