Operation Wildlife is a collaboration between Colorado State University’s Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands and Joint Base Lewis-McChord Department of Public Works Environmental Division, in Washington State. It brings injured and retiring active military personnel together with college students and professional biologists to conserve endangered species, restore rare habitats, and conduct ecological research. The program is the first of its kind in the world, and is finding new ways of preserving biodiversity, providing green job training for America’s veterans and students, bringing diverse groups together over a shared interest in conservation, and training the next generation of environmental leaders. Founded in 2014, Operation Wildlife has also grown to become the world’s largest military environmental volunteer program, producing over 15,000 annual volunteer hours.
“When I get settled on my property in Tennessee, I’m planning to make some butterfly habitat on my hillside like that spot we’ve been working on.” – SSG Derrick H., Infantryman, Drill Instructor & Counter Intelligence Agent (Iraq, Afghanistan)
“I came in really nervous, not knowing what I signed up for. It was my first out-of-the-classroom experience, but I found a support system that I never would have thought possible and was soon working with habitats and species I could never have found elsewhere. Everyone I worked with taught me with patience and allowed me to grow confidence in myself through the work I was doing.” – Katline B., University of Puget Sound, Junior, Environmental Policy and Decision Making
Accomplishments and Highlights
GARRY OAK WOODLANDS
- 4200 oaks planted
- 220 oak trees thinned
- 40,000 oak savannah forbs planted
- 23 acres invasive understory mowed
- 19 oak restoration sites annually maintained
PUGET LOWLAND PRAIRIES
- 110,000 plugs planted
- 265 days of seeding
- 764 miles of invasive plant transects
- 1,206 hours of targeted weed treatment
ECOLOGICAL FIRE
- 786 certified firefighter days
- 3,500 hours prepping fire units for burns
WETLANDS
- 242 days of amphibian searches
- 24 Oregon spotted frog breeding sites created
- 120 captively-reared frogs released
- 2500 bullfrog egg masses removed
- 1400 willow stakes planted
BIRD BOXES
- 264 purple martin boxes installed
- 125 Bluebird boxes maintained and monitored
- 34 Wood duck boxes installed and maintained
- 12 Saw-whet owl boxes built and installed
OUTREACH PROJECTS
- Prairie plant program at Washington Corrections Center
- Ohop Creek restoration with Nisqually Tribe members
- Removed beaver dams to ensure summer creek flow to Camp Murray
- Restored wetland in Puyallup watershed with WSU Stormwater Center
RESEARCH SUPPORT
- Seed predation mapping
- Bluebird colonization rates
- Reptile cover boards
- Mycorrhizal inoculation of planted oaks
PARTICIPANT STATISTICS (through 2019)
- 7,370 volunteer days
- 16,248 hours in 2019 alone
- 109 Service members & 152 students
- $1,499,352 total labor equivalence (2019 dollars)
MILITARY INTERNS
- 93 Army, 15 Air Force, 1 Navy participants
- 34 went on to college (19 in Environmental fields)
- 20+ have environmental jobs, 4 in veterans therapy
- Est. overall transition success above 90%
“In this amazing internship I spent the last four months in the military counting frogs rather than cadence, and I developed a basic understanding of natural resource management in a wide variety of topics ranging from preserving endangered species to managing forests. Upon completion of my studies I look forward to pursuing a career in natural resource management.” – SGT Hunter W., University of Washington, Sophomore, Environmental Science and Resource Management