Encompassing nearly 12,000 acres, Naval Weapons Station Earle is a huge military installation located in the middle of Monmouth County and in Sandy Hook Bay with one of the largest piers in the world. Although the base is an important military site, the property remains largely undeveloped and serves as one of the largest wooded areas in the county, providing a significant wildlife habitat. The area will remain a military base for the foreseeable future and the U.S. Department of Defense is actively working to permanently protect land around the base through a program known as the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program.
Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF) and the County of Monmouth were awarded a total of $2,065,070 in funding through the REPI program from two allocations of funding in 2018 and 2019. The funding, to permanently protect land that buffers the military installation, must be spent within a five-year period and must be matched from other sources of funding.
The REPI program marks a significant opportunity for MCF, the County of Monmouth, and municipalities near the base to access a new funding source to protect a large land area around the installation. The map below shows eligible areas buffering the installation and where land is targeted for protection. MCF has identified several large land parcels for protection and is actively negotiating with interested landowners. Land is protected through a legal document that will restrict further development and uphold conservation values found on the property. Interested landowners must be willing to sign the land protection agreement.
The challenge remains to identify matching funds and obtain them in order to access the REPI-awarded $2,065,070.
MCF is working with Monmouth County and municipal partners, as well as private parties, to match the REPI funds and protect land through the REPI program. If MCF and other partners are successful in preserving land around the installation with the awarded and matching funds, this may become a new stream of funding accessible to preservation partners when additional DOD REPI funds are granted.
To learn more and donate, please contact Karen Keene, MCF Development Director, at kkeene@monmouthconservation.org.