Spc. Collin Hall and Spc. Areg Safari prepare for a simulated attack during training at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Nov. 9, 2023. The Defense Department announced plans to prevent private development around military installations in New Mexico, Utah, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and California, in a move to protect the environment and prevent interference with military operations. (Angelo Mejia/U.S. Army)
The Defense Department is moving ahead with plans to prevent private development around military installations in a handful of states, with the dual aim of protecting the environment and preventing interference with military operations.
More than 12 million acres around bases in California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Utah are the latest to be named sentinel landscapes, a federal designation that allows government agencies and nonprofit groups to pay landowners to keep farms, forests and wildlife habitats in their current states.
The areas announced Wednesday in a DOD statement add to the more than 670,000 acres being permanently protected by the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership. The owners of a further 4.4 million acres of property are paid by the program to manage it sustainably.
The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership comprises the departments of defense, agriculture and interior.
The arrangement “provides DOD with the unique opportunity to expand and diversify our partnerships ... to enhance the resilience of military installations and the local communities that support them,” Pentagon official Brendan Owens said in the statement.
Ladona Clayton, executive director of the Ogallala Land and Water Conservancy, thanks Cannon Air Force Base leadership and community partners on May 15, 2024, for their help in addressing water security in eastern New Mexico. The Defense Department announced plans to prevent private development around military installations in New Mexico, Utah, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and California. (Nicholas Swift/U.S. Air Force)
Airmen assigned to the 27th Special Operations Wing control a drone at Melrose Air Force Range, N.M., in June 2023. The Defense Department announced plans to prevent private development on millions of acres around military installations in New Mexico, Utah, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and California. (Alexcia Givens/U.S. Air Force)
The new Mojave Desert sentinel landscape in California is the largest of the latest group, spanning nearly 3.5 million acres near the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, National Training Center Fort Irwin, Edwards Air Force Base, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow.
In addition to supporting military missions, much of the land will be reclaimed as priority wildlife habitat, DOD said.
In Hawaii, more than 2 million acres threatened by rapid urban development on Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island will be conserved.
The new eastern New Mexico sentinel landscape includes more than 2.4 million acres near Cannon Air Force Base and the Melrose Air Force Range, which supports training and testing for the 27th Special Operations Wing, 26th Special Tactics Squadron and 43rd Intelligence Squadron.
Agency partners aim to safeguard water supplies and bolster resilience to climate change, the Pentagon said.
“This is generational support,” Jeffery Davis, a program manager for the 27th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron, said in a separate statement Wednesday.
In Pennsylvania, the 1.9-million-acre Kittatinny Ridge sentinel landscape in the Appalachian Mountain region encompasses land surrounding Fort Indiantown Gap, one of three specialized Army National Guard aviation facilities and the Army’s second-busiest heliport.
“Not only does this designation help strengthen our national defense, but it will also ensure we can continue to preserve our natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation and support Pennsylvania farmers,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement Wednesday.
The fifth newly announced sentinel landscape spans more than 2.7 million acres in northern Utah near Hill Air Force Base, Camp Williams, Tooele Army Depot and Air Force Little Mountain Test Facility. Focus here will be on protecting water resources and the Great Salt Lake ecosystem.
Over $1 billion in federal, state, local and private funds was spent on sentinel landscapes between 2013, when the program was launched, and 2022, according to the most recent figures published. DOD provided about a quarter of the funds.
