Fort McCoy cites partnerships and collaboration as the essential elements in its Fiscal Year 2015 Secretary of the Army Environmental Awards Program Natural Resource Conservation Team win.
Using an Army, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources interagency agreement, the Fort McCoy Natural Resources Team established the first ever, eight-way partnership involving the Habelman Cranberry Marsh, Colorado State University, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and local volunteers and school groups to complete fish barrier removal and stream habitat improvement on the installation.
This effort focused on Stillwell Creek, which has flow problems in its highly-degraded channel. Collectively, the partners improved nearly 2,000 feet of stream habitat in 2014, which proved successful in 2015 with the discovery of several cold water-intolerant species.
The garrison also leveraged partnerships with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit to develop new and update previous monitoring plans for the Mound Prairie Sacred Area, Gypsy Moth, Emerald Ash Borer, Karner Blue Butterfly and Gray Wolf, as well as general endangered species and invasive species management plans.
Partnering with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources enabled the team to successfully remove the Alderwood Lake Dam and reroute a road to avoid a range's surface danger zone. This involved mitigation of 6.5 acres of wetlands that benefitted the military by eliminating surface danger zone concerns, improving traffic movement, adding a low-water crossing, and eliminating weight limitations on an aging dam structure over the La Crosse River.
Fort McCoy's Natural Resource Conservation Team also partnered with the Wisconsin National Guard to cut and remove debris from the north impact area firebreak, helping minimize the threat of wildfire. In addition to the nine miles cleared, another seven miles of brush mowing, tree removal and erosion control improved the installation boundary firebreak. Maintaining boundaries will keep fire from escaping Fort McCoy protecting private property and delineating the installation boundary to prevent trespass.
The team also coordinated with multiple agencies for an aerial wildfire suppression training exercise at Fort McCoy. This collaborative training exercise was a win-win for all parties with 20 pilots receiving valuable wildfire training using Bambi Buckets?. In addition, habitat was enhanced and fuel load reduced and the Fort McCoy Fire Department and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources were trained in air/ground asset coordination.
The Fort McCoy Natural Resources Team worked closely with the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security to increase the amount of available maneuver acreage by reducing internal encroachments. As a result of this partnership, the installation reduced the environmental and safety restrictions on 34,562 acres without adding additional risk to the environment, personnel, property or training, while maintaining compliance with state and federal laws.
The team also spearheaded an installation-wide effort to improve watershed health by maintaining forested watersheds, adhering to strict erosion control, reducing storm water runoff and enhancing riparian uplands. Fort McCoy's integrated land management efforts minimized nutrient and sedimentation impacts to streams and resulted in water leaving the installation at a higher quality than when it entered.
Because Fort McCoy has met its conservation goals for the federally endangered Karner Blue Butterfly, the Fort McCoy Natural Resources Team developed an interagency agreement to mitigate incidental take for the endangered butterfly outside the installation. The agreement allows the Army to transfer funds to the Fish and Wildlife Service, which in turn partners with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to create or enhance the butterfly's habitat on state property where conservation goals have not yet been met.
Off-installation mitigation significantly reduces the potential for future conflicts between military training and endangered species on Fort McCoy, helps the state meet its conservation goals, and assists in recovery of the Karner Blue Butterfly with the potential for the species to be delisted.
The team conducts frequent consultations with state and federal regulators for wetland mitigation, stream realignments, species of concern, and takes a proactive approach to help ensure success. The result is longstanding and productive relationships with local regulators that promote sustainability of Fort McCoy's operational training capabilities, help to maintain natural resource compliance, and prevent the loss of training days due to natural resource management issues.
Fort McCoy will represent the Army in the Natural Resource Conservation Team category of the Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards Program later this year.
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