[CPEO-MEF] DOD-USDA land partnership

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release
On the Web:
http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=10168


IMMEDIATE RELEASE 	No. 1136-06
November 08, 2006
Department of Defense Announces National Conservation Partnership

Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Environment, Safety, and 
Occupational Health Alex Beehler today signed an agreement with Deputy 
Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment 
Merlyn Carlson near Fort Riley, Kansas, to establish a national Defense 
Department-Department of Agriculture partnership to promote land 
conservation near military bases.

“This is a win/win partnership,” said Beehler. “It will greatly enhance 
the sustainability of our installations and the working landscapes 
surrounding those installations. The Defense Department recognizes that 
the viability of our installations is directly linked to working with 
others outside our fencelines.”

This partnership will marry Agriculture Department efforts with the 
Defense Department’s national Readiness and Environmental Protection 
Initiative (REPI) conservation buffer program. The REPI Program helps 
preserve land around installations by providing funds, so that the 
installations can to enter into agreements to acquire conservation 
easements.

Carlson called the partnership “good news for the environment” and said 
that the national partnership will allow the Defense Department to 
better harness various programs, which are designed to assist private 
land owners and managers on conservation concerns, on behalf of military 
conservation buffer efforts across the country.

The encroachment of urban development has posed an increasing threat in 
recent years to military training land and surrounding areas. The 
Defense Department has responded by working creatively with other 
partners to promote compatible land use options and more informed 
regional planning.

Defense Department point of contact is Chris Isleib, (703) 697-5131.

For more information about the Defense Department’s REPI Program, please 
go online at 
https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/Sustain/Ranges/REPI-FACT-SHEET.doc 


For more information about NRCS conservation programs, please go online 
at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ .


--


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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