Fort Irwin - Environment
Updated On: 4/26/2010 1:03:22 PM
THE NTC AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
Fort Irwin is located about 37 miles northeast of Barstow, California in the Mojave High Desert. The installation consists of more than 1,200 square miles of desert lands, hills and mountains. A wide variety of wildlife and vegetation communities are supported by distinct landscape features such as washes, gullies, rock outcroppings, cliffs and talus slopes, dunes, caves, springs and seeps. The installation is also home to two federally listed endangered species, the Desert Tortoise and Lane Mountain Milkvetch. The Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division is charged with ensuring the immediate protection and long-term sustainability of this alluring landscape. Sustainability, in simple terms, is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
This objective requires creating an enduring, mutually respectful balance between the needs of ecosystems and the economic, or "mission," needs of the people within them. Fort Irwin uses an environmental management system to assist in meeting our environmental goals of sustainability and protection of the environment.
Our EMS works to comply with ISO 14001:2004. The Environmental Division, Directorate of Public Works in Building 602 is the central point to contact for environmental related questions. A few of the key environmental programs you should be aware of are described below.
Natural Resources
Fort Irwin's Natural Resources Program manages more than 755,000 acres of the Mojave Desert. Through implementation of the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program and collaborative participation in the multi-agency California Desert Managers Group the Natural Resources Program is able to protect and enhance natural resources on the installation using adaptive watershed, landscape and ecosystem approaches. The Program, implemented through an Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, has shown exceptional leadership and innovation in protecting wildlife and conserving resources in the Mojave Desert.
Cultural Resources
Fort Irwin is proud of the rich cultural heritage found within its boundaries. Excavations and surveys have uncovered many periods of Mojave Desert history. Fort Irwin's Cultural Resources Program is engaged in systematic on-going archaeological surveys and inventories of cultural resources within installation boundaries. This Program, which identifies, evaluates, protects and manages eligible historic properties, is leading the way in cultural resource management and has made significant contributions to our understanding of life in the Mojave Desert. As a reminder, it is against Federal law and Army regulations to collect archaeological or paleontological material on federal lands. If you find something, please leave it in place and inform the proper authorities. They might even name the discovery after you!
read more...
