Sentinel Landscapes in the Southeast
About
Population growth, poorly planned development, incompatible land uses, extreme weather events, and climate change impacts, threaten the ability of military installations to carry out their missions and to deliver their economic and other benefits to places where they are located. In response to these growing challenges, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Defense (DoD), and the Interior (DOI) established the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership to strengthen military readiness, conserve natural resources, bolster agricultural and forestry economies, and increase climate change resilience.
The SERPPAS Sentinel Landscapes Work Group connects designated Sentinel Landscapes in the Southeast to address shared challenges, share lessons learned, and advance the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership’s mission in the Southeast. The Work Group disseminates information to emerging partnerships in the Southeast pursuing designation and serves as a regional coordinating body among currently designated and future Sentinel Landscapes.
Sentinel Landscapes benefit the military mission and the other partner missions by connecting with private landowners and promoting compatible land use near military installations; strengthening the economies of forests and farms surrounding military bases; protecting large, connected natural areas; improving coordination between the military services, local governments, and state and federal agencies; and encouraging state interests and prioritization of resources supporting military installations, participating landowners, and surrounding communities.
Strategic Objectives
- Coordinate with the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) on status of ongoing and future Compatible Land Use Planning efforts in the Southeast and share relevant information with SERPPAS work groups and Steering Committee.
- Focus on exploring and promoting innovative ways to increase the number and type of compatible land use tools to encourage increased landowner participation to conserve working lands and promote resilience where appropriate.
- Leverage the ‘Power of SERPPAS’ to attract both financial and non-financial support to increase awareness and capacity for the implementation of Sentinel Landscapes designated in the region.
- Expand coordination and collaboration between all SERPPAS work groups to better integrate actions that complement and support the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership goal of addressing shared encroachment challenges and climate impacts affecting conservation, working lands, and military mission.
- Assist Sentinel Landscapes in the Southeast to assess their climate exposures and vulnerabilities and integrate resilience planning and adaptation into their landscape implementation plans.
- Use the SERPPAS network to share information, resources, and lessons learned of the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership to demonstrate the value and purpose of these partnerships and communicate the benefits to military installation leadership and other key SERPPAS partners.
Work Group Lead
Bruce Beard
Associate Director of PolicyTexas A&M Natural Resources Institute
bruce.beard@ag.tamu.edu
Bruce Beard is the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute’s Associate Director for Policy and leads NRI’s Military Land Sustainability Program. Bruce brings more than 30 years of federal land management and natural resource policy experience to NRI and is a nationally recognized advocate for Sentinel Landscapes.
Bruce served within the Executive Office of the President at the Office of Management and Budget in three Administrations, where he was a principal advisor on federal land management and natural resource policy issues. He was the OMB Branch Chief for the Interior Branch responsible for coordination of budget, legislation and regulatory issues affecting the Department of the Interior. At the Department of Defense, he was instrumental in establishing the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program, which he directed, and helped to initiate the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership between the Departments of Agriculture, Defense and the Interior.
Bruce earned his Bachelor of Science in wildlife and fisheries from Texas A&M University, and a Master of Public Affairs in environmental policy from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He received the 2011 Outstanding Alumni Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M and the 2012 Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service at the Department of Defense.
Resources
Documents
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
- 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
February 2025
- Spring 2025 Steering Committee Meeting
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February 19 - 20, 2025
Atlanta, GA