Don't crush the turtles with your tank treads, boys

Is there anything the Defense Department doesn't do? It sees to it that junk food from Burger King is available to troops in Afghanistan. It operates more nuclear reactors than most nation-states. And, according to this official blog post, it's responsible for tens of thousands of square miles of land in the continental U.S. alone -- which means it's also responsible for all the flora and fauna thereon.

Which is funny, because when one thinks about how the military uses that land, what springs to mind are tanks grinding through mud and knocking over trees; bombs destroying rusty old armored vehicles; or artillery rounds whistling in and making all kinds of other loud noises. But never fear, DoD says: When it isn't grinding, chopping, shooting, blowing up or setting fire to its real estate, the military is charged with being a good steward of the environment:

DoD’s Natural Resources Conservation Program (NR Program) provides policy, guidance, and oversight for management of natural resources on approximately 30 million acres of military land, air, and water resources. For example, DoD is responsible for managing and protecting 420 federally-listed species and 523 species at-risk.

The NR Program’s goal is to ensure continued access to realistic habitat conditions to support the military’s combat readiness mission, while simultaneously working to ensure the long-term sustainability of our country’s priceless natural heritage.