Even as Fort Bragg worked to reconcile red-cockaded woodpecker conservation and military training needs, it became apparent that a major threat to both loomed on the other side of the base fence. Rapid development of lands adjacent to the base was eliminating wildlife habitat and putting pressures on the base’s lands. And the human occupants of the new developments increasingly were complaining about the noise and smoke associated with military training and testing exercises. These encroachment pressures demanded “outside-the-gate” thinking.
Historically, most military posts were established in remote areas where potential conflicts between local communities and military activities would be minimized. As many of these areas have become more densely populated, many active bases are in danger of becoming islands in an ocean of residential and commercial development, with consequences that can jeopardize the installation’s primary missions. By the mid-1990s rapid urban development outside Fort Bragg was becoming increasingly worrisome to installation officials. Although housing and other developments being approved could have major impacts on the Army’s ability to carry out maneuvers and other training activities, it had no jurisdiction over land use planning adjacent to the base. And as these adjacent lands were developed, the relative importance of Fort Bragg’s lands for sustaining the red-cockaded woodpecker only increased.
Military planners recognized that a buffer of undeveloped land was needed surrounding the base both to meet red-cockaded woodpecker recovery goals, and for the training mission to be sustainable over the long term. At the time, however, there were few options available for the creation of such a protected buffer, and the Army had neither the authority nor the funds to purchase adjacent private lands for this purpose. Against this backdrop, officials at Fort Bragg began working with The Nature Conservancy to accomplish broader biodiversity conservation goals. Using the Sikes Act authority, in 1995 the Army entered into a cooperative agreement with The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to create the Fort Bragg Private Lands Initiative (PLI). This cooperative agreement and the resulting buffer lands initiative marked a major innovation and represented the first of its type within the military.
The encroachment issues experienced at Fort Bragg are being felt at installations across the country. Fort Bragg’s Private Lands Initiative served as an early model for the creation of DoD programs specifically focused on preserving compatible land uses and natural habitats outside the installation fence line to provide a buffer for mission critical capabilities and operations. While authority for the Fort Bragg PLI was under the wildlife-oriented Sikes Act, the 2003 Defense Authorization Act affirmed and expanded authority for DoD to enter into partnerships with non-federal and private parties to address encroachment threats to military training, testing, and operations.2 Taking advantage of that new authority (and subsequent enhancements), DoD has dramatically expanded its engagement in outside-the-fence habitat conservation and land use planning, especially through the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program and associated Service-specific efforts, such as the Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) program.
2 Section 2811 of the 2003 Defense Authorization Act, codified at 10 USC 2684a.
Next Page: Lessons Learned at Fort Bragg
Author
Bruce Stein, Ph.D., Chief Scientist and Associate Vice President
National Wildlife Federation
Balancing Mission and Biodiversity at Fort Bragg Sections
Balancing Mission and Biodiversity at Fort Bragg
Longleaf Pine: A Declining Ecosystem