Some might consider the combination of science and military land management to be as rare as the desert tortoise, a threatened species in the southwestern U.S. Two workshops co-sponsored by DRI and the U.S. Army Research Office strongly suggest that environmental scientists and the military have much more to learn from each other than most people think.
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View of Soda Dry Lake from the California State University Desert Studies Center in the Mojave National Preserve. |
Increased interaction among scientists, land managers and military personnel requires a venue enabling focused exchange of information and ideas. One such location is the California State University Desert Studies Center , a unique research and educational facility located in the Mojave National Preserve at Soda Springs in the California desert.
The Desert Studies Center —which was established initially as a health spa (see sidebar)—is a refuge from hectic schedules and constant interruptions. Situated on the edge of Soda Dry Lake , a desert playa, the center has been home to two important workshops led by DRI's Dr. Eric McDonald and Dr. Russ Harmon of the U.S. Army Research Office. The most recent of these workshops took place in September 2004 and was preceded by a similar gathering in 1998, which was spearheaded by Dr. Steve Wells (now president of DRI) and Harmon.
Both workshops convened a group of leading scientists, land managers and military personnel to explore how recent advances in arid lands research could directly benefit military land management in the Southwest.
Why is this important? For one, more than 70 percent of U.S. military training lands is located in the Southwest. Land managers at these installations are confronted by issues ranging from dust emissions to water quality impacts and disruption of plant and animal life, including the desert tortoise. As urban areas expand, installation activities can impact neighboring communities and vice versa.
Recent terrorist attacks and the U.S. military response have made environmental and ecological issues on military bases in arid lands even more critical. Demands on existing training areas are increasing, and military planners are considering base expansions. In addition, refinement of military capabilities in desert environments is taking on new dimensions as U.S. armed forces are operating in the deserts of the Middle East and central Asia .
The two workshops at the Desert Studies Center brought together scientists and land managers to address desert processes and landscape dynamics on military lands in arid regions. According to McDonald, an expert in desert soils, “The goal was to link recent scientific advances in Earth surface processes to the specific challenges of land management by the military.”
Using an innovative format that included formation of working groups comprising scientists and military land managers, the first of these two workshops led to several significant findings regarding the importance of soil hydrology, wind and human disturbance in arid ecosystems. In addition, the workshop contributed to significant growth in DRI research efforts supporting Department of Defense programs. Targeted areas for future study were identified including
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McDonald describing a soil sample to workshop participants at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif. (Photo courtesy of Jordan Henk) |
As a result of the first workshop, significant advances have been made in monitoring and restoring military lands, taking inventories of archaeological features, dating desert landforms, using remote sensing to assess terrain and characterizing soils and surface water.
In one specific example, McDonald and his colleagues at DRI were sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Office to investigate linkages among soils, hydrology and biology in arid and semiarid systems. The goal of this project was to develop more effective strategies for restoring vegetation on desert lands impacted by military training operations. Conducted at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin , Calif. and the Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona , this study found direct linkages between soil age and survival of native plants under different moisture conditions.
The success of the 1998 workshop led DRI and the Army Research Office to co-spo nsor another workshop conducted Sept. 18 through 22 in 2004. The goals of the second workshop were to measure progress since 1998 and further explore linkages between scientific research and military land management issues. Participants in the second workshop found that significant strides have been made since 1998, particularly in scientific integration and modeling. New issues emphasized by 2004 workshop participants are highlighted in the “Key Issues” sidebar.
A new focus for the 2004 workshop was technology transfer and scientific integration. A working group led by Valerie Morrill of the Yuma Proving Ground and Dr. Pamela Sydelko of Argonne National Laboratory addressed the challenge of delivering scientific knowledge to military decision-makers who are often faced with pressure to make clear-cut decisions quickly.
The group reached consensus on the following point: “It is clear . . . that in order for scientists to successfully transfer knowledge to the military, the scientific community needs to better understand the military context and installation decision-making processes that govern land management on U.S. bases.”
The group identified several specific strategies including the need to identify important audiences and how they access and use information. The group also looked at delivery of results to both the military and scientific communities using the Internet and knowledge-mapping approaches, and improving application of new simulation and visualization technologies for conveying scientific information to users.
One of the workshop participants was Dr. Chris King, a U.S. Army colonel and head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point . King stressed that the scientific community needs to “develop the ability to communicate clear-cut advice to military personnel in three minutes or risk losing their attention.”
Other working groups addressed soils and surface processes, landscape dynamics, ecology and remote sensing. Each group was charged with identifying major issues or scientific questions, key research activities, gaps, interdisciplinary strategies and potential results. The findings will be summarized in a workshop report that will be made available to all workshop participants and the larger community via the Internet.
Priorities for the future identified by the 2004 workshop participants include the following:
Perhaps the best measure of a successful workshop is the willingness of the participants to meet again at a future date. Participants in the 2004 workshop agreed to continue to meet regularly—every 3 to 4 years—to monitor advances, guide future research and better integrate scientific research with the needs of the military.
–Roger Kreidberg
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