At-Risk, Threatened, and Endangered Species
About
Military installations provide habitat for significant populations of federally listed and at-risk species. Meeting the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) can and does impact training and testing on military installations. At-Risk species are defined as those species that have been proposed for listing* by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designated as candidate species by the Service or which the Service has been petitioned to list under the ESA, or rare species.
The SERPPAS At-Risk, Threatened and Endangered Species Work Group collaborates with federal, state, and other partners to develop and promote innovative strategies for proactive conservation of at-risk species and increased flexibility for addressing impacts to both listed species and military missions. These approaches include conservation agreements, mitigation credit strategies, and projects to increase status information of at-risk species to inform Service listing decisions and to support partner efforts for the overall conservation and recovery of these species.
These efforts will promote and support ecosystem restoration, maintenance, and monitoring on and off military installations to enhance the conservation of at-risk and listed species; increase flexibility for on-installation training and testing; increase regulatory predictability for military services, other federal and state agencies, and private landowners who engage in proactive conservation.
*Proposed for listing means the Service has proposed a draft rule in the Federal Register to list the species as threatened or endangered under the ESA; however, a final listing decision has not been made.
Strategic Objectives
- Identify focus species and funding opportunities to promote implementation of programs that conserve, manage, and support recovery of listed species and provide direct benefits to military installations (both on and off installations) and SERPPAS partners. This could include but is not limited to habitat and multi-species crediting strategies.
- Identify opportunities to proactively conserve at-risk species populations or habitat that are important to SERPPAS in a manner that would preclude the need to list a species, through conservation agreements and other approaches.
- Use existing geospatial information, such as the SERPPAS good map and SECAS layer, to enhance, improve and/or make functional corridors for wildlife with an eye to climate resilience, and to enhance and support larger conservation goals and Sentinel Landscapes.
Work Group Lead
Dr. Rebecca Harrison (Lead)
At-Risk Species CoordinatorU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
470-925-5310| rebecca_harrison@fws.gov
Becky Harrison is the at-risk species coordinator for the Southeast region with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She has 25 years of experience in species conservation and adaptative management and has worked within diverse partner groups to create unified frameworks for strategic conservation planning and delivery.
She has degrees in Zoology and Wildlife Biology from Michigan State University (B.Sc.), Utah State University (M.Sc.) and North Carolina State University (PhD). Her post-doctoral work at University of Georgia was supported through a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. This research used the monarch butterfly as a model system of migration to investigate how animal movement patterns are influenced by infectious disease.
Becky joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011 and has worked across programs including the South Atlantic Inventory & Monitoring Network, the National Wildlife Refuge System, Ecological Services, and Partners in Flight on collaborative conservation management projects across taxa including pollinators, red wolves, sea turtles, and migratory birds. She also serves as the species recovery lead for the endangered St. Francis satyr butterfly at Fort Bragg. She has collaborated with U.S. Army personnel, natural resource managers, and researchers on conservation management issues there since 2003. Her commitment to negotiating critical resource management decisions has recognized with several awards including the Secretary of the Interior’s Commendation award in 2017.
Lucas Cooksey (Co-Lead)
Project DirectorTexas A&M Natural Resources Institute
lucas.cooksey@ag.tamu.edu
Lucas Cooksey is a project director for the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, blending policy, planning, and practice into seamless programs that both sustain and enhance active land use alongside meaningful natural resource conservation.
With more than 20 years of experience in Natural Resources Management, his career includes appointments as a Park Ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, serving as the U.S. Army Fort Sam Houston & U.S. Air Force Joint Base San Antonio – Natural Resource Program Manager, the Senior Natural Resource Specialist for the U.S. Army Environmental Command, and the Natural Resources Program Manager for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command Headquarters, where he lead the conservation programs on over 75 Army Installations throughout the U.S and abroad.
His development of innovative projects that balance ecosystem management and military readiness have been recognized by receiving the Texas Parks & Wildlife “Lonestar Land Steward Award” in 2010 and the Secretary of the Army “Civilian Service Commendation Medal” in 2020.
Lucas attended Texas A&M University-Kingsville receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Range and Wildlife Management and then obtained a Master’s Degree in Biology from Texas State University-San Marcos.
