This program is designed to minimize intensive residential and commercial development within an area around Camp Ripley Training Center (CRTC). CRTC is a 53,000-acre regional training center hosting numerous ranges and state-of-the-art facilities to support the training requirements of military and civilian agencies. The Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program - formerly the Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) Program - purchases development rights to reduce land use conflicts with military operations.
These protected areas are also habitat corridors and complexes that are critical protection priorities for the State of Minnesota, MN National Guard (MNNG) and National Guard Bureau (NGB) and its mission to sustain military training of soldiers, the local economy, and the National Mississippi River Flyway.
Morrison SWCD works in conjunction with CRTC and BWSR to acquire conservation easements in Morrison, Crow Wing, and Cass Counties. Contact the Morrison Soil and Water Conservation District for more information.
Federal program: Keeping farms farms, and forests forests"
In 2001 the National Guard Bureau initiated a project to address the growing concern of development and encroachment around the perimeter of Camp Ripley. In 2004 the National Guard Bureau and the State of Minnesota, acting through the Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR), entered in to a Cooperative Agreement to implement an ACUB program for Camp Ripley. Funds from the Department of Defense (DOD). Federally funded easements are working lands easements where farming, hunting, and normal agricultural actives may continue.
Outdoor Heritage Fund program: Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape
The Outdoor Heritage Fund, as recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, funds habitat protection work in the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape surrounding CRTC. Easement acquisition in this area protects and buffers river, lake, and forest habitat corridors that are critical to the general public for fishing, hunting, and recreational opportunities.