Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center Wins Army's Top Conservation Award

Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center Wins Army's Top
Conservation Award

HARRISBURG, Pa.,May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Known as one of the busiest
training sites in the National Guard, the Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard
Training Center in Annville earned recognition today for being one of the top
environmental science programs in the military.

The latest honor for the 17-member Pennsylvania Army National Guard natural
resources conservation team is the 2007 Secretary of the Army Environmental
Award - the Army's highest honor in the field of environmental science.

The award, presented by Addison D. Davis IV, deputy assistant secretary of the
Army environmental, safety and occupational health, recognizes the overall
effort to protect and enhance wildlife habitat while providing a quality
military training environment.

"Our conservation team has proven once again they are among the best in the
nation at finding the balance between military training and conservation,"
said Maj. Gen. Jessica L. Wright, state adjutant general. "It is a
well-deserved award for this outstanding team of professionals."

More than 144,000 soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines, law enforcement and
civilians train at the Gap every year, and the installation is the primary
training location for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 28th Infantry
Division and several Pennsylvania Air National Guard units. It is the only
live-fire maneuver training facility in the state and the key training site
for the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team - the only reserve component Stryker
Brigade.

"Take the installation's heavy training load, add to it that we are a nation
at war, and there is the potential for negative environmental impacts," said
John Fronko, environmental program manager for the Pennsylvania Army National
Guard. "But by proactively implementing a comprehensive resource plan we can
effectively manage - and in many cases enhance - the environment on the
installation."

Fort Indiantown Gap is also home to the only viable colony of Regal Fritillary
butterflies east of the Mississippi River. Although not listed as an
endangered species, its total population is small enough that it is a federal
species of concern.

In addition to the Regal, the natural resources conservation team also manages
18 state-listed plant communities of concern and 34 state species of concern,
as well as more than a thousand other plant and animal species. The team has
worked to restore wetlands, create seven miles of stream buffer, plant 25
acres of warm-season grasses, execute one of the state's largest prescribed
burn programs and assists with managing the outdoor recreation program that
last year afforded 2,400 people access to the installation to hunt, fish and
gather wood.

CONTACT: Lt. Col. Chris Cleaver
717-861-8468

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

Lt. Col. Chris Cleaver of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans
Affairs, +1-717-861-8468