Newly Released: 2024 Sentinel Landscapes Accomplishments Report
The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is pleased to announce the release of the 2024 Sentinel Landscapes Accomplishments Report, highlighting how the Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Department of the Interior (DOI) have worked together since 2013 to protect military mission capabilities, sustain working lands, and bolster local agricultural and forestry economies. Authorized by 10 U.S. Code §2693, the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is a coalition of Federal agencies, state and local governments, and private organizations that work with willing landowners and land managers to advance land use strategies that protect training areas and maintain operational flexibility.
The report showcases how the DOD, USDA, DOI, and their on-the-ground partners collaborate to solve complex land-use challenges, combining resources and aligning funding across the sentinel landscapes. Currently, 19 sentinel landscapes across the country and in the Pacific Region actively support warfighter readiness at 60 military installations and ranges. Sentinel landscapes directly support military installation resilience by helping preserve open space and compatible land use around installations, which serve as weapons systems critical to the readiness and lethality of the force.
“The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is a critical asset in safeguarding our warfighting mission capabilities at more than 60 military installations across the country and in the Pacific Region,” said Dale Marks, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment. “The Sentinel Landscapes 2024 Accomplishments Report demonstrates the power of interagency collaboration and partnerships to maximize cost savings, permanently preserve mission-critical lands, and strengthen combat readiness. The partnership’s efforts directly support our ability to enhance deterrence by ensuring access to secure, uninterrupted training environments to conduct realistic live-fire training, weapons system testing, and essential operations.”
Through Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, projects in sentinel landscapes received over $1.4 billion in funding, with $263 million committed in FY 2023 alone. The partnership also saw a 73,000-acre increase in protected acres, bringing the total number of acres permanently protected to more than 751,000 acres.
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