State-wide Conservation Forum to Facilitate Cooperative Conservation

Abstract

This Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Legacy Program project provided for a conservation forum at the state-wide level in Virginia on December 14, 2006 at the Pocahontas State Park in Chester, Virginia. The purpose was to launch regional conservation partnerships in support of the Governor's land conservation initiative and military compatible land use and conservation buffers addressing both land protection and restoration. At the forum's conclusion, commitments were made by the forum attendees for three follow-on regional forums to explore specific conservation partnerships in the Northern Virginia area that includes Fort A. P. Hill, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, and Marine Corps Base Quantico; the south-central region that includes Fort Pickett; and the Tidewater region that includes Fort Eustis, Fort Story, Langley Air Force Base, and the Oceana Naval Air Station. These specific partnership meetings expect to explore details of regional compatible land use planning and encroachment and other factors that can affect the military's ability to continue to execute training and testing requirements at facilities in Virginia. Further, state and federal officials agreed to continue dialogues at the policy level to determine other areas of coordination and partnership. Virginia has significant military locations for all Services, and increased activities as a result of base realignment and closure. Associated realignments will increase joint training and testing requirements and the need for coordination among and between Services and with other agencies and conservation organizations. The forum included an educational component that allowed state agencies and local conservation organizations to explain objectives and focus areas, and provided an overview of Department of Defense (DoD) and Service-specific processes to address encroachment with compatible land use planning.