Protecting the Gulf Range

A precious resource and strategic location, the Gulf Range is at the heart of protection efforts supported by both the military and land conservation organizations.

The purpose of this site is to provide the status of Florida’s Joint Gulf Range Complex and outline a Florida state military and defense plan to secure an extended moratorium on oil leasing or drilling set to expire in the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, in June 2022. This is also a place to share the work that the full team of partners is doing.

The Current Status of protecting the Gulf Range is that there is a strong bipartisan sense of urgency among federal, state, and local FL representatives, as well as within the FL military and environmental communities, to extend the moratorium in the 116th Congress given the June 2022 expiration date and the inclusion of Gulf leases in the 2019-2024 DPP.

RESOURCES

• Florida Range Report by The Roosevelt Group – Spring 2022
• Raising Awareness of Florida’s Military Ranges – Spring 2022
• From the Sea Floor to Outer Space – Spring 2022
• Northwest Florida Sentinel Landscape
• Avon Park Air Force Range Sentinel Landscape
• Gulf Range Whitepaper
• NOAA
• DEP
• Oceana
• Bureau of Oceanic Energy Management
• Eglin Gulf Test & Training Range Maximization Study – July 2020
• State and local leaders praise President Trump’s oil-drilling moratorium extension – September 9, 2020
• Whitepaper on Florida’s Eastern Gulf of Mexico Oil Drilling Moratorium Extension – May 2020
• Oceana’s Paper Congress: Protect Military Readiness and Florida’s Coast from Offshore Drilling in the National Defense Authorization Act – May 2020
• Eglin Air Force Base Gulf Test and Training Range Brochure – March 2020
• Oceana’s Paper on Protecting Florida’s Gulf Coast from Offshore Drilling Preserves Military Readiness – October 2019
• Senator Rubio’s Letter to Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior David Berhnardt – March 2019
• DoD’s Report on Preserving Military Readiness in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico – May 2018
• DoD’s Report to Congress on 2017 Sustainable Ranges – February 2017
• Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006

STUDIES

• Congressional Research Service’s Report on the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA): Background, Status and Issues – January 2020
• Congressional Research Service’s Report on the Five-Year Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024: Status and Issues in Brief – August 2019
• Congressional Budget Office’s Report on the Price Tag for Drilling in the Eastern Gulf: $400 Million – July 2019
• Bay Defense Alliance’s Report on the Economic Impact of Florida’s Military Presence, Gulf of Mexico and the Military Mission Line – March 2010
• Securing America’s Future Energy’s Issue Brief on Eastern Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Exploration and Military Readiness – January 2010

LETTER TEMPLATES

• Military Sign-On Letter to the U.S. Congress in support of permanently extending the current moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico – July 2020
• Letter to Senator Lisa Murkowski, Chairman, Senate Energy & Natural Resources – January 2020
• Business Alliance Appropriations Letter to House Speaker Pelosi – June 2019
• Military Mission Line Moratorium Letter to Speaker Pelosi – June 2019

CURRENT LEGISLATION PENDING

• Senate Defense Authorization Act 2021, S. 4049: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
• House Defense Authorization Act 2021, H.R. 6395: William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
• House Committee on Appropriations: Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Legislative Activity