The Beaufort Gazette (Beaufort, South Carolina) reports that as a result of DOD's REPI Program, high-density housing development will be off-limits on 500 acres of land on South Wimbee Creek in the Dale area north of Beaufort. The $2.2 million conservation easement covers the 488-acre Bowers Farm, located north of a runway at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort (MCAS). “Protecting Bowers Farm protects the air station’s military mission by ensuring unobstructed training for our pilots and aircrew,” said Col. Mark Bortnem, commanding officer at MCAS Beaufort.

 

Air and Space Force (Panama City, Florida) reports that Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) is working to protect itself from future hurricanes with nature-based coastal resilience projects. Through the REPI Program, Tyndall AFB is utilizing REPI funds to experiment with oyster breakwaters in Florida state waters beyond the base’s shoreline. REPI funding can help attract state and local government or conservation agencies to work with the Air Force on such projects.

Jersey Shore Online (Manchester, New Jersey) reports that Mayor Robert Arace recently announced that 24.83 acres on Pasadena Road in the Whiting section of the township were made possible for preservation through the efforts of the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Fund Program. Preservation of this parcel enables the County to expand its Roosevelt City fuel break initiative which was a wildfire mitigation project fully funded by the Department of Defense, Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program.

 

Public News Service (Richmond, Virginia) reports that Virginia is the 12th state to join the nationwide Sentinel Landscape Partnership, which has goals of strengthening military readiness while advancing climate-change programs. The new Virginia corridor, which spans nearly 3 million acres, includes a new Tidewater “sentinel landscape” anchored by Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton. Marine Corps Base Quantico helms the new Potomac landscape.

 

Read more about the new designation:

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (Sebring, Florida) reported that Conservation Florida, in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), has permanently protected 527 acres within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.  In collaboration with the NRCS and the Lightsey family, the land conservancy purchased a conservation easement on XL Ranch Lightsey Cove.  A conservation easement will safeguard the property's incredible habitat for Florida's rare and endangered species.  XL Ranch Lightsey Cove was deemed a Grassland of Special Environmental Significance (GSS) in Florida under the NRCS' Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, one of the first of its kind.  In addition to being a part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor, XL Ranch Lightsey Cove also lies within the Avon Park Air Force Range (APAFR) Sentinel Landscape.  The APAFR Sentinel Landscape covers almost 1.7 million acres of land and is known for its rich biodiversity and abundance of private ranches.  It's anchored by the Air Force's largest primary air-to-ground training range east of the Mississippi River, which is used by every Armed Forces branch.

Savannah Now (Savannah, Georgia) reports that one of Georgia's oldest longleaf pine forests grows amid Ceylon Wildlife Management Area, a state-owned land on the coast between Brunswick and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.  The state of Georgia is working in partnership with conservation groups and the Department of Defense (DOD) to help protect more than 150,000 acres and could help Georgia get its first national park.  Conservation advocates and military base officials say their counterparts in other states could do more of the same.  The DOD's REPI Program and the Sentinel Landscape Partnership aim to strengthen military readiness, conserve natural resources, bolster agricultural and forestry economies, and increase climate change resilience.  The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership covers 11 landscape areas across the country, including Georgia's coastal plain, encompassing the coast and parts of Middle and South Georgia.  Georgia has 151,035 protected acres in its designated Sentinel Landscape, more than any other landscape in the program.

 

The Department of the Navy reported that Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River’s Environment Division was honored for Earth Day by the St. Mary’s County with a Sustainability Award for a shoreline restoration project to stop soil erosion and rebuild natural habitat areas on the Patuxent River. The NAS Patuxent River Environment Division is one of two winners this year—the Southern Maryland Sierra Club is the other. This is the first time the award has gone out to a military installation, said Molly Boron, a commission member, adding that protecting the marine ecosystem benefits civilians and military personnel alike. The NAS Patuxent River project took place from 2021 to 2022 and created a 192-mile “living shoreline” of live beds of newly planted seagrass and other plants, combined with sand and a long wall of large stones. The Department of Defense provided funding under its Readiness and Environment Protection Integration (REPI) Program, which supports land and ecosystem conservation on and around military bases. Pax River received $3.4 million from REPI for living shoreline construction and coastline stabilization last year.

