Colorado State University and University of Guam sign MOU

Alonso A. Aguirre, Dean of the Warner College of Natural Resources, and the leadership team from the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands recently traveled to Guam to sign a MOU between the University of Guam and Colorado State University. The MOU aims to provide opportunities for future collaboration and cooperation including internship placement of University of Guam students into natural and cultural resource management opportunities with Warner College/CEMML.

February 27, 2025

CEMML archaeologists unearth Wisconsin dairy history from early 1900s

A glass bottle fragment recovered from Fort McCoy, Wisconsin was found to originate from the Beaver Creek Dairy company in Sparta, WI. The company, established in the early 1910s, remained in operation through the early 1970s. It is unclear if the bottle glass fragment recovered by the CEMML archaeologists was originally delivered to a homestead or soldiers training at Fort McCoy. 

February 6, 2025

CEMML executive director named as key personnel in CSU $326M award

The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency have awarded $326 million to three Colorado State University research projects that aim to improve U.S. oil and gas operations and reduce methane emissions nationwide. The executive director of the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, Barker Fariss, has been named as key personnel on one of the three projects. That $300 million grant focuses on reducing methane emissions from low-producing and conventional wells.

January 18, 2025

CEMML helps preserve history of nuclear submarines and ships

In the early 1950s, the U.S. Navy was keen on developing nuclear-powered engines to propel submarines and aircraft carriers. Prototyping and testing of these reactors took place at the Nuclear Propulsion Program’s Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho. CEMML has supported the NRF in documenting and preserving the history of this landmark development site and the engineers who worked there.

November 5, 2024

CEMML archaeological survey explores early 20th century history of Fort McCoy

An archaeological survey conducted by CEMML personnel in the summer of 2022 was initially meant to investigate the creation of several hundred concrete tent pads at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Research into the tent pads, dating from around the early 20th century, also unearthed additional information about other possible known archaeological features and sites around what is referred to as “Old Camp McCoy.”

February 21, 2024

Canine detectives help locate long-forgotten burials at a Virginia military base

Mulberry Island, Virginia, the location of Joint Base Langley-Eustis, has a long history of human habitation, dating back 10,000 years. The area has more than 230 archaeological sites, including cemeteries with unmarked graves. CEMML, in partnership with the Fort Eustis Cultural Resources Program, is using human remains detection dogs to help identify unmarked burial sites to better understand, honor, and preserve the area’s rich history.

February 7, 2024

CEMML partnership helps ensure Native American voices are heard in military planning

Much of the roughly 26 million acres that the Department of Defense oversees nationwide was once occupied by Native American tribes. Military installations are legally required to consult with interested tribes when carrying out projects that affect natural and cultural resources. A tool developed by CEMML and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center helps determine which tribes may have an interest in an installation’s land or airspace.

January 4, 2024

CEMML interim director assumes executive director role

Barker Fariss has been selected as CEMML’s new executive director. He has led CEMML as interim director since July, 2023. Fariss brings an extensive background in environmental regulatory compliance, making him uniquely suited for overseeing CEMML and its land management support to the Department of Defense and other federal agencies.

December 6, 2023

CEMML archaeologists uncover grinding stone artifact in Wisconsin

While investigating an archeological site at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, CEMML archaeologists uncovered a mano, a type of grinding stone used to process both wild and cultivated plant foods. Ground stone tools are not commonly found at Fort McCoy. Of 162 archaeological sites at Fort McCoy, only 24 have unearthed ground stone tools. These 24 sites yielded 64 ground stone tools, of which only eight were assumed to be grinding tools associated with food processing.

November 20, 2023

Ecology expert joins CEMML Executive Committee

After 7 years as a principal investigator, Dr. Mindy Clarke joins CEMML’s executive committee as an assistant director. Clarke brings 25 years of environmental management experience to CEMML’s leadership team and a passion for bridging the gap between science and management.

November 2, 2023

CEMML accounts for nearly a quarter of record-breaking CSU sponsored program expenditure

Colorado State University continues to see record-breaking numbers in sponsored project expenditures, edging close to a half-billion dollars with a total of $498.1 million in fiscal year 2023. CEMML contributed nearly a quarter of that total (21%) by bringing in $104.3 million as a key provider of environmental management services to the Department of Defense and other federal agencies.

October 3, 2023

Three decades of impact: CEMML associate director brings career to a close

Military lands management wasn’t on Calvin Bagley’s radar as a possible career path when he graduated with a master’s in range science from Utah State University in 1987. But an initial role with the Army Corps of Engineers’ Construction Engineering Research Laboratory would eventually lead him to Colorado State University and a thirty-year career with CEMML helping the DoD manage its natural and cultural resources.

July 26, 2023