Defending conservation

Military planes roar over Warren Grove Gunnery Range in southern New Jersey. A puff of smoke spreads across a clear-cut strip of land where a dummy bomb has just kissed its practice target. From the top of the air traffic control tower Captain Rich DeFeo, the base's environmental manager, points to the hazy skyline of Atlantic City on the horizon. Between here and the casinos, he explains, lies the largest expanse of pitch pine pygmy forest in the world. Dwelling among these dwarf trees are dozens of threatened or endangered plant and animal species, and DeFeo has been charged with protecting them. "It's kind of an oxymoron being the environmentalist in the military. Most people think it can't exist, but it's not true."