Tag: Vegetation and Habitat
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
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
On remote Pacific Islands, CEMML helps eradicate invasive rats
In 2020, a joint project to eradicate invasive rats from the Wake Island Atoll was created between the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, CEMML, and other collaborators. Using poisoned bait and traps, as well as other preventative biosecurity measures, the project has experienced great success in the last four years. Rat populations have been radically reduced with the hope that they will be fully eradicated from the three islands that make up the atoll within another year.
September 3, 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 supports conservation efforts at Fort Hunter Liggett
CEMML biologists are key contributors to conservation efforts at Fort Hunter Liggett, a U.S. Army installation in west central California. Among FHL’s conservation efforts is improving the San Antonio River habitat of the endangered arroyo toad. The toad was listed as endangered in 1994 and faces a variety of threats to its survival, reproduction and persistence. CEMML aids the installation in the removal of non-native predators like the American bullfrog.
April 24, 2024
CEMML botanists help gain recognition for new Hawaiian plant species
After 35 years since its initial discovery, Hawai’i has a newly recognized species of pamakani, thanks to the persistance of CEMML biologists. Dubbed Tetramolopium stemmermanniae, the daisy-like plant joins 47 other species of rare plants found within Hawaiʻi’s U.S. Army Garrison Pōhakuloa Training Area.
December 4, 2023
Spreading the love of monarchs: CEMML intern works with Midwestern pollinators
As part of his CEMML internship, Alexx Uecker’s work for the Midwest Natural Resources Program of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center gave him the opportunity to study bats and support important pollinators like the monarch butterfly. During his six-month experience, Uecker supported monitoring and survey efforts at Air Force bases across the Midwest.
November 29, 2023