Environmental and Readiness Center News

NEWS

April 2007

CAMP EDWARDS' Natural Resource Program Awarded Top Honor for Environmental Program

They're busy guys, running an extensive land management program: guiding the seasonal field crew, catching and tagging the elusive Whip-poor-will, managing nearly 15,000 acres to ensure that the Massachusetts National Guard can provide its soldiers the best possible training while at the same time protecting the valuable natural resources found at Camp Edwards.

It's a year-round job, and on April 20, Camp Edwards' Natural Resource Program was awarded the Army's highest award for environmental stewardship. The Camp Edwards Training Site of the Massachusetts Army National Guard has received the Natural Resources Conservation - Large Installation award from the Army in recognition of managing a globally threatened habitat while supporting important training missions. The Natural Resource Program competed against all other large installations Army-wide—out competing installations from 54 states and territories.

Deputy Undersecretary of the Army for Environment, Health, and Occupational Safety, Addison Davis, presented the award to Michael Ciaranca, Ph.D, Camp Edwards' natural resource program manager, on behalf of the program.

Two Natural Resource Program staff members, Dr. Ciaranca and Natural Resource Planner, John Kelly, also received the Commander's Award for Civilian Service from the Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard, Brigadier General Oliver Mason.

Since 1992, the program has run one of the most extensive land management programs in Massachusetts, and its staff is responsible for maintaining and improving the land. Camp Edwards, on the Massachusetts Military Reservation, has nearly 15,000 acres, and is the largest piece of undeveloped land on Cape Cod. There are 11 natural community types, which are home to many varieties of plants, animals, and insects—37 of which are state-listed (state-listed species are those that have been listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern in Massachusetts). Camp Edwards is also known as the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve and sits atop a source of drinking water for Upper Cape Cod.

The program's full-time staff consists of only four people: the natural resource program manager, the natural resource planner, and two Geographic Information System professionals.

Program staff monitor the habitat, use management programs to enhance and protect it, and conduct special research to learn more about this critical area and the flora and fauna with in it. The staffs' many responsibilities include collecting information on the soil, vegetation and wildlife in the training area, conducting erosion control projects, improving and maintaining the land and conducting the largest prescribed burn program in the Northeast.

The Natural Resource Program is also undertaking research being done nowhere else. The Eastern Box Turtle telemetry study, completed in 2005, studied the home range, and micro and macro habitat of the turtles, which are thriving at Camp Edwards, but declining elsewhere. The program is in its third year of a five-year study assessing the habitat needs of the Whip-poor-will, a migratory bird that lives at Camp Edwards from May to September. A relatively large population of these birds is found at Camp Edwards while they are declining in much of the rest of their range through out North America.

The full-time staff is supplemented in the summer months with field crew members who collect data through vegetation and bird surveys, remove invasive plant species, and assist with the Whip-poor-will research project and prescribed burn program.

The northern portion of Camp Edwards contains the largest pitch pine/scrub oak barrens habitat north of New Jersey and is one of the few remaining stands in North America. These barrens are unique landscapes which serve as habitat for a number of rare plant and animal species. The southern portion of Camp Edwards has about 2,000 acres of grassland habitat that is home to a variety of birds, including four state-listed rare birds: the Upland Sandpiper (endangered) the Grasshopper Sparrow (special concern), the Vesper Sparrow (threatened), and the Northern Harrier (threatened). The program works to maintain and improve these habitats and conserve the rare species with in them.

Many species of butterflies and moths depend on the pitch pine/scrub oak habitat, with some of these requiring a thousand or more acres of scrub oak barrens to have enough larval food plants to support their populations.

Dr. Ciaranca, Mr. Kelly and the Natural Resource Program full-time and seasonal staff's diligent efforts on behalf of Camp Edwards' sensitive environment ensure that Massachusetts National Guard soldiers and airmen have healthy training lands now and in the future. Camp Edwards' successful Natural Resource Program has reclaimed and improved habitat; restored wetland areas, educated members of Camp Edwards and the public, and is now recognized on a national level.

News Archives:

26 Oct 05 SAC Meeting Range Upgrades & Tungsten-Nylon Investigation Update (Power Point)
Camp Edwards Small Arms Ranges Environmental Page (Tungsten-Nylon Ammunition Range Upgrades)
An Overview of the MMR
Annual State of the Reservation Report 2003 Overview
Upper Cape Water Supply Memorandum for Agreement
Training at Camp Edwards, 2003
Studies on Rare Species at Camp Edwards
Forest Resources Inventory
Prescribed Burns
Federal Funds Received for Restoration of Deep Bottom Pond
Erosion Control
Cultural Resources
Civilian Use Manual
MMR Groundwater Protection Policy
Prescribed Grassland Burn Scheduled at Camp Edwards
Prescribed burns on Camp Edwards (April 2005)
March 2005 Updates on the MMR
Camp Edwards Training Area Compliance Issues (Power Point Presentation)