NATION
Wanted: HCPs with
teeth
To win cooperation from landowners, over
the last decade the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has embraced
Habitat Conservation Plans for saving endangered species on private
lands (HCN, 8/4/97). It’s an effective alternative to a “shoot,
shovel and shut up” approach, say agency representatives. Critics
continue to insist that the plans – which allow some habitat to be
destroyed in exchange for preserving other lands – do no favors for
endangered species.
In response to these
concerns, the federal agency now proposes that conservation plans
include more science, extend public comment periods and add more
monitoring. Still, some conservationists aren’t satisfied because
they say the new guidelines don’t contribute much to species
recovery.
“The intent of the Endangered Species
Act is to conserve and restore species; it doesn’t say to keep them
on life support,” says the American Lands Alliance’s Brian Vincent.
He says the plans allow wildlife to become extinct while landowners
and government agencies engage “in a big group hug.”
To beef up the plans, Vincent wants agencies to
set specific recovery goals for listed species and to subject
proposals for private lands to independent scientific
review.
But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Hugh Vickery says the goals go too far. “HCPs are endangered
species conservation in the real world; we’re not living in an
ivory tower.”
*Rebecca
Clarren
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wanted: HCPs with teeth.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
