“A country worth defending is a country worth preserving”
Major General Michael R. Lehnert (Ret) was the Commanding General of Marine Corps Installations West. As Commanding General, he was responsible for environmental stewardship of seven major Marine installations. Major General Lehnert began his career with the Marines in 1973, During his 36 years of service, Major General Lehnert was stationed in North Carolina, Texas, Oregon, Virginia, California, Panama, Japan, the Philippines, and Cuba and led Marines during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Throughout his career, Major General Lehnert has championed the cause of environmental stewardship in the Marine Corps. He was most recently stationed at California’s Camp Pendleton, home to 18 threatened or endangered species. Under General Lehnert, Camp Pendleton pursued extensive stewardship of species—such as restricting maneuvers during the nesting season of California least tern and Western snowy plover and clearing miles of invasive species to protect the endangered arroyo toad. Under his command, the Marine Corps enjoyed significant success on other installations in protecting the Sonoran Pronghorn antelope in Yuma and the Desert tortoise at 29 Palms. During his nearly five years in command of the West Coast bases, his installations received numerous awards for protecting the environment and for energy conservation. He is also the National Conflict Resolution Center’s 2010 National Peacemaker Honoree. He currently lives in Michigan.
What He’s Saying About Endangered Species
The Evolution of an Environmentalist (Live Better Magazine)
Guest commentary: Don’t sacrifice air, water in budget-cutting politics (Detroit Free Press)
Top 10 Reasons to Support Clean Energy (Huffington Post)
Many Good Reasons to Support Clean Energy (San Diego Union Tribune)
