An examination of the Sikes Act (Public Law 86-797) as amended and an evaluation of its implementation on military lands in southern California

The Sikes Act (Public Law (86-797 as amended) was enacted in 1960 as a means of providing fish and wildlife resource management on military reservations. Since its original passage, the Sikes Act has been amended and revised to become an important directive in the overall management of natural resources on military and other public lands.;Under the Department of Interior (DOI), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) began work with the Department of Defense (DOD) prior to the Sikes Act by providing technical assistance and development of recreational fishery programs at the request of installation commanders. The Sikes Act formalized the cooperative efforts of the two agencies.;In 1986, the Service entered into an agreement with the U.S. Navy to develop fish, wildlife, and habitat management plans for military bases in California in an effort to comply with objectives of the Sikes Act. Eleven of these plans were completed for San Diego area naval facilities, many of which offer unique and often irreplaceable plant and wildlife habitat and have in fact become "sanctuaries" for many endangered and threatened species. This project provided an opportunity to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of the Act in providing comprehensive natural resource management on military lands.;A review of the history of the Sikes Act revealed that the Act has been largely underfunded despite the authorization of appropriations to both DOD and DOI. Both agencies have, for the most part, not requested such appropriations despite evidence that natural resource programs on many military installations would benefit from funding support.;The lack of enforcement language within the Act also has presented problems relative to implementation of proposed natural resource programs. In addition, once a program is developed, there is no assurance that it will be continued after a change in base commanders.;The Sikes Act as written has the potential for promoting comprehensive natural resource management on military lands but could be more effective if funds were appropriated to both DOD and DOI to provide additional trained personnel on military facilities as well as technical assistance from the Service.