Unique Species Protection Effort Celebrates 5th Anniversary During Earth Week

Five years after its inception, the endangered species Safe Harbor program has helped to stem conflict by engaging private landowners, many of them former opponents, in preserving endangered species on their own property, according to Environmental Defense, which worked with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to devise Safe Harbor agreements. The fifth anniversary of Safe Harbor is in April. Safe Harbor agreements are designed to allow landowners to lay out the welcome mat for endangered species without fear of land use restrictions. There are roughly 1.5 million acres already in Safe Harbor programs.

Owners of a monastery, a championship golf course, and a cattle ranch are just a few of the landowners helping endangered species under Safe Harbor agreements. “This novel conservation program aims to reduce conflict by assuring private landowners that there will be no new restrictions on their property if they voluntarily help endangered species increase on their land,” said Michael Bean, head of the Environmental Defense wildlife program and one of the creators of Safe Harbor. “In place of the phrase ‘shoot, shovel and shut up’ that captured the sentiments of many rural landowners, now landowners are beginning to sign up, smile, and show off.”

A recent poll by Environmental Defense shows the majority of those polled (56% of the Internet Generation and 49% of Baby Boomers) find endangered species to be a major concern that needs new solutions, ranking above such problems as global warming and urban sprawl.

The first Safe Harbor program, for the red-cockaded woodpecker, was initiated in North Carolina in 1995, with other later programs for that species in South Carolina and Texas. More than sixty landowners, including small woodlot owners, timber companies, horse farms, quail plantations, golf courses, and even a monastery have enrolled over 130,000 acres of land in programs to protect the red-cockaded woodpecker. Four years later, Pinehurst Resorts, the first landowner to join, became the first to have the rare bird reproduce on restored habitat.

“Given the right incentives, private landowners can help many rare species recover,” said Bean. “Safe Harbor agreements make it possible for landowners and conservationists to cooperate in conserving endangered species.” Indeed, 13 of 19 known pairs of the Northern Aplomado falcon occur on Safe Harbor properties in Texas.

Earlier this year, an agreement was announced to reintroduce Hawaii’s state bird, the Hawaiian goose (or nene), to a working cattle ranch on the island of Molokai. Elsewhere, Environmental Defense will help administer a similar program in the “Hill Country” of central Texas, working with ranchers to restore habitat for the black-capped vireo, an endangered songbird whose habitat needs match well those of white-tailed deer, an important source of income for many Texas landowners through leased hunting arrangements.