WESTGATE@CRANE Technology Park, (Odon) Indiana — The White River Military Coordination Alliance will host in-person and online seminars Jan. 22 and 23 to help local landowners identify voluntary conservation incentive programs through a new GIS-based Conservation Incentive Toolkit.
The workshops will include a hands-on demonstration of the Alliance’s mapping tool that identifies state, local and regional conservation incentive programs for landowners in the communities that neighbor NSA Crane and Lake Glendora.
Trainings occur Jan. 22 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Greene County Community Event Center and Jan. 23 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Sullivan Civic Center. For those unable to attend, information will be presented via webinar Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m. There is no cost for the training.
About Conservation Incentive Programs
The military’s ability to conduct realistic weapons system testing is vital to preparing warfighters and their equipment for real-world combat. However, these activities can be incompatible with civilian land uses.
Conservation Incentive programs protect open and natural spaces that buffer installations to avoid land use conflicts by preserving agricultural lands and habitat for wildlife. They also help sustain installation capabilities and avoid more expensive alternatives.
Through Conservation Incentive programs, the military leverages funds with outside organizations also interested in preserving land. The voluntary easements created through this cost-sharing approach allow the landowner to maintain ownership of the land while preserving compatible land uses.
These protected lands are not owned by the military or used for military training or testing. For the military, they serve as compatible neighboring lands and help:
- Protect small arms and ordnance testing and demilitarization missions that produce significant amounts of noise and vibration
- Prevent workarounds that would reduce test capacity
- Allow for future mission growth to increase jobs
For the community, Conservation Incentive programs:
- Protect agricultural lands, natural and forest lands
- Preserve habitats for threatened, endangered and at-risk species
- Protect water quality and supply
Landowners can use the Conservation Incentive Toolkit to find potential conservation programs for their land parcels and contact the Alliance and its partners directly with questions and concerns.
Learn More on the Alliance Community Resource Website
The Alliance’s new public information website exists to establish effective and timely means of communication between the community and NSA Crane. On the website, community members can find clear points of contact at Crane for questions and concerns and sign up to receive notifications and news about Crane from the Alliance.
About the White River Military Coordination Alliance
The Alliance is a community organization that was formed in 2018 to promote positive development and growth in the communities that surround Naval Support Activity Crane and Lake Glendora Test Facility (Daviess, Greene, Lawrence, Martin and Sullivan counties) by facilitating two-way communication between the communities, counties, state agencies, and NSA Crane. The focus of our 24-member alliance is to create opportunities for economic prosperity and land conservation in the region, safeguard Crane’s military mission, and protect community health and safety. We would encourage the community to take our survey about Crane at WRMCAlliance.com. Follow the Alliance on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.