The assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics, together with the Air Force civil engineer, has selected Air Force Space Command to be the demonstration command for the Air Force's Enterprise-Wide Encroachment Management Initiative.

Two Air Force Space Command installations, Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., and Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., including Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, will be the initial beneficiaries of this effort to identify, communicate, manage and take action regarding encroachment issues ranging in scope from local to federal that impact the installations' missions.

Encroachment is defined as any actions that impair or are likely to impair the current or future operational capability of an installation complex, or have or are likely to have a significant adverse effect on nearby communities.

Encroachment management is key to the future of Air Force long-range planning and basing. The lessons learned and successes gained from this Demonstration Program will then serve as an encroachment management prototype Air Force wide.

Environmental consulting firm Marstel-Day, LLC, is assisting Air Force officials and those at the two demonstration installations in this effort. The firm's specialists are regarded for their expertise in helping leaders at military installations nationwide solve complex issues regarding sustainability, land use, real property, conservation and the environment.

The encroachment management plan, referred to by the Air Force as an Installation Complex Encroachment Management Action Plan, or ICEMAP, analyzes and factors crucial encroachment data as the underpinning for recommendations to sustain compatible mission and community growth through targeted action steps. Its goal is to arrive at solutions beneficial to all stakeholders.

The Buckley and Patrick ICEMAPs and accompanying (internal) real estate acquisition and (external) communication and outreach strategies likely will study the following areas: airborne noise, air and land space restrictions, air quality, clean water, cultural resources, endangered species habitat, frequency encroachment, maritime sustainability, urban growth, wetlands, renewable energy development, unexploded ordnance, internal encroachment and climate change.

"Two-way communication between the military and our communities is essential to successful and compatible land use and ensuring the long-term health of our military installations," said Lynne Neuman, command environmental planner at Air Force Space Command headquarters.

Air Force Space Command was selected for several reasons, officials said. To date, Air Force Space Command is the only command to establish major command-level and installation-level encroachment prevention committees. The command leads the Air Force in electromagnetic encroachment planning.

The Air Force has no encroachment guide to prevent incompatible land uses and development that threatens operations and training. The selection also fulfills a 2007 commitment to then Senator Ken Salazar to pilot the Air Force's emerging encroachment strategy with Space Command at a base in Colorado.

Air Force Space Command officials selected Buckley AFB and Patrick AFB to represent a full range of bases it owns. Buckley AFB has a smaller satellite mission while Patrick AFB and Cape Canaveral AFS is a large complex.

The ICEMAPs for Buckley AFB and Patrick AFB will be complete in September 2010.