Saving Species on Private Lands

Unlocking Incentives to Conserve Wildlife and Their Habitats

Lowell E. Baier, Christopher E. Segal

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781538139394
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Winner, Independent Press Award - Conservation/Green, 2021
The only hope for successful conservation of America's threatened, endangered, and at-risk wildlife is through voluntary, cooperative partnerships that focus on private land, where over 75% of at-risk species can be found. Private landowners form the bedrock of these partnerships, and they have a long history of rising to meet the challenge of conservation. But they can't do it alone.

This book is a guide for private landowners who want to conserve wildlife. Whether engaged in farming, ranching, forestry, mining, energy development, or another business, private working lands all have value as wildlife habitat, with the proper management and financial support. This book provides landowners and their partners with a roadmap to achieve conservation compatible with their financial and personal goals.

This book introduces the art and language of land management planning as well as regulatory compliance with laws such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It categorizes and explains the tools used by wildlife professionals to implement conservation on private lands. Moreover it documents the multitude of federal, state, local, and private opportunities for landowners to find financial and technical assistance in managing wildlife, from working with a local NGO to accessing the $6 billion per year available through the federal Farm Bill.

Table of contents

• List of Illustrations
• Guide to Acronyms and Terms
• Foreword
• Introduction and Chapter Summaries
• Part I: Introduction to Proactive Wildlife Conservation on Private Land
• CHAPTER 1 Private Land and the Endangered Species Act
• CHAPTER 2 Case Studies in Conservation: Red-Cockaded Woodpecker and Greater Sage-Grouse
• CHAPTER 3 Getting Started with Conservation
• Part II: Conservation Tools and Your Business
• CHAPTER 4 Common Mechanisms for Enrolling Land in Conservation Programs
• CHAPTER 5 Working with Regulated Entities and Investors
• Part III: Incentives for Private Land Conservation: The Farm Bill
• CHAPTER 6 Introduction to the Farm Bill
• CHAPTER 7 Farm Bill Incentives and Rental Contracts
• CHAPTER 8 Farm Bill Easements
• CHAPTER 9 Partnership Programs Under the Farm Bill
• Part IV: Non–Farm Bill Incentives for Private Land Conservation
• CHAPTER 10 Other Federal Resources for Conservation
• CHAPTER 11 Non-Federal Resources for Conservation
• Part V: Achieving Regulatory Certainty Under the Endangered Species Act for Management of Species that Are Listed or May Become Listed 209
• CHAPTER 12 Understanding a Landowner’s Liability Under the Endangered Species Act
• CHAPTER 13 Tools for Private Landowners to Navigate the Endangered Species Act
• Conclusion
• Appendix A: Contacts for Landowners
• Appendix B: Annual Impacts of Farm Bill Programs
• Acknowledgments
• Bibliography
• About the Author