Robert Bardon

This proposal allows for the North Carolina Sentinel Landscape Program Partnership (SLPP) to continue its effort to ensure that readiness, training viability, cost-effective policies, and the US Marine Corps mission are facilitated through sustained use of working lands and natural resources. The SLPP have been working for more than six years, providing for the programmatic institutionalization and enhancement of compatible natural resource use in support of military readiness and at the same time enhancing the maintenance and improvement of natural resources, including agriculture and forestry lands (i.e., working lands). The SLPP continues to collaborate on���������a forward-looking, proactive program to sustain the landscape needed for a healthy economy, a healthy environment, a healthy military, and healthy communities in eastern North Carolina and beyond.��������� The SLPP works in the public interest to advance national defense, conservation and working lands in North Carolina simultaneously to ensure that development or use of land, water, and/or air resources remains compatible with military missions. With around 90% of the land in North Carolina privately owned, the SLPP realizes that they cannot succeed unless it offers options and incentives that���������link the interests of the rural, private landowner with the national defense mission and conservation goals.��������� The Partnership understands that landowners need and deserve to have additional economic opportunities for the good they do to advance society������������������s long-term well-being by supporting national defense and conservation.���������

The Southeast Prescribed Fire Initiative will occur in priority areas across all 13 Southern states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Priority habitats will include longleaf pine, shortleaf pine and other fire adapted ecosystems in the Southern region, and priority locations include, but are not limited to, Longleaf Implementation Team (LIT) priority areas and Sentinel Landscapes. The project purpose is to implement the Comprehensive Strategy for Prescribed Fire (which is a comprehensive, regional strategy for increasing prescribed burning in the Southeast), thus ultimately helping to increase the use of prescribed fire across the Southeast. The Strategy represents a consensus among representatives of federal and state agencies (including the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Defense, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state forestry and wildlife agencies), non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and the private sector; therefore, these groups will be the primary partners for this project. Major activities will include continued coordination of the SERPPAS Prescribed Fire Working Group, and implementation of several action items within the Prescribed Fire Strategy such as ����������������Learn & Burn��������������� field days for private landowners, and support and promotion of Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) and ����������������Fire Festivals.��������������� Outcomes include increased use of and support for prescribed fire.

From its Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, North Carolina is rich in its wide-ranging landscape, its diverse population, and flourishing economy. With several grand metropolitan areas and cozy rural towns, the state offers the best of both urban living and small-town life. Currently, North Carolina is considered the 9th most populous state. If population predictions hold, the state will become the 7th most populous state by 2032. With population growth, comes increased urbanization and infrastructure development, a growing rural and urban interface, and encroachment on communities and areas that support and serve the state������������������s military installations. In an effort to establish a landscape scale approach to natural resources management that enriches compatible land use while minimizing multiple encroachment threats and alleviating on-installation constraints, North Carolina is looking to enhance its Eastern Sentinel Landscape to support flexibility for military readiness beyond 2060 while linking co-benefits of conservation and keeping working forests and farms, working.

This proposal for $40,000 is continued funding toward ongoing program development of the North Carolina Sentinel Landscape (ENCSL) Partnership and activities within the ENCSL Partnership. The effort of this request assemble existing work performed by NC State University under the project: Coordination of the Sentinel Partnership (North Carolina Military Affairs Commission 2018-19 NCSU Project (NCDA 19-036-4002).

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, and the Interior formalized the NC Sentinel Landscape Partnership (here-after Partnership) to better serve where working and natural lands converge with national defense facilities. Decidedly, the Partnership can leverage collective resources and expertise to accomplish shared on-the-ground goals where priorities overlap. To accelerate progress meeting technical and process goals, and increase the capacity and legacy of the NC Sentinel Landscape Partnership (NC SLP), NC State University is requesting $40,000 to assist in continued coordination of major Partnership goals that will link military readiness, conservation, and working lands. The Partnership is expanding outreach, opportunities, and recognition to landowners in 33 counties, including the addition of a landowner advisory committee; is working to reduce land-use conflicts and natural resource issues around military installations through its High Priority Program; and accelerating the conservation and protection of natural resources and restoration of important habitat for wildlife.

NC State University is requesting $126,250 for a new contract with the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities. The US Endowment has requested a new contract with all of the nation's Sentinel Landscape Coordinators. The funds will allow the facilitation and coordination of key partnership initiatives designed to further the development and capacity of the North Carolina Sentinel Landscape Partnership (NCSLP), connecting across the North Carolina sentinel landscape area and based on a revised Strategic Plan 2022-2027. A work plan for Sept 16, 2022 to September 14, 2023 will include 8-10 specific activities.

Managing fire adapted species, such as longleaf and shortleaf pine, properly with prescribed fire not only helps restore the ecosystems, but yields associated benefits such as reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, thereby protecting air quality, and improving wildlife habitat for game, at- risk, and endangered species. The Comprehensive Strategy for Prescribed Fire was written to fulfill the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability������������������s (SERPPAS) Strategic Action Plan goal of developing a comprehensive, regional strategy for increasing prescribed burning in the Southeast. NCSU Extension will continue to effectively implement the Prescribed Fire Strategy through coordination, outreach, and education. NCSU Extension will work with the SERPPAS Prescribed Fire Work Group, the Southern Group of State Fire Chiefs, the Environmental Protection Agency, state air quality representatives, the Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils, or others to minimize local smoke impacts on air quality and public health and safety and maximize coordination between air and fire communities.

The Women-in-Fire Training Exchange (WTREX) is a two-week prescribed fire training that will take place in North Carolina in 2023. WTREX is dedicated to evolving the fire culture through the empowerment and advancement of women, as well as bringing awareness to the value of diversity in the workforce. With an inclusive approach that engages fire practitioners of all genders and backgrounds, the WTREX provides rare training opportunities, mentorship, awareness, and social connections. We propose to assist with the logistics and organization of this event. The PI, Jennifer Fawcett, has played a role on the Incident Management Team for this event since 2016, and is uniquely qualified to serve in this capacity.

The NCSLP is in its 13th year of operation, formally since 2016 and prior to 2016 as core group of the Partnership that began to amplify its vision, mission, and implement signature projects that the NCSLP has uniquely done. This proposal is requesting financial support to bolster the NCSLP������������������s continued efforts that are focused on the ENCSL. The NCSLP is working to protect the military mission in North Carolina, its forested and agriculture working lands, and its natural and water resources by minimizing the impact of encroachment and incompatible land uses that effect both the military and surrounding communities. By fully implementing the Sentinel Landscape program in North Carolina the NCSLP will achieve multiple benefits that allow North Carolina to be more effective.

The Southeast Prescribed Fire Initiative will occur in priority areas across all 13 Southern states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Priority habitats will include longleaf pine, shortleaf pine and other fire adapted ecosystems in the Southern region, and priority locations include, but are not limited to, Longleaf Implementation Team (LIT) priority areas and Sentinel Landscapes. The project purpose is to implement the Comprehensive Strategy for Prescribed Fire (which is a comprehensive, regional strategy for increasing prescribed burning in the Southeast), thus ultimately helping to increase the use of prescribed fire across the Southeast. The Strategy represents a consensus among representatives of federal and state agencies (including the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Defense, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state forestry and wildlife agencies), non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and the private sector; therefore, these groups will be the primary partners for this project. Major activities will include continued coordination of the SERPPAS Prescribed Fire Working Group, and implementation of several action items within the Prescribed Fire Strategy such as ����������������Learn & Burn��������������� field days for private landowners, and support and promotion of Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) and ����������������Fire Festivals.��������������� Outcomes include increased use of and support for prescribed fire.