NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A new 2.4 million-acre area of land, Cannon Air Force Base, and Melrose Air Force Range have been designated by the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership. The Eastern New Mexico Sentinel Landscape is one of five new landscapes designated by the partnership this year.
The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is made up of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Defense (D0D), and the Department of the Interior (DOI). The designated landscapes are anchored by at least one high-value military installation or range and contain high-priority lands for USDA, DOD, and DOI.
“We appreciate the sentinel landscapes partnership and their belief in our ability to positively impact Eastern New Mexico,” said Jeffrey Davis, the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program (REPI) technical program manager with the 27th Special Operations Civil Engineering Squadron. “It starts with a spark of inspiration, a willingness to embrace change, and a belief that we can achieve our goals. Not even I imagined when I started this that we would be announcing a sentinel landscape designation today. This is generational support for Cannon AFB, MAFR, and eastern New Mexico.”
The Federal Coordinating Committee (FCC) works with state, local, and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, landowners, and land managers to develop and implement projects on the ground within the sentinel landscapes. The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership can then consider an individual landscape’s unique geography, economic drivers, cultural heritage, and natural resource challenges.
