The Sikes Act requires that a sufficient number of professionally trained natural resource management personnel are available to carry out DoD’s responsibilities under the Act, including the preparation and implementation of INRMPs. Fortunately, there has been considerable and continuing progress in developing a cadre of trained military natural resource professionals, along with guidance and tools to assist them in their work. Some of the notable efforts that are helping to build professional capacity to conserve biodiversity on DoD lands include the following:
DoD Natural Resources Program (https://www.denix.osd.mil/nr/), housed within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), provides policy and guidance, management and oversight, and tools and resources to the military services so that each DoD Component can implement their natural resource programs in compliance with federal laws and executive orders. The program offers training and tools on topics such as implementation of the Sikes Act and Endangered Species Act, and coordination with State Wildlife Action Plans, as well as regional threatened, endangered, and at-risk species workshops. This program also administers the Legacy Resource Management Program, which funds high priority national and regional natural and cultural resources projects that support military readiness and enhance DoD conservation objectives. Natural Resources Program priorities include preventing new endangered species listings, facilitating species de-listings, and encouraging off-base conservation to enhance on-base mission flexibility.
Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) (http://www.cesu.psu.edu/), administered by the National Park Service, provide DoD entities a mechanism by which they can partner with universities, non-profits, state resources agencies, or other federal agencies to help meet their natural resource research and management needs. The purpose of the CESU network is to provide research, technical assistance, and training to the federal land management, environmental and research agencies and their partners. DoD became a CESU federal agency partner in 2000 and is a member of all 17 regions in the CESU national network.
National Military Fish and Wildlife Association (NMFWA) (https://www.nmfwa.org/) serves as the primary professional society for many DoD natural resource managers and holds an annual training workshop in conjunction with the North American Wildlife Conference. NMFWA has a variety of formal work groups, ranging from climate change and wildland fire to recreation and law enforcement, that allow DoD resource managers to communicate, network with, and learn from peers working on similar issues.
DoD Partners in Flight (DoD PIF) and DoD Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (DoD PARC). Two cooperative networks are in operation that focus on particular organisms—birds and herpetofauna—on military lands. DoD PIF (https://www.denix.osd.mil/dodpif/index.html) was established in 1991 and helps support DoD natural resource managers to improve monitoring and inventory, research and management, and education programs that involve birds and their habitats. DoD PARC (https://www.denix.osd.mil/dodparc/) was launched in 2009 and provides a framework for managers to effectively manage amphibians and reptiles on DoD lands by focusing on habitat and species management, inventory, research, and monitoring, and education, outreach, and training.
Go to next page: Maintaining Readiness, Sustaining Biodiversity
Author
Bruce Stein, Ph.D., Chief Scientist and Associate Vice President
National Wildlife Federation