DEFENDING NATURE

A close look at one of the U.S. armed forces’ lesser-known, and more surprising, missions.

Who would guess that U.S. domestic military bases harbor more types of rare animals than national parks do? Making that claim, Collard points to relatively recent changes in general official attitudes toward the environmental effects of military tests and exercises, while highlighting efforts to protect and restore populations of three vulnerable creatures in particular—the red-cockaded woodpecker, the gopher tortoise, and the reticulated flatwoods salamander. The stakes are clear. All three are threatened or endangered, and two are actually designated keystone species in the quickly shrinking longleaf pine habitat that remains today in a few locales (thanks to misguided wildfire policies) outside Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle. The author mentions other bases and species but devotes most of his account to shadowing scientists working at Eglin AFB and discussing with them the specific challenges they face. Color photos aplenty offer views of various habitats, as well as animals and researchers in the field. Readers will be left marveling at the complexity of natural ecosystems within the base’s half-million acres. Those tempted to learn more will appreciate the helpful resource lists in the backmatter; those who think that the military’s only interest in nature is finding new ways to blow it up may come away with more nuanced views. Most scientists in the photographs present white.

Essential, and eye-opening, reading for serious students of wildlife conservation.