Resources
Documents
Websites
DoD Natural Resources Program
America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative
Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA)
USFWS Southeast's At-Risk Species Finder
Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP) Repository
SERPPAS ARTE Work Group Focal Species List - This list has been compiled by the SERPPAS At-risk, Threatened and Endangered Species work group. It is intended to help partners understand and identify possible overlapping at-risk species priorities in the SERPPAS region. This list is purely informational and does not inherently indicate action.
News
Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund 2025 Request for Proposals
11/20/24
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) seeks proposals to work with landowners to voluntarily restore, enhance and conserve longleaf pine and bottomland hardwood forests within the historical longleaf pine range. The Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund is a funding opportunity for on-the-ground natural resource conservation projects. This RFP reflects a public-private partnership supported with Federal funding from USDA’s Forest Service (USFS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and private funding from Altria Group, the Bezos Earth Fund, Energy Transfer, International Paper’s Forestland Stewards Partnership, the Orton Foundation, and Southern Company. Approximately $31 million in grant funds is expected to be available in 2025, thanks in large part to a third-year major contribution from the Bezos Earth Fund and increased funding from NRCS. Grant awards are expected to range from $250,000 to $3,000,000.
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Interior Department Announces Downlisting of Red-cockaded Woodpecker from Endangered to Threatened
10/24/24
The Department of the Interior announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is downlisting the red-cockaded woodpecker from endangered to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. This milestone is the result of five decades of collaborative conservation efforts between the Interior Department, federal and state partners, Tribes, the private sector and private landowners that have resulted in increasing populations of these remarkable birds throughout their range.
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2024 Catalyst Fund Grant Awards
9/30/24
The Network for Landscape Conservation is pleased to announce 15 Catalyst Fund grant awards for Partnerships working to implement place-based, community-grounded conservation at the necessary landscape scale. Catalyst Fund grants are intended to allow for strategic investments in strengthening a Partnership’s collaborative capacity in ways that create enduring forward momentum within the Partnership and accelerate conservation progress into the future. Congratulations to the winners in the SERPPAS footprint in Florida and South Carolina!
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FEMA Joins the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership to Support Climate Resilience and Military Readiness
9/24/24
The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership announced the addition of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to its Federal Coordinating Committee (FCC). The FEMA Office of Resilience joins the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of the Interior (DOI) in designating sentinel landscapes to support mutually beneficial land-use and climate resilience around military installations across the country. FEMA joins the FCC following the signing of an addendum to the Sentinel Landscapes Memorandum of Understanding.
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Interior Department Announces More Than $157 Million in Funding for Wetland Conservation Projects and National Wildlife Refuges
9/10/24
The Department of the Interior announced that more than $46.2 million in grants was approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission which will conserve or restore 91,425 acres of wetland and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, shorebirds, and other birds in 17 states. These grants, made through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), will be matched by more than $99.1 million in partner funds.
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Acting Deputy Secretary Daniel-Davis Announces $236 Million from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda for Wildfire Resilience and Recovery
9/10/24
The Department of the Interior announced $236 million in funding allocations from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to support wildland fire management into fiscal year 2025 across the nation. The funding will help reduce risk from wildfires, support improved wildland firefighter training, expand efforts to rehabilitate burned areas in collaboration with partners, and advance wildfire science. Today’s announcement brings the total the Department of the Interior has allocated for wildland fire management from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to nearly $1.1 billion across the nation since it went into effect in fiscal year 2022.
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Events & Webinars
- Department of Defense Energy and Environment Innovation Symposium
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December 3 - 6, 2024
Washington, DC - 78th Annual SEAFWA Conference
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December 9 - 13, 2024
Augusta, GA - Navigating Military Readiness Through Responsible Project Execution
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December 11, 2024
Webinar (hosted by REPI) - Drought and Aquatic Ecosystems in the Southeast U.S. Workshop
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January 7 - 9, 2025
Raleigh, NC - 2025 Southeast Land Conservation Conference
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March 26 - 28, 2025
Ashville, NC
SERPPAS Meetings
- Spring 2025 Steering Committee Meeting
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February 19 - 20, 2025
Atlanta, GA