Leaders from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. Department of the Interior met at the Pentagon this week to celebrate the renewal of the Recovery and Sustainment Partnership following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this year designed to advance the recovery of threatened and endangered species while also supporting national security.
"The DoD has long understood that protecting military lands and the species that reside there supports military readiness training. Through our renewed partnership with the Department of the Interior, we have confirmed our mutual commitment to proactive, innovative, and collaborative approaches to protect imperiled species while increasing flexibility for military activities," said Brendan Owens, assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations, and environment. "We look forward to our continued collaboration and the positive outcomes we can achieve together for national defense and species."
"This longstanding partnership between the Departments of the Interior and Defense demonstrates how collaboration can achieve real-world successes for both military readiness and species conservation," said Shannon Estenoz, assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks. "Under this agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works collaboratively with our military partners to develop innovative conservation plans to conserve at-risk species and achieve recovery goals and objectives for listed species while also supporting national security."
The DoD manages nearly 27 million acres of lands, waters, and airspace that provide critical and realistic environments and conditions to develop and test new technologies and platforms, train service members, and maintain the highest levels of military readiness.
Link to DoD Recovery and Sustainment Partnership Initiative can be found here: https://lnkd.in/dq-rwQvt
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