FORT DEVENS, Mass. (Nov. 6, 2015) -- Think about training Soldiers, and protecting the environment probably doesn't come immediately to mind.
Yet, finding a way to balance the two needs consumes each and every workday for Ben Amos, the Integrated Training Area Management, or ITAM, coordinator on Fort Devens, who is just as comfortable discussing how to thin a forest to accommodate land navigation training as he is talking about the nesting habits of the Grasshopper Sparrow.
"That's part of the balance that is desired … here, to make sure training will occur while environmental considerations are given as much [weight] as possible," Amos said. "It's a lot of fun. There's certainly never not enough to do."
A federal regulation - the Sykes Act of 1960 - provides for the protection and enhancement of wildlife and natural resources on military lands and led to the Army's Sustainable Range Program. As Keith Jackson, Fort Devens Range Control officer, will tell you, it can get a little tricky.
"We really want to make sure the Soldiers get the best training," Jackson said. "Somehow, we have to balance this. That's where Ben's job is the hardest."
Consider the Turner Drop Zone on Fort Devens, which most people view as an area to conduct air operations. Amos has to take a different perspective on the site.
"I see it from an environmental perspective as a rare upland meadow," Amos said. "This being cleared, it's a unique environment."
That environment is favored by the Grasshopper Sparrow.
"It and other birds that will use grasslands for nesting, they'll be nesting on the ground during … certain times of year," Amos said. "Part of our job … is to make sure that they're allowed to without either training or maintenance … impacting their life cycle.
"We mow the drop zone twice a year, and there's a certain … time when it can't occur. One of the goals is to leave it alone as much as possible while still allowing for use as training."
In another part of the 5,000-acre range complex on Fort Devens' South Post, Blanding's Turtles cross over from the nearby Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge to lay their eggs in the sandy soil at the range complex before returning to the refuge. To facilitate their movement, a road is sometimes closed and range users are alerted to the turtles' presence.
"Part of the ITAM program is Sustainable Range Awareness," Amos said.
Amos must be aware of more than just wildlife on Fort Devens. Invasive species are among his greatest concerns.
"The [Oriental] bittersweet is my personal arch-enemy, mostly because it's everywhere," Amos said. "It's a very rapidly growing vine that chokes out trees. It spreads like wildfire.
"Not only are you going to begin losing trees, which impacts the habitat, but you have dead trees falling into landing zones, dead branches falling onto people trying to train, and just basic maneuver impacts. You couldn't drive through it if you wanted to."
Amos said that mechanical clearing and spot herbicide application are used to battle the infestation.
"When you have a serious, problematic area like this, it will spread out," Amos said. "It's a multi-year process. We'll keep monitoring it for the years to come.
"The invasive species is the biggest threat to this and any other training area, or any other facility, in my opinion."
If you lose trees, erosion follows, Amos explained.
"And then you're losing land," Amos said. "Again, your ability to train and maintain the training with good stewardship is greatly reduced."
When he's not worrying about wildlife and invasive species, Amos is maintaining forests, maneuver trails and wetlands so that Fort Devens' ranges remain viable for training and environmentally sound.
The forest lands undergo "rotational shaping" in which 75-acre parcels are thinned out every five years for the safety of troops using them.
"It's basically going in and clearing the dead stuff," Amos said. "One of the goals for training is to maintain safe passage for troops, both day and night, as they maneuver through the forest."
Maneuver trail maintenance can be just as important. Rutted trails lead to erosion and further loss of land.
"If they weren't maintained, if they weren't evaluated regularly, the trails may become impassable," Amos said. "All of a sudden, you have training lands that aren't being used."
Amos also keeps an eye on the range complex's many types of wetlands.
"The rule of thumb is that nothing occurs within 100 feet of a wetland," Amos said. "We are responsible for maintaining and protecting wetlands, regardless of the definition."
To help maintain the wetlands and maneuver trails, old corrugated steel culverts are being replaced with reinforced concrete culverts that encourage the flow of water and help fish and amphibians navigate between breeding and feeding areas.
"Culvert maintenance is another very big part of maintaining wetlands and streams and making sure that the required training areas, the required maneuver trails like this, won't impact the stream health," Amos said. "Again, it's a stewardship consideration."
For a big-picture look at what's happening on the range complex, Amos relies on ITAM's Geographic Information Systems, a highly-accurate satellite view that can show changes over time. As an example, Amos used a hypothetical pair of landing zones, one of which never needs re-vegetation work and another that needs constant attention, regardless of usage.
"Well, then you know you have some other problem," said Amos, "some other erosion problem that needs to be addressed."
Twice a year, Amos will travel the entire range complex to identify possible problems.
"Any time you notice a situation, [you] put that on the menu to repair it," he said.
The goal is to provide the best training areas possible for future generations of American warfighters.
"We want … Fort Devens to be available for training," Amos said. "As long as it's needed or desired, it needs to be available and maintained for that purpose."
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