A decommissioned artillery cannon rests in a forest. (Photo/Auburn University)
Edited by Troy Turner
AUBURN — The nation’s War Department is the country’s fifth-largest landowner, overseeing more than 8.8 million acres of property.
Within these sites are water bodies, forests and wildlife habitat, many of which exist in proximity to the military’s installations and operational areas, requiring significant management expertise to address natural resource issues and ensure compliance with regulatory policies.
Auburn University’s College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment recently published a story detailing how it plays an important role in land management for the U.S. military, and why that role is so important.
AN ARMY SUPPORTING AN ARMY
“As one can imagine, it literally takes an army to efficiently manage these lands so that the (War Department) can sustain operational training, testing and research,” the story reports. “Supporting the United States military has been the mission-critical purpose of Auburn University’s Center for Natural Resources Management on Military Lands.”
Since its inception in 2022, the center has established a model partnership with military installations that is redefining how public universities support the military’s operations and conservation priorities.
Forestry technicians conduct a prescribed burn.
Congress in 2013 authorized the establishment of Intergovernmental Support Agreements for U.S. military branches to partner with state, local and tribal governments for installation support services. The goal of this legislation was to reduce costs and enhance mission effectiveness.
Three years later, Auburn and the U.S. Army’s Fort Benning, Georgia, signed such an agreement to supply ecological monitoring services.
Then in 2022, Auburn and the U.S. Army solidified this partnership by signing a historic, 10-year Regional Intergovernmental Support Agreement to provide natural resource management services to eight military bases across the southeastern region of the U.S.
Those bases include Redstone Arsenal and Fort Rucker in Alabama; Forts Benning, Gordon and Stewart in Georgia; Fort Polk in Louisiana; Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
AUBURN’S WORK GOES NATIONWIDE
That growth led to the creation of the Center for Natural Resources Management on Military Lands, and continued growth in Auburn’s role, both in education for its students and researchers, and in land management for the military.
The center’s mission “is to assist and enhance natural resource management programs on U.S. military installations while concurrently creating research, education and outreach opportunities for Auburn,” said George Matusick, the center’s director.
“We aim to bridge the gap that currently exists between natural resource managers on military lands and natural resource management education and research,” he said. “Our vision is to emerge as the pre-eminent resource for natural resource managers on U.S. military installations.”
(Photo/U.S. Army)
Shortly after the center’s establishment, the agreement was expanded. Now, more than 50 Army installations in the continental U.S. can secure services through the Auburn agreement.
“The initial expansion allowed us to work collaboratively with several installations that were interested in working with us but were not named in the original agreement,” Matusick said. “This was critical for expanding partnership opportunities outside the southeastern U.S.”
Military installations are complex and contain numerous features, facilities, amenities, structures and training areas that support their operations and personnel.
Although the agreement between Auburn and the U.S. Army originally focused on natural resource-related services, the center’s role recently has expanded to include environmental compliance, architecture and engineering services.
Click here for the full story published by the Auburn University College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. His bio can be found here.
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