Nothing but flowers: On an Air Force base, CEMML helps create pollinator habitat

As a participant in CEMML’s Early-Career Development Program, Rebecca Morse is supporting pollinators and the military mission at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. Morse and her counterparts at the installation planted native wildflowers and grasses in a new pollinator garden they created on land once occupied by military housing and a golf course. Work on the garden has also involved local families as well as airmen from the installation.

May 6, 2025

CEMML staff present as part of Natural Areas Association webinar

CEMML Assistant Director, Mindy Clarke, and Principal Investigators Jennie Anderson and Dave Jones recently presented as part of a webinar hosted by the Natural Areas Association. Clarke began the presentations by providing an overview of CEMML and our work on military lands. Jones then presented on the ‘Importance of DoD Lands to Biodiversity Conservation,’ and Anderson wrapped things up with her insights on ‘Natural Resources Management Planning & Partnerships.’

April 1, 2025

CEMML supports prescribed burn season at Fort McCoy

The 2025 prescribed burn season has been under way in early to mid-March 2025 at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. The prescribed burn team includes personnel from CEMML in partnership with several other entities at the installation. The prescribed burn season continues into the spring with the aim of improving wildlife habitat, controlling invasive plant species, maintaining native plant communities, and reducing wildfire potential.

March 26, 2025

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 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

Restoring native vegetation for endangered plants in Hawai’i

An article by CEMML staff member Lena Schnell was recently published in the U.S. Army’s Ecosystem Management Protection Bulletin. In the article, Schnell highlights how the Natural Resources Program at U.S. Army Garrison, Pōhakuloa Training Area and CEMML are working to restore native habitats of Pu’u Nohona O Hae, a prominent cinder cone on Hawai’i island.

January 14, 2025

CEMML intern wins 2024 Great Plains CESU Award

Levin Brandt, an intern with CEMML’s Early-career Development Program, was presented with the annual Great Plains CESU Graduate Student Award for his outstanding work supporting ecosystems on Air Force installations in Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, and North Dakota. Mr. Brandt is a graduate student in Biology at the University of North Dakota.

November 8, 2024

NAVFAC, CEMML battle brown tree snake to protect Guam’s endangered swiftlets

In a video by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Marianas, CEMML invasive species biologist, Virginie Ternisien explains how she uses dead mice laced with acetaminophen to reduce brown tree snake populations on Guam. The invasive predator is a major threat to the endangered Mariana swiftlet, a small cave-dwelling bird native to the Mariana Islands.

October 30, 2024

On Travis Air Force Base, a rare salamander gets a helping hand

Twice a year, federally protected California tiger salamanders make their pilgrimage between breeding pond and burrow. At Travis Air Force Base, that bi-annual journey includes obstacles like runways and streets. CEMML biologists in partnership with Travis’ natural resources program is helping the species navigate those obstacles. Their efforts ensure the species’ survival, while also allowing the Air Force to continue to carry out its mission.

July 11, 2024

Reaching zero: 26 years of eradicating non-native ungulates from conservation areas in Hawai’i

CEMML Hawai’i staff members Rogelio Doratt, Dan Jensen, and Lena Schnell contributed an article to the Department of Defense Natural Resource Program’s Natural Selections Summer 2024 Newsletter. The article details CEMML’s management action plan to keep 37,300 acres of native dryland habitat free of non-native ungulates. The article starts on page 6 of the linked newsletter.

July 5, 2024

Sharing the beach: CEMML supports snowy plovers and communities in California

In 2020, Vandenberg Space Force Station and CEMML began providing educational programs at local elementary schools to spread awareness about the snowy plover, a rare migratory shorebird currently listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. Over 600 students have participated in the program since the program began.

May 6, 2024

CEMML conducts surveys to aid fisheries management at Fort McCoy

Every year, watershed management biologists and specialists with CEMML, in partnership with Fort McCoy’s Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB), hold fish surveys at Fort McCoy’s 10 lakes and ponds. Surveys are conducted using various methods to understand fish populations and the overall health of the waterways.

May 2, 2024