SigMT

Malmstrom AFB consists of 3,278 acres. However, their footprint in the state is much larger than just the Great Falls base. Malmstrom maintains 15 Missile Alert Facilities (MAFs) and 150 Minuteman Launch Facilities (LFs) spanning over 23,500 square miles with over 200 miles between the two most distant sites. Between the base, sites, and various real estate agreements, they have nearly 25,000 acres, making the job of tending lands and waterways monumental. e 341st Civil Engineer Squadron (CES) Natural Resources Team meets the challenge of maintaining the land with a group of nine people plus three contractors. is team goes beyond your neighbor and his lawnmower, honing skills in biology, physical science, and civil and environmental engineering to keep Montana majestic. ey are so good at their job that in 2021 the Air Force awarded them the omas D. White award for best natural resources conservation. "Consideration of the environment is not an aerthought, but an essential part of the mission," says Tony Lucas, 341st CES environmental team chief. "We always ask ourselves, is there an environmental impact? ere's a planning process whether we are changing light bulbs or building a 50,000-square-foot facility." e job of the Natural Resource Team constantly evolves as Malmstrom builds and updates facilities, applying current knowledge of sound environmental practices. A considerable part of the job concerns dealing with flora and fauna over the four broad ecoregions of Malmstrom base and the multiple missile complexes, which have elevations ranging from 2,620 to 8,220 feet above sea level. e team works to protect and document the ten listed and sensitive species on military property, like native burrowing owls, greater sage grouse, grasses, and wildflowers. Part of this care involves removing invasive plants like Russian olive trees, the Canada and bull thistles, and spoed knapweed. SIGNATURE MONTANA | 47 Roberta Anderson, Biologist, Natural Resources Manager.

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