The Wolf at the Door: Competing Land Use Values on Mllitaq Installations

• Author: Maj Sharon E. Rile
• Pages: 02

Why, land is the only thing in the aoddworth worhmg fos worth fightmg for. worth dymg foq because Its the only thing that l a s f ~ . ~

--Gerald OHara. Gone with the Wind

I. Introduction

We live in a world where wildlife advocates want to put endangered wolves, already extinct in the wild, onto military bombing ranges. If this sounds like some Orwellian view af the future or the sinister design af someone with a 'Nuke the whales" bumper sticker, think again. This project already has been implemented and B see. ond has been proposed and endorsed by a variety of environmental and wlldlife conservation orgamzatmns.

Red wolves, extinct in the wild and living only in captivity, were released onto the Aw Force's Dare County Bombing Range in Xorth Carolina The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed the remtraduction of the Mexican Wolf, which is extinct in the wild and living only in captivity, onto the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico Enwronmental groups support both programs.

A "boot-camp" to train black-footed ferrets is opeiating on the contaminated Pueblo Army Depot in Colorado Redackaded wood-peckers will be "harvested" from private land in Louisiana and relo-cated to Fort Polk to allow development of the prkate land Are we turning military installations into zoos? Are we jeopardizing the lives of these endangered animals, already struggling far survival? Haw did such a world come into being and what are the implications for the mditaly?

* I want ra than hlap Dsiid N Diner far his n e w ending pafienee, enthusi. asm, and %ssiitanre. far canvineing me to ~ n f e a thesis, snd for malung the process

m much fun I s k wanr to thank Maim R m hers at the a m y Environmental LawDivision for sharing his files snd ides8

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The United States was once considered a land of limitiess

T ~ S O U T C ~ E

Because we had more land than people, our land use poll. CEE encouraged the development and exploitation of resources. Over time. the ratio of land to people decreased, and we began to compete mired resource^ remurces became more precious, a

n developed between land use and land preservation In some placea the tension 1s so high that violence results. Federal land managers now wear bullet.proof vests and travel in pairs.

Today. the r'mted States faces Intense campetltion far dis. parate. and often inconsistent, land.use and resource allocation vd- UBE. Although the United States owns hundreds of mdlions of acres

of land, this land is controlled by B variety of federal agencies, and there 1s no overarching federal land-use policy. Instead. federal land

1s managed in a piecemeal manner. with each agency artempting to support an ever mereasmg variety of goals. Now, almost desperate federal land use managers are asking the military to share some of its otherwise protected property to ease this tension As the current federal land use crisis can be expected to worsen rather than abate, these requests can be expected to continue and increase

As a trustee of federal lands the military alasys has been

involved in wildlife management. Now. however, military installa. tiom are being asked to support u,ildhfe conservation values that exceed mere resource trustee responsibilities at a time when tram mg and weapons testing require more and more land. The proposed reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf onto the JVhite Sands Missile Range exemplifies the struggle of competing 1and.use values for finite resmrces.

Why E the m>litaq being asked to fill this new role7 Is the support of nonmilitary objectires endangering military operations, and. If so. u,hat should be done to pmtect important national security opera-tmm7 The Mexican Wolf is a symbol of this histov. competition, and tenlion The White Sands Missile Range can accommodate the Rlemcan Wolf, just as the military can cantnbute to the ongoing effort to meet all of the competing national 1and.use objectives, but the mill-taq must not become a v x t m of its own goad mtentmns. Instead, the military should seek protective legislation that will enable it to be good a neighbor without endangering Its p n m q mmsmn.

This article demonstrates how we got where we are, evaluates the current crisis in federal land management, and proposes apecrfic legislation to protect military Interests and to advance federal land use planmng

First. I propose amending the Endangered Species Act to further protecr private parties and military installatmns that accept

new populations of endangered species onto their property. This amendment would follow the Clinton Admmmstration's current "Safe Harbor" policy, which ensures that requirements far the conserra. tion of endangered species do not become more severe after a man. agement agreement is reached. Such an amendment would pmtect militaly installations that cooperate in the reintroduction of species in the event that the reintroduced animals become essential to the overall sunwal of the species

Second, 1 propose the appointment of a Department of Defense (DOE

'Wildlife Czar" to oversee and coordinate all wildlife conser-vation programs on military property. The Wildlife Czar would have a larger perspective on existing and proposed wildlife comervation mtiatives and would replace our current piecemeal approach This perspective at the DOD level would afford stranger bargaining power and would ensure that militaly interests are protected an a national level.

