What is SERPPAS?
The Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) is a unique partnership among leaders from the Department of Defense and the military services, six states (AL, FL, GA, MS, NC and SC), and the federal natural resource, wildlife, ocean and working lands agencies in the Southeast. These leaders work together to identify where the interests of military readiness, conservation, working lands, and communities overlap, depend on each other, are incompatible or are complementary. Since 2005, SERPPAS has fostered better coordination among local, state, and federal stakeholders in the region to sustain and advance national defense by minimizing encroachment on military installations through land and resource conservation in support of the communities and economies that depend on them.
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 military readiness, conservation, the economy, and quality of life.
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 that minimize encroachment on military installations and benefit natural resources, economic sustainability, and the quality of life in the Southeast region.
SERPPAS Region
News
REPI Program Accepting Pre-Proposals for 2026 Grants
5/20/25
DOD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program is now accepting pre-proposals for its 2026 REPI Challenge grant cycle, according to an email notice. “The 2026 REPI Challenge will focus on safeguarding strategic missions across the United States and its territories to restore trust in the military, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence,” according to the REPI Challenge website. The REPI program could provide up to $20 million in the 2026 funding cycle for projects that prevent land use conflicts near DOD installations.
Visit the SERPPAS News Archive
Newly Released: 2025 Report to Congress
4/30/25
The Department of Defense's (DOD) Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program has delivered its 2025 REPI Report to Congress. The 19th annual congressional report summarizes the program’s investments from Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 through FY 2024.
From FY 2003 through FY 2024, DOD leveraged over $1.5 billion in Department contributions with nearly $1.4 billion in non-Department partner contributions to protect, enhance, or restore over 1.3 million acres of land and preserve mission-critical operational assets, infrastructure, and capabilities. In FY 2024 alone, DOD protected over 32,000 acres and secured over $108 million in cost savings from partner contributions, including nearly $7 million from state and local governments and private organizations across Hawai’i and Alaska to preserve and enhance key mission capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.
Visit the SERPPAS News Archive
Acres for America 2025 Request for Proposals Now Available
4/22/25
Walmart’s Acres for America program stands today as the leading public-private land conservation partnership in the United States. The partnership began in 2005, when Walmart and NFWF joined forces to establish Acres for America as a groundbreaking effort to support and catalyze the conservation of lands and wildlife habitat of national significance, and to benefit local communities and local economies.
Visit the SERPPAS News Archive
New Groundbreaking Conservation: Successful Reintroduction of the Reticulated Flatwood Salamander
3/24/25
Resource Management Service (RMS) has reintroduced the federally listed Reticulated Flatwood Salamander (Ambystoma bishopi) to Florida’s Santa Rosa County, in collaboration with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners. This first-ever reintroduction, under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, avoids regulatory risks for landowners. The effort aims to restore the salamander’s population in longleaf pine ecosystems, with the first release occurring in January 2025. This project highlights the effectiveness of voluntary conservation on private lands.
Visit the SERPPAS News Archive
Solar Beneficial Management Practice Database
3/3/25
The Energy and Wildlife Policy Committee’s (EWPC) Solar Wildlife Working Group has developed the Solar Beneficial Management Practices Database which compiles existing State Fish and Wildlife Agency solar-wildlife guidance documents into a standardized, searchable resource. This centralized tool serves as a "one-stop-shop" to access existing state solar-wildlife management practices and explore via keyword search or categorization. In addition to State Agencies using this database to update and/or develop new, state-specific guidelines, stakeholders, including solar project proponents, researchers, and the public, can use the database to facilitate wildlife-friendly solar siting and operations.
Visit the SERPPAS News Archive
Private landowners in western North Carolina fight wildfire with prescribed fire
2/3/25
In western North Carolina, private landowners are proactively using prescribed fire to mitigate wildfire risks and promote forest health. Collaborating through prescribed burn associations, these landowners conduct controlled burns to reduce accumulated fuels and enhance ecosystems.
Visit the SERPPAS News Archive