"We will be working to identify where the issues lie and then deciding what the next steps are to benefit our community," said Mary Huff, program coordinator for the South Sound Military & Communities Partnership (SSMCP).

The SSMCP, which received more than $400,000 from the DoD's Office of Economic Adjustment to perform a joint land use study (JLUS), is made up of members from local city governments, chambers of commerce, federal agencies, health care organizations, nonprofits, school districts and representatives from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The JLUS looks at issues from noise to environmental planning and is intended to create a long-term planning partnership that balances the protection of the health, safety, quality of life, and economic prosperity of local communities while ensuring the continuation of military missions.

The last JLUS occurred over two decades ago and since then there has significant growth on the base and in the area, thus a new study was commissioned. The current study area consists of portions of Thurston and Pierce Counties, specifically the cities of Lakewood, Tacoma, University Place, Roy, Yelm, Lacey, DuPont, Steilacoom, the Nisqually Indian Tribe Reservation, JBLM and Camp Murray.

Recently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared that the Mazama pocket gopher was now protected under the Endangered Species Act. According to Huff, this is a core concern to the cities of Yelm, Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater as part of the JLUS, but all four subspecies also have habitats that lie within the gates of JBLM. However, while JBLM is exempt from critical habitat preservation, the base must come up with a proposal, which must be approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, to protect the species under their own volition and by their own measures.

April 15, the JLUS will have a kick-off event on base, during which Col. Chuck Hodges, garrison commander will address local community and military leaders at the American Lake Conference Center. The day also included a tour of the installation so that the civilian attendees could see major weapons systems and vehicles, view the Artillery Impact Area that is actually home to the endangered gopher, learn about the base's access control points and discuss areas along the I-5 corridor where JBLM may have to give up land to accommodate infrastructure expansion and improvements.

"The recommendations that come out of the JLUS are not binding, but the partners have agreed to come up with solutions that are safe and can be worked toward," Huff said.

The meeting also marked the first in-person meeting between the consultant team, the SSMCP staff and JBLM leadership and key staff, like the Department of Public Works and Public Affairs, which will help the team identify top concerns from the surrounding communities so that an outreach plan can be formulated.

"Of course the base wants to be a good neighbor, but the reality is that they have a mission and trainings that must continue," explained Huff. "This is a truly collaborative effort to find solutions that everyone can support. We want to understand the mission JBLM is being asked to enforce and then ask the communities to willingly support and accept."

Moving forward, there will be continuing stakeholder meetings and an opportunity for community feedback and involvement during public meetings, though dates are yet to be announced. A website (www.jblm-jlus.com) will be unveiled in mid-May in order to serve as an information platform for all parties involved. The projected completion date for the study is September 2015.