There is no recipe to ensure funding will meet an installation’s needs and desires. Key elements of funding success seem to hinge on exploring a diversity of funding sources, being innovative, developing partnerships that optimize access to different funding sources, and creating logical and reasonable linkages between biodiversity conservation initiatives and training sustainability on the installation and “beyond the fenceline.” The strategies presented below are adapted from Rambo (2008), based on his experience as a long-time natural resources manager at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River.
- Be completely open to any help you can get, traditional or not. This may include the use of volunteers, interns, temporary hires, partnerships, etc.
- Actively search out opportunities for such help. At NAS Patuxent River we have successfully used Boy Scouts and other civilian volunteers for on-base projects. On-base military members ordered by the federal court to community service is used in our invasive species control/eradication program.
- Constantly seek external funding sources. Examples include using mitigation funds for on-base construction projects (e.g., wetlands mitigation, biological surveys, etc.). Local colleges and universities are often interested in pursuing on-base natural resources research or applied work projects at reasonable cost.
- Actively pursue cooperative agreements. These agreements support project needs at a fraction of the cost of contracts.
- Seek out partnership opportunities that leverage available resources.
- Always be willing to share your data. Natural resources data should be made available to interested agencies, researchers and non-governmental organizations. For example, all biological inventory data should be shared with NatureServe Network Programs that operate in each U.S. state for inclusion in its local data management system. This data is rolled up into the NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Database allowing accurate, range-wide assessments of species and ecosystems. This willingness to share data can lead to new opportunities for partnerships and help build the body of science surrounding resources of interest.
- Integrate/coordinate your INRMP with as many other plans as possible (e.g., base master plan, training/testing/operations plans, etc.)
- Get to know your installation’s military mission and try to link everything to it
- Be open to new natural resources management approaches that save money while enhancing biodiversity. At Naval Air Station Patuxent River, the plan to narrow utility rights-of-way for buried utilities through forested areas is an excellent example of this approach:
- Historically, 150-foot-wide fire breaks were established along rights-of-way for buried sewer, water, and electric utilities. Costly, ongoing maintenance was required for these corridors (mowing and other vegetation control)
- Excessively wide corridors effectively fragmented large forest blocks, reducing the size and quality of wildlife habitat, especially for migratory birds.
- The base was able to reduce the width of fire breaks from 150 to 50 feet, thus eliminating the need to mow and otherwise maintain hundreds of acres. No impact to the military mission occurred as a result of this decision, cost savings were significant, and habitat for biodiversity conservation was created or enhanced.
- Establish volunteer programs to implement projects.
- Use troop labor and equipment—it may fit in with a program of instruction or relate to meeting training requirements/mission-essential task list.
Next Page: Funding Issues
Author
David S. Jones, RA IV, Ecologist/Project Manager
Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands
Warner College of Natural Resources
Colorado State University