Cache landowner signs first easement to help safeguard post

By Mitch Meador

Lawton Constitution

A.J. Ryder of Cache has become the first private landowner to sign a conservation easement in what will be a buffer zone protecting Fort Sill's training mission.

Monday's signing ceremony was a meeting of the minds. Taking place on the Ryder Ranch west of Lawton within view of a Paladin howitzer just across the road, it united representatives of federal and state agencies, nonprofit organizations and private landowners.

The easement will protect more than 300 acres along the south boundary of Fort Sill's West Range from future development that could potentially impact military training. Ryder said the strip of land is one mile long from east to West and a half-mile wide from north to south.

Ryder, who was named the 2001 Cooperator of the Year by the Comanche County Conservation District, said he had no particular reason for being first to sign up.

Robert Gregory, executive director of Land Legacy, came to him four years ago and asked if he would be interested, and Ryder has been working with Gregory ever since.

"I think it's a great deal for the Army, and I was compensated well for it, and I want to leave it this way, with no houses or development on it," said Ryder, noting that the conservation easement will protect the land not just for a lifetime, but forever, and he can still retain his cattle business.

Ryder has a son who takes care of the ranch, another who takes care of his business and investments in Lawton, and a daughter living in San Diego.

The encroachment problem

According to the U.S. Army Sustainability Web site, "the United States originally established military installations in rural areas far from population centers. As the national population has grown, urban sprawl now abuts many installations. Noise, dust and smoke from weapons, vehicles and aircraft prompt citizen complaints about military training.

"Commanders frequently are required to choose between being good neighbors and meeting training and testing requirements. Noise concerns, the presence of cultural and historic resources, and the distribution of endangered species can result in training restrictions, affecting military readiness. This is often referred to as encroachment.

"In December 2002, Congress provided legislative authority to expand the private lands initiative. This allows military departments to partner with government or private organizations to establish buffer areas around active training and testing areas. The Army created the Army Compatible Use Buffers program to implement these authorities."

Oklahoma's state conservationist for Natural Resources Conservation Service, Darrel Dominick, saw this coming when he worked as a community planner for Fort Sill in the mid-1980s.

Around McNair Hall, he said, "we were talking about buffers and the need.... It was an issue that was on the table to be looked at and discussed with the communities."

Dominick left Lawton in 1987 to go back to work for the USDA, but he came for the signing, saying he looks forward to this partnership.

"Our mission is helping people help the land," he said.

Dominick made the observation that urban expansion takes up one million acres a year in this country.

Oklahoma loses about 30,000 to 35,000 acres a year to urban encroachment, according to Dr. James Home, president and CEO of the Kerr Center, which helped establish Land Legacy as the first land trust in Oklahoma.

That's like driving U.S. 62 from Lawton to Snyder and seeing houses go in a half-mile deep on either side, then get a half-mile deeper every year, Home said.

Home said he is grateful to Ryder for his foresight, and he predicted the Ryders have set in motion a process that will give the Fort Sill Private Lands Initiative momentum to protect more and more land.

Court Newkirk, of the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce, spoke on how important the ACUB process is. In an economy of almost $3 billion annually, $1.3 billion of that is associated with the Department of Defense and the work that goes on at. Fort Sill, Newkirk said.

The military is the engine that drives the train and should be priority No. 1 in Southwest Oklahoma, he added, noting that while some other parts of Oklahoma are lagging, the Lawton-Fort Sill area continues to average a 4 percent growth rate each year.

Participants not only made history but heard about Fort Sill's early history from Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment Miles Tolbert, who began 172 years ago with the first soldiers to discover Comanche villages and a supply of fresh water in this area.

Alex Beehier, assistant deputy undersecretary of the Department of Defense for environment, safety and occupational health, spoke on Fort Sill's increasing significance as a training and testing area due to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round.

Funding for a 'win-win'

DoD has provided $1 million to help fund more transactions like the one on Monday, and Beehier said he looks forward to additional future funding of the program, which he called a "win-win" for all concerned.

Beehier thanked Gregory and Steve Bonner of the National Parks Service for their work in bringing about the signing.

Maj. Gen. David C. Ralston, commanding general of Fort Sill, thanked friends in the community for coming to the celebration, which he said was the culmination of much planning and preparation.

Ralston noted that this acquisition is the first step in developing an ACUB for Fort Sill, and he thanked Ryder and other landowners for their willingness to preserve the land to provide realistic training for the nation's military forces.

He called the signing another example of the relationship Lawton-Fort Sill enjoys with Cache, Elgin and surrounding communities.