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Natural Resources in DoD Current Issues and Program Priorities. L. Peter Boice Deputy Director, Natural Resources. Current Issues and Goals. Hot Issue: Candidate Species Policy and Guidance Evaluating DoD’s Natural Resource Programs Tools and Training Partnerships Looking Ahead.
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Natural Resources in DoD Current Issues and Program Priorities L. Peter Boice Deputy Director, Natural Resources
Current Issues and Goals • Hot Issue: Candidate Species • Policy and Guidance • Evaluating DoD’s Natural Resource Programs • Tools and Training • Partnerships • Looking Ahead
Background • Center for Biological Diversity and Wild Earth Guardians filed suit with USFWS on 757 species • Judge approved settlement September 10, 2011 • USFWS agreed to: • A 6-year schedule for final listing decisions on 251 species on the candidate list • Developing initial findings on 506 other species • Formal data call to DoD Components • Key species • Level of concern (Red, Yellow, Green, White) • Information available
Level of Concern SUMMARY RESULTS
Key Species Identified • Red knot (3 Military Services; 31 installations) • Greater sage grouse • Washington ground squirrel • Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly • Streaked horned lark • Roy prairie pocket gopher • Louisiana pine snake • Lesser prairie chicken
Next Steps • Collect updates through FY 2013 EMR • Implement processes that ensure INRMPs adequately address candidate species on an ongoing basis • Ensure INRMPs are up-to-date
Current and Pending Documents • DoDI 4715.03 • INRMP Implementation Manual • Tripartite MOU • Migratory Bird MOU • DoD Partners in Flight Plan • DoD Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Plan
Natural Resources ConservationInstruction, DoDI 4715.03 • Purposes • Improve the integration of mission and stewardship • Integrate a conservation ethic throughout DoD • Facilitate military readiness and cost-effective policies through sustained use of natural resources • Identify opportunities for improved cooperation, information sharing, technology demonstration and transfer, and public communications • www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/471503p.pdf
INRMP Implementation Manual • General INRMP provisions • Coordination, review and public comment • Implementation and special management • Ecosystem-based management • INRMP contents • In Formal Coordination
Sikes Tripartite MOU • Clarifies definitions for: • Compliant INRMP • INRMP Review • INRMP Update • INRMP Revision • Streamlined review process • Anticipate by end of June • Companion USFWS Sikes Act Guidance Update • To be published NLT September 2013 • Definitions consistent w/ MOU • Help ensure USFWS input to annual Focus Area metrics
Migratory Bird MOU • Adds responsibilities for implementing Executive Order 13186 • Clarifies information sharing among Migratory Bird Council members • Provides guidance for implementing changes in cantonment areas and best practices for non-readiness activities (e.g., reducing amount of reflective glass, using native plants for landscaping) • Anticipate update before end of fiscal year
Natural Resource Metrics • Goals: • Evaluate effectiveness of natural resources support to the military mission • Assess overall health and trends of each installation's natural resources program • Identify and correct potential funding and other resource shortfalls
Critical Habitat Designation Avoidance • INRMPs and Critical Habitat Exclusions • 51 installations and satellites have used INRMP exclusion: 4(a)(3)(B); 22 more than once • Majority of recent occurrences – Hawaii plants • 99 total difference species • 34 bases used readiness exclusion: 4(b)(2) • 1 since 2006 (two coral species)
Conservation Expenditures Front office query – what do we get for this level of investment?
Program Budget ElementsPROPOSED • Manpower • Education and Training (Natural) • Listed and At-Risk Species • Endangered Species Act • Wetlands • Clean Water Act • Natural Resources Conservation & Rehabilitation • Sikes Act • Marine Mammal Protection Act • Other Natural Resources • Migratory Bird Treaty Act • Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act
Purposes • Define Needs and Address Gaps • Information Exchange • Strategic Planning
Natural Resources Courses • Sikes and ESA courses developed and implemented. Now online only: • www.Dodworkshops.org/Training.html • No additional Legacy-sponsored course offerings projected • Evaluating alternative training methods • e.g., webinars, distant learning
Informational Workshops www.dodworkshops.org/Workshops.html
Other Tools • Biodiversity • www. Dodbiodiversity.org • Invasive Species Outreach • www.dodinvasives.org
Why Partner? • Improve understanding of DoD mission and stewardship needs • Place DoD lands into larger regional context, and leverage resources across geopolitical boundaries • Enhance resource sharing and cost efficiencies • Ease INRMP approval and implementation • Increase management flexibility • Demonstrate DoD’s community engagement
Authority to Partner • Economy Act (31 USC 1535 and 1536) • Sikes Act (16 USC 670c-1) • Legacy Program (10 USC 2694) • REPI (10 USC 2684a)
Partnership Efforts • Internal DoD • External – Federal • US Fish and Wildlife Service • USDA Forest Service • Bureau of Land Management • External - NGO • National Military Fish and Wildlife Association • Cooperative Ecosystem Study Units • Cooperative Conservation • Non-Profit Organizations
Internal DoD • DoD Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI): www.denix.osd.mil/sri/repi • DoD Partners in Flight: http://dodpif.org • DoD Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation: www.parcplace.org/resources/dod-parc.html
Federal Agencies • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • Key partner – regulator • Regular meetings between DoD NR Program and Ecological Services,Migratory Bird, and Endangered Species offices • Award-winning outcomes • 2012 Presidential Migratory Bird Stewardship Award (Burrowing Owls) • 2013 Military Conservation Partner Award (Naval Base Coronado)
External: National Military Fish and Wildlife Association (NMFWA) • Coalition of military installation natural resource managers and contractors • Future: more webinars and other online resources
External: Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs) • Currently a member of 15 CESU units • CESU – New Regions for 2013 • Pacific Northwest, Great Basin • Ft. Worth District • FY12: 62 new and 65 continuing projects • $34.0M • Sliding scale fee
External: Cooperative Conservation • Regional Partnerships • Ecosystem Management Initiatives • SE Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) and Western Regional partnership (WRP) • Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas • Locally Implemented Partnerships • National Public Lands Day • Bat Conservation International • National Wild Turkey Federation • Ducks Unlimited
External: Non-Profit Groups • Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) • Caught in the Crosshairs: Combating the Illegal Wildlife Trade in Iraq & Afghanistan • www.wcswildlifetrade.org/military • Pollinator Partnership • Variety of project funded, primarily through National Public Lands Day • www.pollinator.org • National Wildlife Federation • Scanning the Conservation Horizon: A Guide to Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment • www.nwf.org/vulernabiltyguide • The Wildlife Society • New Military Working Group • www.wildlife.org/subunits/working-groups
Looking Ahead • Limited travel – mission essential • Alternative means of communications • Compliance-driven requirements will dominate budget decisions (e.g., Listed and at-risk species) • FWS expected to propose additional changes to ESA rules and policies • Continued off-base partnership opportunities • Climate change focus → missions and facilities • Sustainability (e.g., water)
Outreach • Websites • DoDNaturalResources.net • DENIX.osd.mil/NaturalResources • DoDLegacy.org • Natural Selections Newsletters • Publications/Brochures • YouTube Animations • http://dodnaturalresources.net/Animation.html • www.youtube.com/watch?v=zipNe0rnu3E • Social Media • DoD Facebook and Blog • Twitter: @DoDNatRes
Questions? Peter.Boice@osd.mil