| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The area surrounding Joint Base San Antonio-Camp |
|
|
Bullis was designated as a sentinel landscape in 2022 by the United |
|
|
States Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, and |
|
|
Department of the Interior; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Sentinel landscapes are areas in which natural and |
|
|
working lands are well suited to protecting defense facilities from |
|
|
land use that is incompatible with the military's mission; once a |
|
|
location becomes a sentinel landscape, the DoD, USDA, and DOI work |
|
|
with local partners to equip private landowners with the resources |
|
|
necessary to carry out sustainable management practices; such |
|
|
activities as farming, ranching, and forestry deliver economic and |
|
|
ecological benefits while protecting defense facilities from |
|
|
development that could constrain important training and testing |
|
|
activities; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In recent years, rapid population growth emanating |
|
|
from San Antonio and the I-35 corridor has begun to affect |
|
|
invaluable military operations and maneuver areas; Joint Base San |
|
|
Antonio-Camp Bullis, located in northern Bexar County on the |
|
|
Edwards Aquifer Recharge and Contributing Zones, is the only field |
|
|
training range for DoD medical personnel and U.S. Air Force |
|
|
security forces personnel; moreover, it provides a vital field |
|
|
training range for the Texas National Guard; designation as a |
|
|
sentinel landscape makes more resources available to willing |
|
|
landowners to ensure that operations can continue unimpeded; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Formed to bolster the new sentinel landscape, the |
|
|
Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape Partnership is a locally led |
|
|
coalition of more than 50 organizations, among them governmental |
|
|
bodies, conservation groups, and the Texas A&M University Natural |
|
|
Resources Institute; the partnership works to promote thoughtful |
|
|
land stewardship, supporting private landowners with technical and |
|
|
financial resources for a variety of needs, including improving |
|
|
soil health and infiltration, managing hillside erosion and |
|
|
creek-bank stability, and increasing native plant diversity and |
|
|
abundance; its efforts will help mitigate drought, flood, and |
|
|
wildfire risks and reduce light pollution, which impairs nighttime |
|
|
training; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The training ranges at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp |
|
|
Bullis play a critical role in military preparedness, and the Camp |
|
|
Bullis Sentinel Landscape, supported by the Camp Bullis Sentinel |
|
|
Landscape Partnership, is safeguarding those ranges while also |
|
|
promoting agricultural and economic vitality and conserving |
|
|
natural resources; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby recognize the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape and |
|
|
commend the members of the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape |
|
|
Partnership for their commitment to its success; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared |
|
|
for the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape and the Camp Bullis Sentinel |
|
|
Landscape Partnership as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
|
|
House of Representatives. |