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REPI Program January Newsletter

Happy New Year from the REPI Office! As we reflect on 2023 and welcome 2024, our office would like to thank our partner, stakeholders, and the Military Services for contributing to the many milestones the REPI Program accomplished. Last year, the program made great strides in working with partners to continue strengthening military readiness at installations and ranges across the country. 

2023 Program Highlights

• Expanding Investments in Complementary Federal Programs: In 2023, the REPI Program continued leveraging landscape-level collaboration and Federal and regional partnerships to expand installations' opportunities to access funding and resources that protect military missions. These partnerships with Federal, state, and local agencies help reduce duplicative efforts, efficiently allocate resources, and result in a more effective overall approach to solutions for critical issues such as land use changes and climate change. The REPI Office was thrilled to announce newly expanded partnering efforts with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Through NFWF's National Coastal Resilience Fund and America the Beautiful Challenge, the REPI Program helped advance landscape restoration, nature-based solutions, and species recovery to support military missions. The REPI Program also continued its partnership with the NFWF Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund to dedicate funding to projects that restore forest health and manage vital natural resources to benefit military testing and training at installations and ranges across the Southeast. The REPI Program also joined forces with the U.S. Department of the Interior to launch the new Readiness and Recreation Initiative. This new initiative is bringing $40 million in unobligated balances from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and a matching $40 million in REPI Program funding to preserve land around military installations and improve access to outdoor recreation.
• Enhanced Partnerships and Projects in the Pacific: The Pacific remained of high priority as the region continues to grow in strategic importance for the Department. Last year, the REPI Program worked hard to accelerate several projects across the region to protect cultural, natural, and land resources that benefit partner priorities and mission capabilities. Across the Indo-Pacific region, the REPI Program established multiple projects with continued anticipated investments to support installations facing unprecedented climate change hazards, imperiled species challenges, and increasing residential and commercial development.
• Hosting the DOD Climate Resilience Workshop: To further advance the Department's climate goals, as stated in the 2021 Climate Adaptation Plan and the 2022 National Defense Strategy, the REPI Program, alongside other Offices under the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment (ASD(EI&E)), hosted a DOD Climate Resilience Workshop in July 2023. The workshop provided a critical opportunity for DOD and its partners to discuss ways to strengthen installation resilience amid a changing climate and advance the goals and objectives of the National Defense Strategy. 
• Designating New Sentinel Landscapes: The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership had another successful year with the designation of three new sentinel landscapes, including the South Carolina Lowcountry Sentinel Landscape and the Virginia Security Corridor, comprised of two sentinel landscapes: Potomac and Tidewater. To read more about the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership, visit www.sentinellandscapes.org.

Stay tuned throughout the year for program updates, news, and resources as the REPI Office is looking forward to meeting new goals and reaching new milestones in 2024!

Newly Released: 2024 Webinar Series

Upcoming Partner Funding Opportunities

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) released the 2024 Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund. This RFP expects to award approximately $30 million in federal and private sector funding in support of on-the-ground projects that help accelerate longleaf pine restoration on private and public lands to support wildlife, sequester carbon, safeguard water quality, and increase forest resilience. Limited funding also is available to support bottomland hardwood restoration and enhancement activities as outlined within the RFP.

Full proposals are due February 15, 2024.

Mojave Desert Tortoise Recovery Partnership 2024 Request for Proposals

NFWF is requesting proposals to restore, protect and enhance populations of Mojave desert tortoise and their habitat in California’s western Mojave Desert. Up to $2 million in funding is expected to be available through support from the Army, Marine Corps, DOD, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and BNSF Railway. 

Interested applicants can join the 2024 Mojave Desert Tortoise Recovery Partnership Applicant Webinar on January 17, 2024.

Full proposals are due by Thursday, March 7, 2024. 

