Cooperation key
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April 22, 2013 |
By Senator Mike Crapo
The best way to ensure that we continue to have
clean water and air, productive soil and healthy
habitat for wildlife is by working cooperatively
with property owners to promote conservation.
Collaborative conservation efforts result in
lasting commitment to real improvements. These
voluntary efforts are preferable to
heavy-handed, blunt regulations that result in
little actual improvement.
It would be hard to argue the Endangered Species
Act (ESA) has been successful in recovering
species.
However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS),
the agency charged with administering the ESA,
has had success using voluntary tools and
programs to prevent listings. By working with
landowners on voluntary agreements like
Candidate Conservation Agreements with
Assurances or Habitat Conservation Plans for
listed species, USFWS is providing tools to
protect habitat without resorting to fines or
takings. The Partners for Wildlife program is
one of its more successful efforts. This program
works in partnership with landowners to
implement voluntary conservation measures that
benefit wildlife.
The Farm Bill, which establishes national
agricultural policy, is also the largest
environmental bill in our country. It provides
assistance for conservation on private lands
that results in public benefits. The bill funds
conservation practices that improve water
quality and establish wildlife habitat. Further,
it facilitates easements that protect important
agricultural lands that serve as open space and
prevent fragmentation of habitat. To improve
landowner use of conservation easements, during
debate over the 2012 Senate version of the Farm
Bill, I won unanimous approval of an amendment
that would protect farmers and ranchers by
specifically naming them, not federal officials,
as the entity holding easements. Through
voluntary, incentive-based measures, the farm
bill programs provide win-win tools, making it
one of the most important, if often
unrecognized, environmental stewardship
statutes.
These examples of collaborative efforts
stimulate conservation at the local level, with
support of local communities, and result in
tangible improvements. I have long advocated
that results are the best measurement of
conservation program effectiveness. Citing the
number of fines or permits granted pales in
comparison to reporting actual resource
improvements. For this reason, I have found
voluntary, incentive-based measures are the best
way to realize environmental gains.
I will continue to promote the cooperative
approaches to promoting conservation. It is also
important that conservation efforts are
evaluated and quantified. I have been a
long-time proponent of solid accounting of the
impacts of the conservation programs. Regardless
of our nation’s current economic standing, we
must ensure that our resources are appropriately
spent and achieve results. As the former
Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate
Agriculture Subcommittee that has jurisdiction
over U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation
programs, I promoted the development of an
effort to quantify the actual impacts of
conservation programs as part of the 2002 Farm
Bill. That resulted in the multi-agency
Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP)
to measure the environmental benefits of
agricultural conservation programs. As a member
of the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee, I am continuing to exercise oversight
over the EPA and USFWS to measure the
effectiveness of their efforts.
As a sportsman and grandfather, I place
tremendous value on the protection of our
natural resources. Through the promotion of
effective conservation and the rigorous analysis
of conservation approaches, we can realize
environmental protections and gains without
crippling businesses and impacting job creation. |
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