NC State and Texas A&M Partner to Develop and Deliver Extension in Support of Conservation, Working Lands, and National Defense
The Regional Readiness Cooperative (RRC) is a partnership between North Carolina State University and Texas A&M University, delivering research, teaching, and extension in support of conservation, working lands, and national defense at the landscape scale. Incompatible land uses that threaten the military mission also threaten rural working forest and agriculture lands, the associated working land economies, and the environment. The Cooperative works collaboratively with federal, state, and local agencies and with non-governmental organizations to provide the applied science and policy analysis, education, and outreach which is necessary to cross geographic and jurisdictional boundaries to develop mutually beneficial solutions. Current work includes coordination and outreach support for implementing The Comprehensive Strategy for Prescribed Fire to Restore Longleaf Pine in the Southeast United States. The Strategy was developed through the work of the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability’s (SERPPAS) Prescribed Fire Work Group. Implementation of prescribed fire with longleaf pine yields multiple benefits such as reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, thereby protecting air quality, and improving wildlife habitat for game, at-risk, and endangered species, which benefit numerous agencies and organizations including, but not limited to, the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and state forestry and wildlife agencies. For more information, contact Dr. Laurie Gharis at lwilson@ncsu.edu.
