PTA Receives Department of Defense Funding

The Department of Defense (DOD)’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program hosted the annual REPI Challenge, a competition with funding to advance REPI project outcomes through large-scale innovation and conservation.
Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA) was selected as one of the 13 military installations across the  Department of Defense for the 2023 REPI Challenge.
The $2.6 million project is for the Nāpu‘u Natural Resource Protection: Mitigating Rare Plant Impacts Project at PTA. This includes $1.3 million in DOD funds and $1.3 million in partner contributions. Partnering organizations include PTA; University of Hawaiʻi, Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU): Nāpu‘u Natural Resource Management (NNRM) and Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP); Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests (AFTF); Three Mountain Alliance (TMA); and the U.S.D.A. Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry (USFS IPIF).
The project will improve habitat quality within the historic range of the species on state lands that currently occur solely or primarily at PTA through fencing and restoration actions. The protection and management of species at-risk (SAR) and endangered species on adjacent ecologically similar state lands will help stabilize and increase the state-wide population for multiple species thereby distributing the extinction risk to the species across non-federal managed lands.
Overall, Hawai’i is getting $10 million in DOD funds through the DOD REPI Program. This $10 million in federal funds coupled with $18.5 million in partner contributions, provides for a total of $28.5 million for REPI projects in Hawaiʻi.
Hawai’i Island and PTA will directly benefit from the following projects:
1. Increasing Resilience of Endangered Wildlife Found on Critical Landscapes (REPI Funds: $2.9M, Partner Contributions: $4.8M, Total: $7.7M
2. Nāpu‘u Natural Resource Protection: Mitigating Rare Plant Impacts (REPI Funds: $1.3M, Partner Contributions: $1.3M, Total: $2.6M
3. Detection and Management of High-Impact Aquatic and Terrestrial Invasive Species (REPI Funds: $3.1M, Partner Contributions: $5.6M, Total: $8.7M
In the last two years, PTA, in partnership with other agencies, worked on climate resilience and habitat preservation projects to mitigate increased wildfire risk. More frequent droughts due to climate change is a major and direct threat to the infrastructure of PTA, the road corridors used to access the area, critical habitat, as well as the safety of the military and civilian personnel that serve the area.
The 2023 REPI Challenge in Hawai’i has contributed $10 million in REPI Program funds, to be coupled with $18.5 million in partner contributions. These funds will help implement four projects focusing on shared challenges on O’ahu, Kaua’i, and Hawai’i. All four projects will strategically work towards improving coastal, forest, and watershed resilience, which benefits long-term sustainability and climate resilience for local communities and the DOD mission.
To learn more about this year’s Hawai’i REPI Challenge funding recipients, visit www.repi.mil/BufferProjects/REPI-Challenge.
On Wednesday, February 15, The REPI Office will be hosting a 2023 REPI Challenge Project Spotlight at 1:00 PM Eastern Time (EST). For detailed webinar descriptions and connection instructions, visit www.REPI.mil/Resources/Webinars/
 
Photo credit: PTA