ARMY ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION​​

USAEC works with installations to develop, implement and maintain programs for the conservation, utilization and rehabilitation of natural resources on 13.6 million acres, spread across 152 installations, with 12,563 operational ranges, 1.1 million acres of forest and 1.3 million acres of wetlands. This includes responsibility for protecting 184 endangered species on 79 installations, as well as 68 candidate species on 44 installations identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which could impact Army missions.

USAEC helps quantify environmental encroachment vulnerabilities and assesses the use of external buffer zones to enhance testing and training capabilities protecting more than 200,000 acres from incompatible development at 28 installations through Army Compatible Use Buffer program partnerships. USAEC also helps centrally manage the Conservation Reimbursable Forestry, Agricultural/Grazing Outlease and Fish and Wildlife conservation programs, which provide ecosystem level management that supports and enhances the land's ability to support each installation's respective military missionscape. Finally, the Integrated Pest Management Program helps sustain infrastructure used for training, working and living by providing professional guidance to reduce or eliminate impact from all plant, insect, fungus and vertebrate pests on Soldiers and their families.
 

The Army is steward to more than 66,000 historic buildings, 82,000 inventoried archeological sites, and Native American sacred sites on 14 installations. USAEC helps ensure that installations make informed decisions regarding the cultural resources under their control in compliance with public laws, in support of the military mission, and consistent with sound principles of cultural resource management.

Assisting with development and technical review of programmatic agreements, memorandums of agreement, Army alternate procedures and other comprehensive agreements and plans allow USAEC to capture and share lessons learned. USAEC also works to encourage building and maintaining positive relationships among cultural resource stakeholders.

The Cultural Resources Community of Practice provides a forum to distribute the latest information, provide guidance, respond to questions and share best practices among Army installation environmental staffs.