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How REPI Installations and Partners are Working Together for Conservation and Climate Solutions
The Department of Defense (DOD) plays a critical role at the intersection of national security and conservation as climate change and extreme weather events continue to alter DOD's training environments and create new constraints for the warfighter. Through the REPI Program, installations work with dedicated partners to execute projects that preserve compatible land uses, protect critical habitats for endangered species, and enhance installation resilience to climate change. By leveraging federal funding streams and collective resources, REPI installations and partners continue to drive results that enhance installation resilience, positively impact defense communities, and protect the Nation's defense capabilities. REPI projects and partnerships across the country are showing adaptability and innovation through strategic planning and collaborative partnerships that allow for effective and impactful projects that protect DOD missions.
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Installation Resilience Case Studies
To learn more about how installations and partners are working through their ongoing REPI projects, the REPI office interviewed installations to discuss their best practices for executing a variety of REPI project activities. During each interview, members of the REPI office discussed the installation's mission threats, steps to protecting infrastructure and other assets from worsening climatic conditions, and landscape changes outside the installation. To showcase outcomes from the interviews, the REPI office selected three installations to highlight in a three-part series to demonstrate how installations are leveraging multiple authorities and working closely with communities and organizations to advance shared goals and implement projects that protect military missions.
Our three-part series will kick off highlighting REPI resilience efforts at Camp Williams, where the installation supported the creation of state legislation on wildfire prevention and land conservation. During our interview with Paul Raymond, the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program Manager for the Utah Army National Guard at Camp Williams, we discussed how the threat of development pressures and wildfires has negatively impacted military operations and missions. To date, the installation averages 27 days of no training each year due to high fire hazard risks. Through collaborative efforts with local, state, and federal partners, Mr. Raymond discussed how Camp Williams utilized REPI funds, matching state funds, and state legislation to create a protective wildfire corridor around the installation.
To learn more about REPI efforts at Camp Williams, the full interview is available at www.repi.mil. Stay tuned to hear how Cannon Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point are using REPI funds for conservation and climate solutions!
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