WASHINGTON, DC, March 2010 : Three United States Navy installations have been nominated for the 2009 Military Installation Conservation Partner Award by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). This award recognizes military installations that have accomplished outstanding work in cooperation with FWS to promote conservation on military lands during the past year.
The nominated installations are Naval Air Station Fallon, Naval Air Station Kingsville, and Barry M. Goldwater Range.
Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada
NAS Fallon’s Environmental Program partners with the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office (NFWO) and Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) to implement conservation actions on lands managed by NAS Fallon.
Two species benefitting from Navy conservation are the Dixie Valley tui chub (a fish) and a recently discovered species of toad. Threats to the toad and tui chub include non-native plant and animal species, water exportation, and small population sizes.
The Navy’s efforts - in partnership with the NFWO, SNWR and others - have led to a 200 percent increase in the population of the tui chub. New information about the recently discovered species of toad will be used to develop a Candidate Conservation Agreement between the NFWO and the Navy.
Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas
NAS Kingsville’s land includes a diverse collection of endangered species, at-risk species, and migratory bird species of concern.
The Navy’s work with FWS, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and other partners have benefitted these species through working management plans, prescribed burns, brush removal, and bird, reptile and amphibian surveys.
As a result of the Navy’s efforts and partnerships, thousands of acres of wetlands, coastal grasslands, riverine, and neotropical scrublands are being protected and managed by the Navy in south Texas.
Barry M. Goldwater Range, Arizona
Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR) has a long-standing cooperative relationship with FWS to support about 1.5 million acres of Sonoran desert in the U.S. The Sonoran desert eco-region has the highest diversity of native plants of any desert in the world, with more than 2,500 pollinator species and more than 600 native fish and wildlife species including more than two-thirds of all migratory bird species in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
BMGR serves as an epicenter for recovery actions for a number of threatened, endangered, and at-risk species. This includes the most endangered mammal in North America, the Sonoran pronghorn antelope. Together, Luke Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma have significantly contributed to the conservation and recovery of this species.
The Military Conservation Partner Award will be presented by USFWS on March 25, 2010.
For the full article, visit http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=51633.
For more information on Navy environmental stewardship, visit http://www.navy.mil/oceans.
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