Posted on 07/28/2004 8:19:36 PM PDT by hedgetrimmer
A new approach to working with endangered species At first glance, Bob Long may seem to be an unlikely environmental activist. He is a minister, a rancher and a staunch defender of property rights. He is also leading the way in the fight to preserve the endangered Houston Toad, populations of which have a tenuous foothold in Bastrop County and on Long’s family ranch there.
“I wanted to get off dead center,” Long says. “We had a stakeholder group that was bogged down in paperwork, and I saw an opportunity to get something going on my ranch that could be a template for other farmers and ranchers.”
That “something” Long refers to is called “safe harbor.” Under its terms, Long—or any other landowner—may work to manage the land to increase populations of an endangered species. Later he can take it all back, removing the habitat and modifications, without penalty under the law.
Bob Long has become a symbol of what many feel is a new era in environmental protection and cooperation. He has entered into a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Defense organization to manage his land for the preservation of the Houston Toad. He formally signed a safe harbor agreement with United States Fish and Wildlife Service on March 10, though he began to implement the management program two years ago.
This safe harbor agreement is significant because the Endangered Species Act has some serious penalties in store for any landowner who damages an endangered species or its habitat.
In addition to United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Long’s partner in this project is an organization called Environmental Defense (ED).
Melinda Taylor of ED says the ESA is still law, and landowners have to live with it. However, in a new spirit of cooperation, the government, landowners and environmental groups are quite often able to work things out.
“If you are proactive, if you’re willing to talk to the Fish and Wildlife Service or Parks and Wildlife, often times there are ways to work that out so that the fact the species is there will not impact your ability to farm and ranch the way you have been,” Taylor says.
It was not very long ago that property owners thought of the presence of an endangered species or its habitat as one of the worst things that could happen. Environmental groups, landowners and farm organizations were at loggerheads, often fighting it out in the courts and the arena of public opinion.
Long says that battle can wear on a landowner, and the current approach is working much better.
“I not only recommend it, I believe it’s the only way to deal with endangered species,” he says.
The Bastrop County rancher has philosophical problems with the government buying land to set aside for endangered species.
“They don’t have the money to do that. It’s my money and I don’t think it ought to be spent that way,” he maintains.
On the other hand, he is willing to take reasonable steps to manage his land for the benefit of the toad. He approached Environmental Defense, and that organization now sees Long as a trailblazer.
“All the endangered species in Texas occur on private lands,” Environmental Defense’s Taylor says. “There is absolutely no way to recover those species unless you can work cooperatively with private landowners.”
Taylor says environmentalists have come to understand that landowners are primarily good stewards, and the reason many endangered species live on private lands is that good land management practices create good habitat for all kinds of species. Also, the kinds of practices being implemented on Long’s ranch are beneficial to other wildlife that could have economic benefits. Managing for the Houston Toad could yield income from hunting leases and ecotourism.
A private firm hired by Environmental Defense has been working with Long for the last two years, enhancing habitat for the toad and minimizing the impact on normal ranching practices.
Included in the management package are prescribed burning and the restoration of wetlands on the Long property. Those wetlands will also be fenced to keep the cattle away from the sensitive toad breeding grounds.
One of the most serious problems is the ever-present imported fire ant—a predator of the newborn toads. Heated and pressurized water will be used to control fire ant mounds near wetlands and toad breeding grounds. Further away from the toad colonies, some chemical control will be used to suppress ant populations.
Though Long is an enthusiastic partner in the survival plan for the Houston Toad, he can’t quite forget all the animosity that once existed between the environmental community and private landowners.
“I figured if they put the choke hold on me, I’d go to my Congressman and say this isn’t the way it works,” Long says. “But two years into this … I’m looking at it from a positive angle.”
Hall is a publisher for the Texas Farm Bureau Website. __________________________
Another PING
BBQ ?
So9
I really like his attitude, and I don't think he's that uncommon. The response to unreasonable government meddling is ~not~ to be equally unreasonable in response, but rather, to be ~right~.
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