The Department of War (DOW) is committed to landscape-level collaboration and regional partnerships to further enhance our ability to manage encroachment. Partnering with other Federal agencies to further the goals of landscape-scale partnerships that help advance the groundwork laid by REPI projects and other efforts.  Such partnerships among DOW and other Federal, state, and local agencies help reduce duplicative efforts and lead to more efficient allocation of resources and more effective application of solutions to reduce and prevent encroachment. DOW is a partner in two multi-state, multi-agency partnerships in rapidly growing areas of the United States with significant DOW land presence: the Southeast and Southwest.

The Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) brings together state environmental and natural resource officials from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi with federal agencies including DOW. SERPPAS works to encourage compatible resource-use decisions and improve coordination by leveraging its members’ problem-solving and compatible land use efforts to the benefit of regional planning, conservation, economic development, and sustainability.

The Western Regional Partnership (WRP) brings together DOW, Federal, and tribal entities with state agencies from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah to advance shared strategic planning, land management, and policy goals. WRP committees focus on some of the Western region’s key and emerging issues, including sustainable land use, wildlife corridors, compatible energy development, and border management.

These issues present numerous challenges for DOW installations. For instance, restricted training airspace in the Mojave Desert in California faces potential impacts to readiness from growing development and possible energy transmission corridors that could affect supersonic flights from Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and Edwards Air Force Base. Working in a regional partnership will help study and address these land use issues in a manner beneficial to all stakeholders, including other Federal landholders.