A Successful INRMP Process: Milan Army Ammunition Plant
Milan Army Ammunition Plant (MLAAP) is situated in the central
part of western Tennessee in Gibson and Carroll Counties. Established
in 1940-1941 from land purchased from 387 individual
landowners, the installation today occupies some 22,357
acres. MLAAP is a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) military industrial
installation under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command.
An Army commanding officer is typically the only active duty individual
assigned to MLAAP. American Ordnance Systems, llc, the current contractor, with
a staff of approximately 560 employees, operates the installation under the oversight
of the commanding officer and an 18-member civil service staff. Most of
MLAAP's boundary neighbors are private citizens in a rural setting. The city of
Milan and the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station share the
northwestern MLAAP boundary, and the Tennessee National Guard shares approximately
70 percent of the eastern boundary and a small portion of the northern,
southern, and western boundaries. Safety and quantity distance requirements
are the only current land uses that affect neighbors' land use. Groundwater contamination
affects neighbors on the western and northwestern boundaries (water
use only).
Scope of Conservation Project
MLAAP is in the Gulf Coastal Plain Physiographic Province in Western Tennessee.
Upland hardwood forest, interspersed with agricultural crop and pasture fields,
occupy 97 percent of land not utilized for industrial facilities. Bottomland hardwood
forest and wetlands occupy the remaining three percent. One historic property
and approximately 1,500 acres of other sites judged potentially eligible for
nomination to the National Register of Historic Places have significant impact on
land and forest management programs. MLAAP's natural resources program includes
extensive agricultural outleases, commercial forestry operations, and outdoor
recreation, including hunting and fishing programs. Although no federally
listed threatened or endangered species occur at MLAAP, the conservation of biological
diversity is an important component of the overall natural resources management
program.
INRMP History
In the mid 1990s MLAAP began exploring an ecosystem-based approach to its natural
resources program. As part of that process, it established its first Integrated
Planning Team (IPT), as described below, for the preparation of its Integrated Natural
Resources Management Plan (INRMP). It completed its first comprehensive
INRMP conforming to the requirements of the Sikes Act Improvement Act (1997)
in 1998.
The current INRMP was reviewed and updated in 2004 using an expanded Integrated
Planning Team. It is now undergoing its next five-year review and revision.
The INRMP process developed at MLAAP has proven especially effective in
addressing the wide range of natural resources issues and ensuring the maximum
support for the installation's military mission.
The Integrated Planning Team Process
Responsible stewardship requires a proactive management philosophy that recognizes
the underlying complexities of functioning ecosystems. Formation of an
Integrated Planning Team from a broad spectrum of natural resources and professional
fields has been critical for assembling the necessary knowledge base required
for preparation of the INRMP.
The flow chart (Figure 1) illustrates the complex, dynamic process utilized
by the team in plan preparation and serves as the planning model for future
management of MLAAP's natural resources program. Processes for monitoring and
deriving research needs for future management are presented in the left column.
This dynamic process (action-monitor-action-monitor) allows continuous refinement
of ecosystem management strategies and permits the establishment of longterm
databases critical for successful management programs.
Research has become an integral component for decision making in relation
to the management of natural resources at MLAAP. Work initiated and conducted
during 1995–98 provided the first structured research efforts and contributed
valuable information concerning the status and distribution of selected biota (e.g.,
breeding birds, nongame mammals, amphibians and reptiles, fish, invertebrates,
and plants). Additionally, this work raised questions that denoted needs for future
research and, thus, provided the bases for research priorities planned during
1998-2003. From the start, an understanding of natural resources and detecting
changes in natural resources was viewed by the planning team as a two-stage
process (assessment of the status of resources, periodic monitoring) requiring
long-term information.
In 1998–2003, research focused on filling gaps in the understanding of selected
species (especially, mammals and birds) at MLAAP, developing standardized
techniques for assessing biota, adding new and supplemental data to be used in
monitoring species, and initiating monitoring programs. Studies relating to bird
point counts (bird data gathered from a fixed point), monitoring selected groups
of mammals, surveys and management assessment of white-tailed deer, and forest
inventory were conducted. The goal was to put the status and distribution of
the biota at MLAAP on a sound bases and initiate long-term monitoring programs
to provide data to be used in future management planning.
The proposed (2004–08) Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan
draws from a well- established database representing the state of natural resources
at MLAAP. It presents a means of continuing to build to this database in a manner
that yields a strong source of information from which to construct management
plans. A major part of the proposed plan focuses on long-term monitoring.
Proposed projects will provide new and important information on the status and
distribution of amphibians, reptiles, fish, invertebrates, and plants as well as establish
protocols for monitoring these taxa. Additionally, the plan provides for
establishing long-term databases (ten years) for mammals and birds at MLAAP
through continued monitoring of these animals. It calls for continued assessment
of white-tailed deer, an important component of the installation's fauna as well
as the principal game species hunted at MLAAP.), which should result in a strong
understanding of population dynamics of the species on the site. Overall, the plan
fosters long-term sustainable and environmentally sound management of the natural
resources on MLAAP.
