The goal of the Fort Campbell Fish and Wildlife program is to professionally and scientifically manage fish and wildlife resources to support and enhance military training, provide for consumptive and non-consumptive use of natural resources, and to maintain compliance with applicable laws, policies, and regulations (ESA, MBTA, etc.). The program is roughly divided into 4 management groups, although the groups are interconnected into a cohesive unit. The 4 management groups are:
· Game/Habitat management
· Migratory Bird management
· Aquatic Ecology/Watershed management
· Endangered Species management
I. Game/Habitat Management
Fort Campbell biologists estimate population structure of many game species and manage their habitats on Fort Campbell using science-based survey protocols. These data are utilized to set season regulations and bag limits for game species. Game species on Fort Campbell include white-tailed deer, wild turkey, Northern bobwhite, waterfowl, and various of small game species including squirrel and rabbit. The Fish and Wildlife Program oversees management of game species, hunting regulations, and administer hunting processes such as the sign-in/sigh-out system and sale of permits through a web-based program called iSportsman (https://ftcampbell.isportsman.net/).
II. Migratory Bird Management
The Fort Campbell Fish and Wildlife program is the lead program on the installation in ensuring compliance with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA, 1918) and Executive Order 13186 (Responsibilities of Federal Agencies to Protect Migratory Birds). Fort Campbell sustains and enhances the military mission through proactive bird conservation and management strategies that support migratory bird populations. The installation’s Migratory Bird Management Strategy (MBMS) document ensures regulatory compliance with the MBTA, which is a federal law prohibiting unlawful killing or “take” of a migratory bird, nest, or egg. Monitoring of migratory birds on Fort Campbell is required to meet the directives of the MBTA. The installation is home to two Species at Risk (SAR), Bachman’s Sparrow (Aimophila aestivalis) and Henslow’s Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii). These two species utilize the native grassland habitat in the training areas on the base. Military readiness activities are exempt from MBTA as long as their actions do not severely affect these populations.
Unit Responsibilities
1. Migratory birds and their nests should not be killed, harassed, or disturbed (excluding game species in a hunting season).
2. Avoid mowing or disturbing grassland habitat in the rear area without coordinating or following Range Control and environmental guidance to avoid adverse effects on the nesting migratory SAR species.
3. Do not burn, mow, or otherwise disturb an entire area in one breeding season because disturbance reduces available habitat for one or more growing seasons.
III. Aquatic Ecology/Watershed Management
Fort Campbell waterways are divided into 3 main watersheds containing 9 sub-watersheds across both Kentucky and Tennessee. All stream monitoring efforts on the Installation adhere to Clean Water Act (CWA) guidelines to ensure base compliance with regulatory entities. Every state is required, by law, to compile a list (303(d)) of all streams in the state that are degraded and do not meet criteria for specific uses, i.e. warm water aquatic habitat, cold water aquatic habitat, recreation, and fish consumption. Fort Campbell streams currently do not meet state water quality standards due to erosional processes impacting streams with siltation and instream habitat removal/destruction. All streams, with the exception of Piney Fork and Fletchers Fork, are listed on the Kentucky and Tennessee 303 (d) lists of impaired streams.
IV. Wildlife Interactions
Whether in the rear area during rural training exercises or in the cantonment area during normal daily activities, human/wildlife interactions are inevitable. Never approach, harass or feed wildlife. Wild animals are unpredictable, and many carry diseases such as rabies and distemper. As a general rule, if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. When encountering wildlife in any area of the installation, please call the appropriate organization to handle wildlife problems. Residents of Fort Campbell cantonment area can call the DPW Pest Management Program at (270) 798-3110 to report wildlife problems including raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, opossums and squirrels. Deer and bat issues on the cantonment area, and all other wildlife questions and concerns should be relayed to the Fort Campbell Fish and Wildlife Program Manager at (270) 798-9854 or Endangered Species Program Manager at (270) 798-9855. Wildlife issues in the government house area should be referred to Campbell Crossings at (931) 431-3966
Stewardship
Stewardship with nature and wildlife is everyone’s responsibility. As the footprint of human activity continues to expand, native habitats are degraded, decreased and fragmented. Leaving military residue in the field after training exercises increases rodent populations near bivouac sites and also increases likelihood of encounters with poisonous snakes. It can also result in take of wildlife and damage to equipment.
At a minimum, a good steward:
• Continues to train as you fight
• Uses hardened stream crossings, does not drive in the streams, and does not wash vehicles in
streams
• Does not conduct off-road maneuvers if not necessary to reduce erosion
• Removes all military residue when leaving the field, and disposes of liquid waste through proper
channels
• Does not approach, harass or feed wildlife
• Does not remove trees greater than 3” diameter without coordinating with the Endangered
Species component of the Fish and Wildlife Program
• Avoids adverse effects on nesting habitat of migratory bird SAR species.
Questions and comments regarding wildlife and/or migratory bird species should be directed to the Fort Campbell Fish and Wildlife Program Manager at (270) 798-9854 or Endangered Species Program Manager at (270) 798-9855.