Partnership Spotlight

Boots on the Ground: Saving Species, Supporting the Mission The ASD(EI&E) recently announced the release of Boots on the Ground: Saving Species, Supporting the Mission, a video showcasing DOD's success in maintaining its national defense and security mission, while conserving military lands and the species that call them home. Filmed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and narrated by world-renowned photographer Joel Sartore of the National Geographic Photo Ark, the video tells a compelling story of the unique balance between the vital military testing, training and operational mission and DOD's extraordinary work, commitment, and dedication to the conservation of at-risk species. Last month marked the 50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, which presented the perfect opportunity to debut this inspiring video, which highlights the leading role the Department plays in the conservation of threatened and endangered species.

The National Conference of State Legislatures Outlines State Policy Considerations for Disaster Risk and Resilience

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) recently released the State Policy Considerations for Disaster Risk and Resilience Report, which offers state lawmakers a road map to help them navigate the unpredictable nature of disasters such as extreme drought, wildfires, flooding, and heat. The report highlights the changing approach to disaster management through policies emphasizing hazard mitigation, infrastructure resilience, and centralized planning. Developed with input from NCSL’s State Policy and Practices Legislative Cohort, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from 17 states, and with support from the Environmental Defense Fund, the report highlights the changing approach to disaster management through policies emphasizing hazard mitigation, infrastructure resilience, and centralized planning. In addition, the report includes a federal resilience funding chart, which provides a comprehensive summary of federal programs available to states and local government entities.  

The FEMA Hazard Mitigation Partners Workshop

From February 5-8, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will host the virtual Hazard Mitigation Partners Workshop. This workshop, titled “All Together for Climate Resilient Communities” will bring together over 800 Federal, state, tribal, and local partners who work in emergency management, floodplain management, and hazard mitigation positions. On Tuesday, February 6, the REPI Program and the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) will host a session on leveraging DOD funding as a non-federal match for mutually beneficial nature-based solutions.  The REPI Program has been recognized in FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program and Policy Guide as one of the few Federal programs that can satisfy the non-federal match for FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants. Join this session at the Hazard Mitigation Partners Workshop to learn more about how the REPI Program funding can help FEMA applicants satisfy the non-federal match requirements for Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants.

Register for the Hazard Mitigation Partners Workshop at www.fema.gov/event/hazard-mitigation-partners-workshop.

REPI News Corner

Below is media coverage featuring REPI Program partnerships that are addressing land use and resource challenges that threaten military readiness while enhancing relationships with communities and preserving the environment.

Southern California’s Largest Pristine Environment Preserved and Protected by New Partnership

KEYT-TV (Santa Barbara County, CA) reported that the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County and The Nature Conservancy have partnered with Vandenberg Space Force Base to execute a $15 million conservation easement over the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve.  Financial support has come through the DOD REPI Program, which helps to nearly double the 24,341-acre nature preserve’s easement.  The ecological richness of the Preserve provides scientists with a rare look at how wildlife and natural systems can adapt unfettered to climate change, sea level rise, and other pressing issues for California and the world.  The Nature Conservancy hosted over 200 scientists from more than 40 institutions and 1,150 local students, detailing the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County.  The new partnership will allow them to continue developing unique learning opportunities for the local community and facilitate the broader study of increasingly rare pristine natural environments into the future.

Grant Funding to Enhance Wildlife Habitat through the America the Beautiful Challenge Grant

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), Archbold Biological Station and Conservation Florida was awarded roughly $1.4 million in grant funding for a groundbreaking collaborative project to enhance wildlife habitat in the Northern Everglades as part of the America the Beautiful Challenge. This funded collaboration by Conservation Florida, UF/IFAS, and Archbold Biological Station will focus primarily on long-term climate resilience within the Avon Park Air Force Range Sentinel Landscape, through stewardship and research. The $1.4 million project will conduct new research on DeLuca Preserve, a 27,000-acre property representative of the working rangelands within the Avon Park Air Force Range Sentinel Landscape, monitoring for measurable impact of climate-smart land management. This shared project, involving coordination with private landowners, paves the way for not only increased efficiency of time and resources but also greater habitat outcomes.