Three 4th Fighter Wing F-15E Strike Eagles fly over forests and farmland during a training mission. The 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina hosted exercise Razor Talon to provide Air Force and Navy units on the East Coast an opportunity to participate in a low cost training exercise. The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership between DoD, USDA, and DOI works to establish and implement a coordinated and comprehensive strategy within a defined landscape to promote compatible land use around military bases, coordinate the delivery of Federal programs to landowners, and encourage State, Local, and NGO/private participation. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Eric Harris/Released)
Both state and federal partners share a desire to conserve gopher tortoise populations and habitat in order to prevent regulatory constraints and carry out their missions to the best of their ability, be it training missions on military installations or forest management on U.S. Forest Service lands. The gopher tortoise is listed as threatened in the western portion of its range, while it’s a candidate species for possible federal listing in the eastern portion of the range.
Critical efforts to restore fire-dependent ecosystems such as the longleaf pine ecosystem and its many associated species like red-cockaded woodpecker cannot be successful without additional prescribed burning, especially on private lands.
In partnership with MCAS Beaufort and the state of South Carolina, Marines volunteered to assist installation staff construct a living shoreline with oyster shell and bamboo stakes donated by the state government at the station’s Laurel Bay Boat Ramp.
In December 2013, Camp Shelby expanded its buffer zone with 1,500 acre parcel from Weyerhaeuser. With the property held by the Compatible Lands Foundation, part of the lands will generate over $10 million in carbon credits over the lifetime of the project. Additionally, Camp Shelby works very closely with the U.S. Forest Service, who owns and manages several of the installation’s acquired properties as part of the DeSoto National Forest, one of the largest complexes of longleaf pine in the southeast.
The Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) is a unique six-state partnership comprised of state and federal agencies that promotes collaboration in making resource-use decisions supporting conservation of natural resources, working lands, and national defense.
