The U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense and the Interior announced an initiative in 2013 — the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership, The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is a coalition of federal agencies, state and local governments, and non-governmental organizations that works with private landowners to advance sustainable land management practices around military installations and ranges. The partnership’s mission is to strengthen military readiness, conserve natural resources, bolster agricultural and forestry economies, and increase climate change resilience. Read more about the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership's goals and objectives in the 2022 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Forest Service. 

Sentinel landscape partners accomplish their objective by connecting private landowners with voluntary state and federal assistance programs that provide tax reductions, agricultural loans, disaster relief, educational opportunities, technical aid, and funding for conservation easements. By aligning these programs in sentinel landscapes, government agencies use taxpayer dollars more efficiently and accomplish more on the ground with fewer resources.

Through Fiscal Year 2022, the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership have attracted approximately $335 million in USDA funds, $233 million in DOD funds, $92 million in DOI funds, $341 million in state funds, $26 million in local funds, and $142 million in private funds. These efforts have preserved wildlife habitat, bolstered agricultural and forestry production, and reduced land-use conflicts around military bases. To learn about landowner assistance programs that are available to you, please explore the Landowner Resources Tool on the Sentinel Landscapes website.

The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership newsletter shares success stories, announcements, and opportunities to the sentinel landscapes network and public. Subscribe to the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership Listserv.

2023 Sentinel Landscapes Accomplishments Report Released

The 2023 Sentinel Landscapes Accomplishments Report is now available! The report showcases how USDA, DOD, DOI, and their on-the-ground partners collaborate through the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership to solve complex land-use challenges, combining resources and aligning funding across the 13 sentinel landscapes.

The report’s findings demonstrate that through FY 2022, projects across sentinel landscapes have attracted approximately $335 million in USDA funds, $233 million in DOD funds, $92 million in DOI funds, $341 million in state funds, $26 million in local funds, and $142 million in private funds.  These contributions have permanently protected 677,100 acres of land through FY 2022 and enrolled over 4.4 million acres of land in financial and technical assistance programs in FY 2022 alone.