By Christine Du Bois, Member, Southeastern Pennsylvania Group, Delaware County; Editor, Bird Beat, the e-newsletter of Bird Town Pennsylvania
Did you know? The Sierra Club has a national program for veterans, military personnel, and their families, called “Military Outdoors". The program provides relaxed camaraderie and exercise within the beauty of nature. Participants can also become leaders of civilian Sierra Club outdoor excursions. The program enhances military personnel’s connection to the lands they swore to defend.
But that’s not all! On Pennsylvania’s military bases, conservation programs assist both our military AND struggling plant and animal species. In fact, in 2024 our state’s Kittatinny Ridge became a “Sentinel Landscape”—a designation acknowledging pre-existing teamwork in and around military bases among conservationists, farmers, government agencies, and the military and encouraging more such collaboration. Sentinel Landscapes promote sustainable land use so that 1) military personnel have wild spaces for training drills, 2) farmers have long-term land viability with government support, 3) rural economies are boosted, and 4) wild plants and animals are protected. The U.S. has only 19 sentinel landscapes. Pennsylvania’s is anchored by Fort Indiantown Gap (FTIG) in Lebanon County and the Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) in Franklin County.
LEAD handles tactical missiles, radar equipment, tactical vehicles, mobile cranes and kitchen trailers, and ammunition—maintaining, modifying, repairing, or demilitarizing them. But they are ALSO in charge, with wildlife biologists and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, of reintroducing the Northern Bobwhite to Pennsylvania. Northern Bobwhites used to sing in grasslands within every Pennsylvania county, but due to habitat loss they became extinct here by the late 1990s. They became scarcer throughout their entire natural range, too. In 2024-5, 174 of these quail were released in an area of LEAD whose grassland had been prepared for several years.
Many of the bobwhites were outfitted with tiny radio telemetry tags for tracking their movements. Matt Miller, Natural Resources Manager at LEAD, states that the bobwhites appear to be “doing very well.” He explains that their iconic whistle is commonly heard in their fields in summer—and grassland birds such as Dickcissel, Northern Harrier, Grasshopper Sparrow, Prairie Warbler, Eastern Meadowlark, and Bobolink have increased too.
Like LEAD, FTIG does important grassland conservation. FTIG is the National Guard’s busiest training site in the country, and every military branch except the Navy conducts drills there as well. In addition, law enforcers and troops from allied nations use the grounds for training. This creates a win-win situation for defense readiness and wildlife protection. Military personnel must practice on varied terrains, including rocky areas where the declining Allegheny Woodrat nests, and also fields with tall grasses that the striking Regal Fritillary Butterfly requires. This butterfly’s previously common eastern subspecies now only exists at FTIG’s extensive fields of Little Bluestem grass, where it lays its eggs.
The butterfly doesn’t just favor that grass; it also requires wild violets in order to reproduce, because its caterpillars eat nothing else. Violets, in turn, require the tall grasses to be crushed here and there so that empty spots are available for violets to receive sunlight. So, when military trainees step on the grasses from time to time, they help this rare butterfly survive.
Dr. Mark Swartz, biologist at FTIG, explains that a similar symbiosis occurs when his team conducts controlled burns to prevent other plants from taking over the Little Bluestem meadows. These fires are essential for maintaining the Regal Fritillary’s habitat. They also provide excellent opportunities for service men and women training to deal with fire in combat zones.
The biologists at FTIG also monitor 60 species of native bee; Monarch, hairstreak and elfin butterflies, Tricolored, Northern Long-eared, and Silver-haired bats, Spotted, Wood, and Box turtles, invasive Rusty Crayfish, and many other creatures.
Biologists and military personnel express great enthusiasm about these conservation efforts. Military and veteran families are also excited about the Sierra Club’s Military Outdoors. However, the Military Outdoors program lacks volunteers in Pennsylvania and hasn’t been active for a few years. Interested in helping revive that program? Please send an email to military.outdoors@sierraclub.org.
This blog was included as part of the November 2025 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!