CCPO and ICAR
Spring 2024 Virtual Seminar Series
MONDAY, 27 January 2025
3:30 p.m.
ZOOM Link
Meeting ID: 923 4414 9182; Passcode: 944916
The first CCPO and Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR) seminar for the Spring semester will be given by Ms. Mary Bennett from the Virginia Department of Forestry (flyer attached).Ms. Bennett’s seminar will provide an overview of the Virginia Security Corridor Sentential Landscape initiative, which is intended to support sustainable land use practices on private and public lands around military installations, including climate impacts and habitat management. The Tidewater Sentinel Landscape includes military installations in the Hampton Roads region.Ms. Bennett will discuss the goals and priorities of the Sentinel Landscape and engagement of stakeholders in this initiative.
Information about Ms. Bennett is available at:
Information about Virginia Sentinel Landscapes is available at:
Dr. Wie Yusuf will host Ms. Bennett’s virtual seminar.There will be an informal discussion with Ms. Bennett prior to the seminar starting at 3pm.
Please join via the seminar Zoom link above to talk with Ms. Bennett and attend the seminar.
Everyone is encouraged to attend the seminar.
Title: The Sentinel Landscape Partnership and the Virginia Security Corridor: An Overview
Abstract
The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership, founded in 2013, is a coalition of federal agencies, state and local governments, and non-governmental organizations that work with willing landowners and land managers to advance sustainable land use practices on private and public lands around military installations and ranges. The partnership’s mission is to strengthen military readiness, conserve natural resources, bolster agricultural and forestry economies, increase public access to outdoor recreation, and promote landscape resilience.
The Virginia Security Corridor Sentinel Landscapes (VSC) received designation from the Federal Coordinating Committee in 2023. The corridor is composed of the Tidewater and Potomac Sentinel Landscapes and encompasses over 2.9 million acres of land and water in Virginia’s “Golden Crescent,” an area of high military concentration, population growth, urban sprawl, and a growing technology industry and home to some of the Commonwealth’s most abundant resources. Partners established the Virginia Security Corridor to address three lines of effort: 1) prevent encroachment on military testing and training activities while supporting Virginia’s working lands, 2) build resilience against climate-induced hazards, and 3) conserve and restore key habitats to benefit water quality and protected species.
In this seminar, we will go over what it means to be a Sentinel Landscape, the goals and organization of the Virginia Security Corridor, examples of military collaboration with university partners, and ways to be involved. The Sentinel Landscape designation helps to facilitate dialogue, improve communication, promote data sharing, and help unify priorities across a diverse group of stakeholders and today we begin the conversation with 鶹ý.
Biography
Mary Bennett is the Tidewater Sentinel Landscape Coordinator for the Virginia Security Corridor. She has a passion for wildlife and a strong background in conservation and restoration throughout the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Most recently, she worked with the Elizabeth River Project as their Environmental Scientist, where she focused on water quality and urban restoration of tidal marshes. She holds a Master of Wildlife Science from Auburn University, where she spent many hours exploring longleaf pine stands while studying resource selection of the Southeastern pocket gopher.
Previous seminars are available on CCPO/ICAR Seminar