Third, I propose the creation of a National Trustee Board (NTB) to develop and to implement a federal land management strategy The DOD Wildlife Czar would sit on the NTB to ensure that the DODhas a voice in shaping federal land management policy,

11. From Sea to Shining Sea

It LS impossible to comprehend contemparaq public land controversies fully wtthout an understanding of publ~c lend lee histori.2

1. United States Land Aequisitton

   The newly formed United States comprised thirteen states an the eastern side of the continent In 1803, the United States pur. chased 626,000 square miles from France for less than three cents per acre.4 Known as the "Louisiana Purchase," the "greatest land bargain in United States histoly" suddenly doubled the size of the country6 The Rocky Mauntams served as the western border of the

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   lEnc>clopedis Bnlanmca. 19961id J.ouieinna PuichaaelId. Ownership of the ferritnly bounced back and fanh thmuEh the late 1:008

   French rertlemenrb eefabhshed m the 17th and 16th e e n i u ~ ~ e ~

   ~mtiall) gs\e France control. but France transierred cantral of the area west ai the >lmeiae~ppi river to Spain in 1762 and the remainder Io Great Britain ~n 1762 With the rim of Sapolean

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   purchase, and the area that would became the states of Loumana, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota. South Dakota, Sebraska, and Oklahoma was added The purchase also included most of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming. Montana, and Minnesota.' Suddenly, the United States included a predominately undeveloped western expanse which "turned out to contain rich mineral TESOUIC~S. productive soil, valuable grazing land, forests. and wldhfe resources of inestimable YBIu~.''~

   In 1645, the legacy of the Louisiana Purchase produced two events that didified a national vision First. in March 1845. Mexico severed relations with the L'mted state^.^ Then in July 1845, John OSulhvan, B layyer and journalist, coined the phrase ''manifest deb- He adwcated the "fulfillment of our mamfeer destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions "" Polrticians quickly adopt. ed the phrase in debating the annexation of Texas and Oregon and the prospect of war with hlexica.12 Congress issued a formal declaration of war against Mexico in 1846. After two years of fighting, ~n1648, the United States annexed the area now known as New Mexico, Utah, Arizona Kevada, California. Texas, and western Colorado l3 The United States obtained the Oregon TerritoT, containing Washingron. Oregon, Idaho, and the weatern portions of Montana and LVyoming through the Oregon Compromise of 1846 l4These m a p acqumtians, with several smaller additions, expanded United States domain BC~OSEthe width of the continent

   Bonaparte. Spam returned the land in 1600. mvmg France ~ontrol of Xerr Oileanb

   HE motived are unclesi but the declaim 16 attributed to the prospect ai war between France and Great Britain and the financial ~onstm~ntsof Nspoleon's mgo.ng U B ~ S James Monroe helped negotiate the purchase and an ag~eemeni UBI mmed on May 2. 1603 Hareier Jeffersan'r avrhoriti La purchare the property vas not clear Canmess uas unsware of the planned purihaae and Jefferson feared B ionitifuiionsl amendment might be necessan The Senate, haue>er. ratified the treaty and the purchase proceeded

2. The United States as a Land Owner

   The United States gained possession of land through a variety of purchases and annexations. What was the legal datu6 of that land? Article I, Section 8, Clause 17, of the United States Constitution-known as the Enclave Clause-gave Congress exclu-sive jurisdiction over federal enclaves.'s Article N,

   Section 3, Clause 1, provided for the addition of new state8.16 Finally, Article IV,Section 3, Clause 2, known as the Property Clause, provides that '"Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territaly OF other Pioperty belonging to the United States."17

   Congress attended the business of deciding what portion of the new territories the United States owned and what was owned by individuals. This process was long and laborious, but the United States government owned most of what it had purchased. In 1823, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Johnson v. McIntosh that "the Indian inhabitants are to be considered merely 8s...