EDF Offers Ways to Strengthen Endangered Species Act on Private Land

(5 December, 1996 — Washington, DC) A report released today by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) details how the Endangered Species Act has failed to protect endangered species on private land and offers solutions to rebuild and strengthen the act.

“We need to rebuild the ark to protect all endangered species, not just some of them, and the greatest challenge for the Endangered Species Act is saving species on private land,” said Dr. David Wilcove, EDF senior ecologist and co-author of Rebuilding the Ark: Toward a More Effective Endangered Species Act For Private Land. Based on data compiled by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the General Accounting Office, endangered species on private lands appear to be faring much worse than their counterparts on federal lands. Of the endangered species that live entirely on private lands, only 3% are improving. Even more troubling is the fact that the FWS does not know the status of nearly half of the species found exclusively on private lands.

“Most of our endangered species live on private land. If we fail to protect them on private land, we will surely condemn many animals and plants to extinction,” said Wilcove. “There is enormous potential for the Endangered Species Act to encourage landowners to create, restore and enhance habitat on their land, and reward them for doing so.”

In order to make the act work more effectively on private land, EDF proposes the following recommendations:

• Create incentives to reward good stewardship. The greatest gains for endangered species on private land will come from the creation of economic incentives that reward landowners for their good stewardship.
• Take action earlier to protect declining species. The FWS must be quicker to list disappearing plants and animals. Delaying protection until species are nearly extinct increases the cost of recovery and the risk of failure.
• Remedy existing enforcement problems. The FWS must provide landowners with better guidance on how to protect endangered species on their property. To date, it has developed detailed guidelines for only a few species.
• Build a scientifically-sound approach for protecting ecosystems and assemblages of species within the overall framework of the act. The goal should be to conserve entire assemblages of species — an ecosystem approach to conservation.

Under innovative “safe harbor” programs, landowners who agree to enhance habitat on their property for endangered species are given an ironclad assurance that they will not be subject to additional land use restrictions as a result of their good work. “The safe harbor program is evidence that with some creative thinking, both endangered species and private landowners can benefit from the Endangered Species Act,” said Wilcove.