Camp Edwards recovers training grounds

Camp Edwards recovers training grounds
By Deborah Elliott
U.S. Army Environmental Command

Spotted salamander

Camp Edwards Natural Resource Office

The spotted salamander thrives in Camp Edwards' pine barren ecosystem, as do many Massachusetts threatened or endangered species.

At one of the Northeast United States' critical year-round training areas, land that was once lost to Soldiers as a training resource has been recovered. Last year the environmental staff at Camp Edwards, Mass., conducted efforts that returned 175 acres of prime training ground back into use.

This is good news for the more than 36,600 Soldiers and 17,200 civilians who participate in training events at Camp Edwards every year. The camp is home to the Massachusetts Army National Guard (MAARNG) and host to other armed forces components, law enforcement agencies and civilian organizations.

"In our training, we have involved civilian and military communities that expect their Soldiers to be deployed with the proper training, all while protecting the environment they train on," said Michael Ciaranca, Camp Edwards' natural resource manager. "That training ground happens to be in their own backyard."

The Camp Edwards Training Site, located on the upper western portion of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Mass., is a 15,500 acre area that makes up the lion's share of the 22,000 acre Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR). The camp is subdivided into 23 designated training areas and 20 firing ranges dedicated to realistic multi-echelon combat and lanes training.

The natural resource office at Camp Edwards has the considerable challenge of supporting the camp's training mission while managing a sensitive natural environment, including over 39 state listed threatened and endangered species. This challenge is created by the fact that Camp Edwards is the single largest tract of open space on Cape Cod. Since much of the Cape has been developed, the area provides the only habitat for many rare plant and animal species.

Surprisingly, though, surveys conducted at Camp Edwards show that Soldier training actually is contributing to the support of threatened and endangered species, such as the Eastern box turtle. According to one survey concluded in FY 2006 that focused particularly on that reptile, the Eastern box turtle was found to be more prevalent in areas used for training than in areas that were not.

What makes the difference? It's fire.

Courtney Fire

Camp Edwards Natural Resource Office

Prescribed burns promote healthy grassland eco-communities. The natural resources staff burns approximately 375 acres annually, with a goal of 600 acres, for forest health. Prescribed burning improves habitat and training areas by allowing for new growth and removing excessive cover that would otherwise impede training, thereby making more training land available to Soldiers.

Prescribed burning in one highly effective way natural resource managers at Camp Edwards keep lands open for training. Fire burns away invasive plants that choke training lanes, and it promotes the re-growth of native ecosystems that make up the natural habitat of local endangered plant and animal species. Last year, over 175 acres of training area were recovered and restored due to prescribed burning. Camp Edwards also aided the Air National Guard in restoring a 160-acre grassland by providing restoration advice and a prescribed burn team.

Captain Jerrime Oliver, Camp Edwards training site manager, appreciates the work the natural resource office does. "The underbrush in the training area is impossible to maneuver through, but after a prescribed burn it opens the area up," he said. "The burns allow us to do land navigation and other maneuvers through a large area in a realistic setting."

Low-tech solutions to solving training and environmental challenges at Camp Edwards are combined with high-tech solutions. Extensive use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) enables the camp to plan environmental activities, evaluate geographical information about wildlife, and create wildfire hazard models on the one side. On the other side, GIS is used to develop land navigation and vehicle training courses, identify restricted areas, and produce field cards and other map materials. Using GIS, the environmental division was able to place an engineering equipment training area and upgrade a small arms range last year.

Other environmental initiatives, including permanently repairing one quarter mile of a chronically eroding combat trail and establishing vegetation to prevent future erosion, earned Camp Edwards the Army's highest award for environmental stewardship. The Secretary of the Army award for Natural Resources Conservation – Installation was presented for managing a threatened habitat while supporting an important training mission.

"Clearly the Massachusetts Army National Guard's Camp Edwards delivers an outstanding and complete natural resource management program," said award judging panel member Lewis E. Gorman III, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It sustains military training while promoting a high level of ecosystem stewardship."

Soldiers who train at Camp Edwards serve in all of the United States' current operational environments.

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