In the Southeastern United States, the population is growing and shifting rapidly, urban areas are sprawling, incompatible development is occurring in many places and encroaching on existing uses, and there is intensifying and accelerating competition for increasingly scarce resources such as water and air space. These forces have resulted in the loss of agricultural land, critical wildlife habitats, and working landscapes such as farms, forests, and fisheries. Furthermore, these forces also have caused increasing encroachment on military facilities, installations, systems, areas, and ranges supporting testing and training operations. The competition for scarce resources presents challenges to the sustainability of defense and natural and economic resources throughout the Southeast. Because the issue of long-term sustainability crosses geographic and organizational boundaries, it is essential for the affected communities and agencies across the Southeast to work collaboratively to protect our natural resources and balance and optimize the health and safety of the environment and communities, while promoting economic development and military readiness.
In 2005, state environmental and natural resource officials from across the southeast partnered with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to form the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS). The region covered by SERPPAS includes the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. The Partnership came together to promote better collaboration in making resource use decisions. SERPPAS works to prevent encroachment around military lands, encourage compatible resource-use decisions, and improve coordination among regions, states, communities and military services. Read More »
The mission of SERPPAS is to seize opportunities and solve problems in ways that provide mutual and multiple benefits to the partners, sustain the individual and collective mission of partner organizations, and secure the future for all the partners, the region, and the nation. This mission will be accomplished through identifying opportunities for mutual gain among all partner groups, effectively addressing differences among the partners, and focusing on identifying solutions to complex problems. Read More »
If you would like to learn more about SERPPAS, please contact the Coordinator: Addie Thornton at firstname.lastname@example.org.