With little fanfare, recently Waco was host to an event that could play a pivotal role in conserving wildlife and its habitat in Texas.

The U.S. Department of the Interior and four other federal agencies hosted “Cooperative Conservation Listening Session” — one of many nationwide. The objective is discussing ways the government and private citizens can work together to safeguard our environment.

Cooperative conservation enlists private landowners in the protection of endangered species. They are the most essential players, since farms and ranches occupy almost four of every five square miles of land in Texas.

My organization, Environmental Defense, has always believed that securing the help of private citizens is essential to conservation efforts.

Here in Texas, we’ve seen excellent progress with endangered species recovery in the last few years, thanks to the cooperative efforts of ranchers and farmers, government agencies, and environmental groups. For example, we’ve helped restore habitat for Texas’ native wildcat, the ocelot, as well as the tiny songbird called the black-capped vireo, and the Houston toad.

Environmental Defense helped create one especially successful cooperative conservation technique called safe harbor agreements. They assure that a landowner who agrees to carry out activities to help endangered species will not be “rewarded” with additional Endangered Species Act restrictions on his property.

These agreements are working remarkably well, engaging the cooperation of everyone from ranchers in the West to forest landowners in the Southeast. More acres of private land are enrolled in endangered species safe harbor agreements in Texas than in any other state.

In the process of all this, we’re learning a few things about protecting species:

First, regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles must be lowered.  Sometimes, the same rules and requirements that were originally created so we could keep a close eye on environmentally harmful projects create the unintended consequence of causing long and frustrating delays in launching beneficial projects.

Second, we need more funding for programs to help private landowners share the cost of endangered species recovery efforts and other conservation programs.

Ranchers and farmers want to be the best possible stewards of their land, but doing the right thing can be expensive. We must provide funding to offset costs and make conservation efforts possible.

Finally, we need the government to reach out to landowners more proactively. Ranchers and farmers don’t have time to navigate complex government programs alone. They need assistance to figure out how they can help endangered species without hurting agricultural productivity and without threatening their private property rights. 

Fortunately, we can accomplish all this without the need for Congress to change any of our existing laws, including laws that specifically affect endangered species.

We can streamline regulations and make programs user-friendly without undercutting our basic environmental laws. We all have the same goal — to protect the beautiful environment of Texas. If we work together, it’s a goal we can reach.

David Wolfe represents Environmental Defense’s Landowner Conservation Assistance program.