What is SERPPAS?
The Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) is a voluntary collaboration among State leaders from natural resources, working lands, and environmental protection agencies in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi; regional leaders from their federal agency counterparts; and leaders from the Department of Defense and the military services in the Southeast. Formed in 2005, SERPPAS is an unconventional partnership that harnesses strategic planning and promotes collaborative decision-making between public and private partners to support the military mission, conserve key habitats and species, sustain rural economies and industries, and foster better coordination among local, state, and federal stakeholders in the region. SERPPAS serves as a forum to build effective working relationships between diverse partners, identify overlapping interests, and implement mutually beneficial actions that support the missions of all the partners.
SERPPAS Goals
Minimize incompatible development with decisions that are beneficial to the military mission, community well-being, rural economics, and environmental requirements.
Increase partnerships to improve conservation, the economy, quality of life, resilience, and military readiness.
Utilize data rich and GIS-based maps to identify overlapping and compatible partner priorities.
Develop policy initiatives and promote innovative projects that support the SERPPAS mission.
2024 SERPPAS Strategic Plan
The Strategic Plan serves as a framework for identifying and implementing collaborative and cooperative solutions to various challenges affecting national defense, natural resources, economic sustainability, and the quality of life in the Southeast region.
SERPPAS Region
News
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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Restoring the Shore: Dune Restoration Project Underway at Naval Station Mayport
9/6/24
General Mechanical Corporation has embarked on an ambitious $10.6 million construction contract to restore the storm-battered dunes at Naval Station Mayport. Awarded by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southeast in September 2023, the contract sets a new course for the restoration of coastal defenses that were ravaged by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, as well as ongoing tidal erosion.
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