Air Force, USFS partnerships help balance mission, environmental requirements at Westover

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Schneider
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The Air Force and U.S. Forest Service joined forces last week to successfully burn 115 acres of grassland within base property at Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts.

Prescribed, or controlled, burns are part of Westover's natural resource management plan, and are used at Air Force installations across the country to maintain healthy ecosystems and prevent catastrophic damage that can occur when grass and wood fuels build up due to fire suppression.

At Westover, the burns help balance safe operation of the installation's C-5 aircraft with protection of some of the rare species that inhabit the grasslands, including upland sandpipers.

"Westover ARB is the largest grassland in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has several rare species, including the upland sandpiper, that use the grassland surrounding the runway," said Stephen Najjar, natural resources planner for the 23rd Space Operations Squadron at New Boston Air Force Station,.

The fires help the installation meet Air Force bird/wildlife aircraft strike hazard, or BASH, grass-height standards by helping reduce invasive plant species and promote the growth of native warm season grasses, said John B. Moriarty, chief of environmental engineering for the 439th Mission Support Group at Westover.

"The overall goal is to meet USAF grass-height standards through a diverse management approach and to be able to delay spring mowing into July to give the upland sandpiper chicks time to fledge," Najjar said.

The diverse team who managed the burn included members of the USFS Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont; the USFS White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire; the USFS Northern Research Station Forestry Sciences Laboratory, New Hampshire; the Air Force Wildland Fire Center, a division of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; the 23rd Space Operations Squadron at New Boston Air Force Station, New Hampshire; and the 439th Airlift Wing  Fire Department at Westover.

"The Air Force has a very strong partnership with the USFS nationally," Najjar said. "The USFS has provided mentoring and development opportunities to Air Force personnel and has been instrumental in supporting natural resources projects at Westover and New Boston by developing burn plans and providing implementation resources for execution."

Partnerships such as these serve as the cornerstone of the Air Force's wildland fire management strategy, said James Furman, USFS liaison for the AFWFC, which provides guidance, funding and support for Air Force wildland fire management.

"The AFWFC fully supports these relationships - this kind of 'cohesive strategy' represents the model for how we see the AFWFC assisting with wildland fire management across the Air Force," Furman said. "Steve (Najjar) has built a model working relationship over the years with the USFS at these locations, facilitating USFS natural resource management assistance on Air Force lands in the region."