The bald eagle: symbol of freedom.

And — 34 years after the birth of the Endangered Species Act — the poster-bird of an American success story.

From the brink of extinction in the 1970s, with fewer than 450 nesting pairs in the lower 48, the bald eagle is once again king of the American sky.

Yet for many of those same ranchers, the Endangered Species Act symbolizes freedoms lost.

Be it arctic grayling in the river or a gray wolf on their ranch, they may lose their ability to irrigate their hay or defend their livestock the way they see fit.

The Endangered Species Act "is almost a deterrent for the private landowner," said Jay Bodner, natural resource director with the Montana Stockgrowers Association.

Yet it's the farmer's shelterbelt where the rare songbird nests, the rancher who keeps the habitat-destroying subdivision at bay.

"There's a lot of producers that provide a lot of benefits" for the Endangered Species Act, Bodner said, "and there's no way for them to recoup any of that."

A proposed revision to the act would finally reward landowners for their work to protect wildlife.

The bill, co-sponsoredby U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., would offer a total of $2.7 billion in tax credits over 10 years to landowners who agree to put easements on their property or take other steps to enhance or manage endangered species habitat.

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over taxes, Baucus is in a strong position to pass the legislation, called the Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2007.

Baucus has bipartisan support in the bill's chief sponsor, Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho.

Through a rancher's eyes, the bill transforms endangered species from a liability to an asset.

From an environmentalist's perspective, there is nothing to lose from this legislation, and much to gain.

For years frustrated landowner groups have tried unsuccessfully to amend or overhaul the ESA.

Unless concessions are made, they will keep trying and eventually succeed — potentially a step backward for threatened wildlife.

Although the bill may not address all of landowner groups' concerns, it's an olive branch that could bring the environmental camp and landowners closer together in future negotiations.

It is a rare bill that has the support of such groups as the National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Defense and the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Michael Bean, with Environmental Defense, was right when he told the Associated Press that "for too long now, we've been relying exclusively on regulations that had the unintended consequence of pitting landowners and environmentalists against each other."