When an 11,000-acre piece of land on the Georgia coast went on the market for commercial development, an alliance formed to protect the property, the mission of nearby Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, Ga., the habitat of the state’s official reptile and the tidal land that is critical to stopping sea level rise.

“The property just had so much going for it,” said Russ Byrd, the installation’s community planning liaison officer.

DOD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration awarded $8 million to help acquire easements encumbering the property. The amount was matched by more than $32 million from such partners as the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Open Space Institute and private donors.

Learn more about this project Feb. 10-12 at Installation Innovation Forum and in “ADC Innovate,” published online Feb. 10.

Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ashley Berumen