[CPEO-MEF] Fish & Wildlife recognizes Ft. Carson (CO)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Fish & Wildlife Service presents first military installation award

By Susan C. Galentine 
Army News Service
April 6, 2005 


FORT CARSON, Colo., (Army News Service, April 6, 2005) ? Fort Carson
received the first U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Military Installation
Conservation Partnership Award presented during a ceremony in Arlington,
Va. March 17.

The award acknowledges a 30-year relationship between the Fort Carson
Directorate of Environmental Compliance and Management and the USFWS in
Colorado. 

The Fort Carson DECAM is responsible for environmental management of
more than 373,000 acres within the Central Shortgrass Prairie Ecoregion.
Post environmentalists said the installation's programs serve as an
excellent model of land stewardship with innovative environmental
programs that go beyond compliance with environmental regulations by
including comprehensive natural resource management. 

"We have been very successful over the years in conserving the Army's
natural resources at Fort Carson and a primary reason has been the long
standing collaboration and true partnership with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, as well as with our neighbors," said Gary Belew,
Natural and Cultural Resources Division chief of the DECAM. "We have
established a model program where two federal agencies have worked
tirelessly to collaboratively manage and conserve wildlife in the most
effective and efficient manner." 

He said Fort Carson's efforts have focused on conservation of declining
native species, such as the Mexican spotted owl, mountain plover, swift
fox, peregrine falcon, greenback cutthroat trout and the Arkansas
darter. Installation environmental programs also encompass outdoor
recreation, law enforcement, cultural resources management and pollution
prevention services. 

Belew said high profile conservation projects such the Army Compatible
Use Buffer initiative wouldn't be possible without Fort Carson's
proactive engagement of local, state, federal and non-governmental
entities, such as The Nature Conservancy. The ACUB initiative involves
partnering with adjacent private and public landowners in an effort to
offset the impacts of encroachment on training through the purchase of
conservation easements.

The ACUB provides for the protection of species habitat on a regional
basis. Environmentalists hope this will lessen land-use restrictions on
Fort Carson. This could work by preventing the need to list species as
the mountain plover and black-tailed prairie dog as threatened or
endangered by conserving substantial habitat areas before they are listed.

Fort Carson has gone outside the fence line to engage neighbors of the
installation and ensure open communication and good relationships
thrive. One such neighbor is Gary Walker, one of the private landowner
to the southeast of Fort Carson whose land is involved in the ACUB
initiative. 

"We have shared a 20 mile common boundary with Fort Carson for the past
40 years. In that time we have seen an area that was almost void of
wildlife become one of the richest wildlife habitats in Colorado," said
Walker. "Fort Carson has become the finest neighbor the Walkers have
ever had. No matter how large or small of a request, Fort Carson has
always been there to help. One reason Walker Ranches will always remain
a ranch is because of the wonderful benefits of living next door to 'My Fort'."

Fort Carson, along with Fort Hood, Fort Lewis and Fort Bragg, is one of
the first four Army installations to embrace "sustainability" and the
concept of conserving resources now to ensure they are available for the
future. The installation has hosted three regional sustainability
workshops and established 12 25-year goals with input from community
stakeholders. 

The goals address such wide ranging issues as reducing energy use and
researching renewable energy sources; conserving water; reducing solid
waste through recycling initiatives, affirmative procurement; reducing
automobile dependency; reducing air pollution and waste generation;
ensuring training ranges can continue to support military training;
building more environmentally-friendly facilities and other installation
and regional concerns. 

Partnering to share resources has provided opportunities for both the
Army at Fort Carson and the USFWS to maximize environmental endeavors in
the region, said Birgitte Dodd, Fort Carson sustainability planner. For
over 20 years, partnership agreements have enabled USFWS staff to work
at the DECAM providing their expertise and experience. 

The Military Installation Conservation Partnership Award gives a nod at
a new era of intergovernmental cooperation, Belew said. The Army is not
doing business as it used to, where most installations were postured as
isolated islands of land stewardship. The collaborate efforts show a new
Army, willing to work with other government agencies to resolve
environmental issues on a regional level that potentially impact
military training, as well as natural resources.

For the original article, go to
http://www4.army.mil/news/article.php?story=7128

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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