Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk

Forging the Warrior Spirit

Army Compatible Use Buffer

Program

What Is ACUB?

The Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) program is an integral tool in the Army’s quest to achieve sustainability and to integrate the “triple bottom line” of mission, environment and community.

Army installations are increasingly experiencing encroachment on their mission capabilities from a variety of sources, including population growth, urban land use and environmental requirements. Encroachment from such factors can cause costly workarounds or compromises training realism.  The ACUB program proactively addresses constraints on how an installation can use land inside its borders to support its mission, while also achieving conservation objectives. 

How Does the ACUB Program Work?

Under the ACUB program, the Army partners with government or private organizations to establish buffers around installations.  The partner purchases conservation easements or properties from willing landowners to protect habitat near the installation without acquiring any new land for Army ownership.  These partnerships preserve high-value habitat and minimize current and future constraints on training activities on post.

ACUB Objectives

· Reduce training restrictions

· Meet Endangered Species Act recovery responsibilities

· Prevent incompatible development along installation boundaries

· Protect habitat off-post to prevent future threatened and endangered species listings