According to the March 14th Denver Post editorial Not quite as endangered now, "The Endangered Species Recovery Act (ESRA) holds much promise for uniting interest groups that have long fought over the 1973 law [Endangered Species Act]." ESRA was introduced in Congress in early March and if passed would provide $2.7 billion in tax incentives over 10 years to landowners who agree to put easements on their property or take other steps to enhance or manage endangered species habitat. This is great news and we at Center for Native Ecosystems feel ESRA's bi-partisan support and the way agriculture and conservation communities worked closely to craft it shows just how much common ground is shared between agriculture and conservation communities.

ESRA is co-sponsored by Senators Salazar and Allard, and Center for Native Ecosystems worked to make ESRA more effective and to encourage Senator Salazar's support this last February. With the majority of endangered plants, animals, and their habitats on private land in the U.S., we feel it's critical to do a better job working with and building long-term relationships with landowners and Colorado ranchers and farmers on endangered species issues.

In the last year, Center for Native Ecosystems has been doing just that, reaching out to Colorado ranchers, farmers, and landowners on the Endangered Species Act and U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation incentive programs.  We are actively working on ways to improve these popular programs for landowners and endangered species.  We held a summit last October between Colorado conservation and agriculture groups that included Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, American Farmland Trust, Colorado Environmental Coalition and  Environment Colorado.  Based on what we heard from this summit and individual outreach to Colorado landowners, conservation and agriculture groups we crafted a position paper for improving conservation incentive programs.  In the coming months we hope to collaborate with Colorado agriculture and conservation communities to see proactive changes to these important programs are implemented in the 2007 Farm Bill.  With more than $38.6 billion going to conservation incentive programs in the last farm bill in 2002 and funding for conservation increasing by more than 80 percent, the 2002 Farm Bill was the greenest ever passed.  That’s a trend that many Colorado farmers, ranchers and conservationists would like to see continue.