Eielson Air Force Base
Eielson Air Force Base is located 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks in the interior of Alaska, and about 110 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The base is home to the 354th Fighter Wing, which performs close air support, battlefield air interdiction, and wartime operations support. Eielson AFB is one of the military’s most strategically located installations with two F-35A squadrons able to provide fifth generation combat-ready forces anywhere in the northern hemisphere.
Eielson consists of approximately 20,000 acres to support core missions, and manages almost 38,000 more acres over four other locations in the area. The area around Eielson AFB is primarily undeveloped land, but most properties are zoned such that any type of development can occur with very little restriction. Population growth in the area could quickly result in increased residential and commercial development around the base and disruption to the installation’s training mission.
The DoD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program will help protect the land surrounding the installation from development pressures and limit radar, safety, and noise concerns that could significantly hinder the installation’s fixed-wing flight capabilities. As Eielson AFB’s REPI Program Partner, Compatible Lands Foundation works with willing landowners and other stakeholders to conserve undeveloped lands adjacent to critical runways and flight operations facilities. CLF accomplishes this by acquiring conservation easements on private lands near the base. These lands then are preserved in perpetuity, protecting Eielson from development pressures and incompatible land uses, while limiting non-point source pollution in the Tanana River watershed.