 

Environment News Service (Washington DC) reports that the Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense are partnering to allocate $80 million through a combination of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and matching funds from DOD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program to preserve green space around military installations and improve access to outdoor recreation for millions of Americans. The Departments will make the funding available to states through a competitive process that could support projects on Tribal, private, state, or local lands.

 

The Department of the Army (Fort Benning, GA) reports that the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning community gathered to celebrate Earth Day with a fair featuring wildlife conservation and clean water initiative interactive displays held outside of the headquarters building. The observance theme was “Invest in Our Planet,” and highlighted both the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act and the 20th anniversary of the Army Compatible Use Buffer program. “The Department of Defense manages more threatened and endangered species than any other government agency,” said Kristin Thomasgard, program director for the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Installations & Environment) in her remarks made during the event.

Post Guam (Northern Guam) reports that three of Guam's natural resource conservation programs are expected to benefit from the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program recent funding opportunity, totaling approximately $11.1 million. Through military and local reforestation programs, the Joint Region Marianas project will work to implement successful landscape-level feral pig control in the areas surrounding Camp Blaz. This project will support military and local reforestation programs to establish native plant species, protect endangered invertebrates, protect the integrity of groundwater recharge areas, and reduce feral pig populations to a level that decreases negative interactions with the local human population.

 

The Military Times (Washington, DC) reports that the Departments of Defense and the Interior announced Tuesday an $80 million investment to preserve land around military installations through the new Readiness and Recreation Initiative. As part of the joint effort, the National Park Service will provide $40 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, with DOD matching the contribution through the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program. The REPI Program secures land adjacent to military bases to serve as buffers to development, enhance recreational access, protect at-risk species, and improve resistance to impacts from climate change and severe weather events. Congress provided REPI funding with authority to be used as a nonfederal cost share match, allowing states and local governments to leverage these dollars to meet the required 50 percent match for LWCF formula grants.

Inside Nova (Washington, DC) reports that through the 2023 REPI Challenge, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission has received $286,000 towards shoreline restoration and flood mitigation projects at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Among the 13 recipients was the Northern Virginia commission for its proposal to resolve flooding and erosion issues at Quantico. The REPI Challenge project will improve the resilience of the base along with the stream and shoreline habitats of the installation’s boundary.

 

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (Trenton, NJ) reports that it will receive $995,000 from the Department of Defense (DOD)’s 2023 REPI Challenge to reduce wildfire risk in the areas surrounding Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Warren Grove Range, Naval Weapons Station Earle, and Sea Girt National Guard Training Facility. Funding will be used to construct a strategic firebreak adjacent to the Warren Grove Gunnery Range in Bass River State Forest, with project work expected to begin in April 2023. Additional REPI funds will go toward the Greenwood Triangle Forest Fuels Maintenance Project in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management area. “The Murphy Administration is grateful to our federal partners for this grant funding, which will help us mitigate the increased risk of wildfires that are one of the many adverse impacts of climate change in New Jersey,” said Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette.

 

 

Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (Honolulu, HI) reports that as part of the 2023 REPI Challenge, Marine Corps Base Hawai’i has partnered with the State of Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources and other key partners to support an $8.7 million to manage invasive species and perpetuate the water resources of O’ahu by protecting and enhancing native ecosystems. The 2023 REPI Challenge in Hawaiʻi has contributed $10 million in REPI Program funds, to be coupled with $18.5 million in partner contributions. The 2023 REPI Challenge projects in Hawaiʻi will preserve and protect cultural, natural, and land resources on the windward side of Oahu and across the state near three other Hawaiʻi-based installations - Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Pōhakuloa Training Area, and U.S. Army Garrison - Hawaiʻi.

 

MauiNow (Maui, HI) reports that Congressman Ed Case announced a combined total of $10 million in federal funding from the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement four natural resource conservation projects under DOD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program. The funds will be matched with $18.5 million in private partner contributions to work towards improving coastal, forest and watershed resilience on military-utilized lands and nearby communities.

 

The Maui News (Maui, HI) reports that through the REPI Program, $2.9 million in federal funds will go toward increasing the resilience of endangered wildlife on Lanai, Hawai’i. These funds are a portion of a combined $10 million coming from the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement four natural resource conservation projects under DOD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program for restoration and recovery projects on O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, and Hawai‘i Island.

 

• DLNR News Release DOD Awards $7.1 Million For Invasive Species Battle And Native Plants/Wildlife Recovery