• Sustainable use of military training areas;
• Plan and conduct military and non-military activities on DND/CF land and marine training areas such that adverse impacts on habitats are minimized and military training can occur without compromising future training; and

• Preserve biodiversity, in particular for species at risk.

During the first phase, a discussion paper was developed and subsequently circulated to applicable stakeholders (including operational and environmental) across the Navy and to other stakeholders within DND for comparison against parallel programs and to understand the framework, their role, and the level of effort and resources involved.  The output from this phase included a GAP analysis against defensible requirements.

The follow-on phase entailed a review of applicable documentation, policies, and standards (both within the Canadian Military, Industry, and the USA Department of Defence) and interview key of personnel to produce a first cut of an overall RTAM program framework.  This preliminary baseline framework was subsequently refined by management, working groups, and broader organizational review.  It entailed:

• MARCOM Training Area Studies;
• Canadian Naval EMS (given limited resources, focus on CPF class EMS);
• The Director General Environment (DGE) - Manoeuvre Area Planning System (MAPS) requirements;
• Applicable concepts based on current and near future capabilities;
• Papers from the Conference on Sustainable Range Management, which was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 5-8, 2004;

• Extracted applicable concepts to current and future Canadian Navy capabilities;

• CFB Shilo RTAM program; and

• Interviews with DND/Director General Environment (DGE), CMS/ Environmental Officer, CMS/Director Maritime Policy Operations and Readiness (DMPOR 3), Naval Engineering (DGMEPM) and Naval Regional Environmental staffs

The following summarizes some of the main elements of the RTAM:

• Program credibility elements including: Natural Resources Inventory, Valued Environmental/Ecosystem Components (VECs), Data Management and Analysis, Expertise, Information Sharing, Research & Development (R&D), and Tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS);
• Sustainability aspects including: Legacy/Decommissioning, Environmental Assessments (EAs), Mitigation Measures & Residual Impacts, Monitoring including Baseline Audits, and Periodic Environmental Validations; and
• Program management including: Accountability, Responsibility, Authority (ARA), Integration with EMS, Program Harmonization & Integration, Range Management Strategy and Plan, Reporting, and Communications.