Natural History Wanderings

The LA Times reported on how the U.S. military is protecting wildlife. Many military bases were originally built in undeveloped rural areas. As cities have grown and population has spread towards the bases, the military lands are now protectors of wilderness and ranch lands. The Dept. of Defense has worked with conservation groups and local governments to buy “buffer lands” around bases and created 260,000 acres of new wildlife sanctuaries. Protected areas have been created for the California red-legged frog, the Pacific pocket mouse, the Chorro creek bog thistle and, in North Carolina, rare longleaf pine habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker.

Read more at Defense Department becomes a wildlife protector – latimes.com.