May 12 2008
Known as one of the busiest training sites in the National Guard, the Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center in Annville earned recognition today for being one of the top environmental science programs in the military.
The latest honor for the 17-member Pennsylvania Army National Guard natural resources conservation team is the 2007 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award - the Army's highest honor in the field of environmental science.
The award, presented by Addison D. Davis IV, deputy assistant secretary of the Army environmental, safety and occupational health, recognizes the overall effort to protect and enhance wildlife habitat while providing a quality military training environment.
"Our conservation team has proven once again they are among the best in the nation at finding the balance between military training and conservation," said Maj. Gen. Jessica L. Wright, state adjutant general. "It is a well-deserved award for this outstanding team of professionals."
More than 144,000 soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines, law enforcement and civilians train at the Gap every year, and the installation is the primary training location for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 28th Infantry Division and several Pennsylvania Air National Guard units. It is the only live-fire maneuver training facility in the state and the key training site for the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team - the only reserve component Stryker Brigade.
"Take the installation's heavy training load, add to it that we are a nation at war, and there is the potential for negative environmental impacts," said John Fronko, environmental program manager for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. "But by proactively implementing a comprehensive resource plan we can effectively manage - and in many cases enhance - the environment on the installation."
Fort Indiantown Gap is also home to the only viable colony of Regal Fritillary butterflies east of the Mississippi River. Although not listed as an endangered species, its total population is small enough that it is a federal species of concern.
In addition to the Regal, the natural resources conservation team also manages 18 state-listed plant communities of concern and 34 state species of concern, as well as more than a thousand other plant and animal species. The team has worked to restore wetlands, create seven miles of stream buffer, plant 25 acres of warm-season grasses, execute one of the state's largest prescribed burn programs and assists with managing the outdoor recreation program that last year afforded 2,400 people access to the installation to hunt, fish and gather wood.