Range & Training Land Assessments (RTLA)

The Range and Training Land Assessment (RTLA) program focuses on sustaining doctrinal training. The mission statement is:

Inform the process of military land management to maximize the capability and sustainability of land to meet the Army training and testing mission.

To accomplish this mission, RTLA program managers inventory and monitor natural resource condition and manage and analyze natural resource information. Results are pertinent to management of training and testing lands from training area to installation scales and provides input to decisions that promote sustained and multiple uses on military lands. The RTLA program evaluates relationships between land use and condition through the collection of physical and biological resource data. Some RTLA projects are long term, while others are relatively short. Key to RTLA success is the evaluation of collected data. Analysis of these data drives program success.

Secondarily, RTLA is the natural resources knowledge center for the US Army. RTLA data can support the information needs of:

• Installation Status Report (ISR)
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Army Training and Testing Area Carrying Capacity (ATTACC)/Land Condition Module (LCM)
• Installation Management Plans
• Assessing Internal Encroachment issues
• Land Rehabilitation and Management (LRAM) project evaluation

Objectives are defined, data collected and analyzed, managed, and reported in the RTLA program. A key program component is getting analyzed data to those that make management decisions. This requires developing an installation specific data center of natural resource knowledge, understanding potential issues, and presenting information clearly and effectively.

Data collection takes many formats, from field monitoring to historical photographs to remote sensing. Data sources vary from those collected on the installation to data available from other organizations and agencies. Successful RTLA programs use all resources available and think outside the box.

Documenting condition and change in high-use areas such as maneuver sites, bivouac areas, and firing points provides trainers with an understanding of potential site quality and the inputs for achieving and maintaining a desired level of site condition. Similarly, analysis of collected data may trigger LRAM projects for remediation of the area.

Maintaining long-term site information helps installations address offsite investigations by the public and other agencies and to respond to assertions of poor land stewardship. Few other land users have the information and can document the affects of training as well as the Army. Pairing training history, environmental shifts, and off-site land condition, the Army successfully demonstrates its commitment to natural resources.

The core of the RTLA program is to provide the Army with training lands that are capable of meeting the doctrinal needs of training missions now and in the future.

For more information on RTLA and other ITAM components visit the Sustainable Range Program Website (SRPWeb).

Please note: In order to be logged into SRPWeb, you must have (1) an Army Knowledge Online (AKO) account and (2) a record in the SRP Participants database.