The REPI Challenge is a competition with dedicated funding for conservation partners to advance project outcomes outside installations and ranges through large-scale innovation, conservation, and climate resilience actions.  From its pilot project in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, the REPI Program designed the REPI Challenge for partners and installations to cultivate innovative projects that harness creativity and protect critical testing and training capabilities.  Since FY 2012, the REPI Program has distributed over $169 million in program funds to REPI Challenge projects in 62 locations.  REPI Challenge projects have leveraged more than $474 million in partner contributions that promote compatible land use, enhance military installation resilience, and relieve current or anticipated environmental restrictions on military testing, training, or operations in areas of strategic importance. 
 

Leveraging Federal Conservation and Restoration Efforts

Partnerships among DOD and its federal partners are a key component of the REPI Program that help sustain installations’ operations and resilience. These partnerships fund projects that seek to enhance habitats and increase climate resilience, which can promote military readiness in shared geographic focus areas. For example, one of the REPI Program’s partners, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, awarded over $9.5 million in federal grants to Hawai‘i and Guam partners to support climate resilience and enhanced natural resource conservation efforts. This total only reflects projects executed through the America the Beautiful Challenge and the National Coastal Resilience Fund. NFWF has several other active programs that can support species and conservation strategies in the Pacific. To learn more, visit www.nfwf.org.

Learn more about using REPI funds as a non-federal match in the REPI Funds as Match Fact Sheet. To learn more about REPI project locations, visit the REPI Interactive Map. This interactive tool provides an overview of REPI project locations, project information, and state-wide roll-ups of REPI actions. For more detailed case studies, read more on existing REPI Project Fact Sheets. 

For any questions on leveraging REPI funds as a non-federal match, contact the REPI office at osd.repi@mail.mil. 

Fiscal Year 2024 REPI Challenge

For the FY 2024 REPI Challenge, the REPI Program contributed over $23 million in funds, coupled with over $36 million in partner contributions. These innovative projects will promote compatible land uses, enhance military installation resilience, and relieve current or anticipated environmental restrictions on military testing, training, or operations. By distributing funds across 17 projects, the REPI Challenge contributed to initiatives benefiting 22 installations and their communities across the country.

REPI Challenge Investments in the Pacific Region

By strengthening relationships, partnerships, and impactful collaboration across each region, the REPI Program has seen rapid project growth and beneficial outcomes in Hawaiʻi, Guam, and Alaska. Across the Pacific region, the REPI Challenge contributed funding to ten projects to help implement partnership efforts and improve coastal and forest resilience, which benefits long-term sustainability for local communities and their neighboring installation. For more information on partnerships across the entire Pacific region, visit the REPI Pacific Region page.

To learn more about this year’s 17 REPI Challenge funding recipients, explore the 2024 REPI Challenge Story Map for additional project highlights, partnerships, and funding information.

U.S. Army Garrison–Hawaiʻi in partnership with Bishop Museum, Oʻahu
Invasive Species Early Detection, Control, and Eradication-Verification Near Military Installations
 
Pacific Missile Range Facility in partnership with Makauwahi Cave Reserve, Kauaʻi
Innovative Enhancement of Endangered Species Populations at Makauwahi Cave Reserve
 
Pōhakuloa Training Area in partnership with Parker Ranch Foundation Trust, Hawaiʻi Island
Parker Ranch Mauna Kea Reforestation Project
 
U.S. Army Garrison–Hawaiʻi in partnership with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Oʻahu
I Ulu mai ka Ulu Lāʻau
 
Air Force Maui Optical & Supercomputing Site in partnership with Maui County – Office of Economic Development, Maui
Maui Mauka-to-Makai Stewardship Project
 
Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi, in partnership with Hawaiʻi Land Trust, Oʻahu
Waikalua Fishponds Complex Perpetual Conservation Easement
 
Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi, Pōhakuloa Training Area in partnership with the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island
 
Fort Huachuca, in partnership with the Arizona Land and Water Trust, Arizona
Land Protection and Climate Resilience, Fort Huachuca Sentinel Landscape
 
Joint Base Lewis-McChord in partnership with the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Sentinel Landscape Partnership Program, Washington
Preparing Military Missions for New Climate Regimes
 
Scott Air Force Base, in partnership with the HeartLands Conservancy, Illinois
Restoring Historical Hydrology of Silver Creek to Reduce Flooding
 
Avon Park Air Force Range in partnership with Archbold Expeditions, Inc., Florida
Fire Management for Enhanced Resilience in the Avon Park Air Force Range Sentinel Landscape
 
Hill Air Force Base in partnership with the Compatible Lands Foundation, Utah
The Weber Basin Aquifer Resiliency and Protection Initiative
 
Joint Region Marianas in partnership with the Guam Department of Agriculture, Guam
Evaluating Watershed Management and Restoration Success
 
Joint Region Marianas in partnership with the University of Guam, Western Pacific Tropical Research Center, Guam
Creating Protocols for Safeguarding Ecosystem Services Post-Disturbances
 
Fort Wainwright in partnership with the Compatible Lands Foundation, Alaska
Sustaining Strategic Operations in the Arctic Theatre
 
Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station in partnership with El Paso County, Colorado
Cheyenne Mountain State Park Wildfire Mitigation
 
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in partnership with Beaufort County Open Land Trust, South Carolina
Conservation of Gregorie Neck Property
 

 

Previous Years' Recipients

The REPI Challenge initiated its pilot effort in 2012 to offer funding for REPI buffer land transactions at eligible military bases. The Challenge's goals are to cultivate projects that conserve land at a greater scale, test promising ways to finance land protection, and harness the creativity of the private sector and market‐based approaches.