Office of the Secretary

For Immediate Release: October 27, 2000

Contact: John Wright 202/208-6416

Feds Propose Plan for Fort Irwin Expansion

Agreement Allows for Realistic Army Training
While Protecting Desert Tortoise Habitat

The Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense today released proposed legislation that will enable the expansion of Fort Irwin National Training Center located in San Bernardino County, California, in full compliance with the environmental laws.

The proposed legislation would allow for the expansion of the training center to the west and east, away from the sensitive habitat of the desert tortoise. The proposal requires that additional lands cannot be used by the Army for training purposes until all requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act have been satisfied.

"I am pleased that Secretary Cohen and I have been able to offer this proposal," said Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. "This approach will enable the Army to get the land necessary to conduct realistic high-tech training for its military preparedness, while preserving and protecting lands that are critically important to the survival and recovery of the desert tortoise."

The proposal comes after two years of negotiations. The breakthrough was the Army's willingness to drop its request for lands in the Paradise Valley area southwest of the Fort. The proposal would expand the boundaries of Ft. Irwin to the east and west by 110,000 acres. The Army will also work with the Interior Department to allow training on 21,000 acres of land within the current boundaries of the Fort which is not now available for maneuvers.

The agreement anticipates the adoption of conservation measures to offset the possible adverse effects on the desert tortoise and other listed species, and identifies $75 million as a planning target for such measures.

There will be no environmental shortcuts in this agreement. The agreement calls for the filing of a public report to provide details on the proposed plan, followed by a preliminary review of the plan from an Endangered Species Act perspective. These activities will be followed by NEPA analysis and ESA Section 7 consultation. The Army has agreed that no new lands will be used for military training purposes until there has been full compliance with NEPA and ESA.

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Map Irwin



U.S. Department of the Interior