The accolade was not given lightly. Defenders of Wildlife has devoted enormous time and energy to researching, talking about and testing incentives to help private landowners maintain the habitats in their care that harbor threatened and endangered species. It was Defenders of Wildlife that took the extraordinary step in 1987 to reimburse landowners for livestock losses caused by wolf kills through the Wolf Compensation Trust, and to set up a Reward Fund to pay ranchers who are willing to have dens on their property.

Defenders of Wildlife also has compiled one of the most complete handbooks on incentives for private landowners, National Stewardship Incentives: Conservation Strategies for U.S. Landowners (Sara Vickerman, author and project director, Defenders of Wildlife, 1101 14^th Street, Suite 1400, Washington, D.C. 20005, 1998, 109 pages).

There's more.

Benjamin N. Tuggle, Chief, Division of Habitat Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, provided a small grant in 1999 to fund work in Florida on a model project to test out the Resource Conservation Agreement. Tuggle calls the project, which was carried out on Hall's Tiger Bay Ranch in DeSoto County, "the best investment I made in FY1998-99."

Dana Minerva, Deputy Assistant Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also is enthusiastic about the Resource Conservation Agreement, since it fits with the incentive-based approaches being developed and promoted through EPA's Office of Policy and Reinvention. Minerva wants to bring in EPA as a "cooperative partner" to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in carrying out and implementing the program. "The EPA niche," she said, "would be wetlands, particularly in silviculture."

Minerva notes that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pays landowners to create retention areas on flood plains to hold flood waters, an idea she applauds. In the same spirit, Minerva says, EPA could provide grants under the Resource Conservation Agreement to install Best Management Practices (BMPs) as part of EPA's effort to deal with nonpoint source pollution. These funds would come from the money EPA receives each year under Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act, which established baseline requirements for state and territorial nonpoint source management programs and authorized national funding to support implementation of approved management programs.

This interest from environmental organizations and regulatory agencies may, at first, unsettle private landowners. After all, this type of interest usually portends bad news, or more restrictions, regulations or costs for individuals and enterprises that work the land.

But There's a twist. The concept for the Resource Conservation Agreement was developed BY private landowners FOR private landowners. It also is designed to be delivered to landowners through a series of "local partners," such as Soil and Water Conservation Districts, with national program oversight provided the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Because of this unusual blend of support from private landowners, agriculture and, now, environmental interests, the Executive Office of the President - Council on Environmental Quality, is working to locate funding to launch a pilot project in Florida. Purpose of the pilot will be to demonstrate the national applications and value of the Resource Conservation Agreement program. Importantly, sign ups for the pilot project will not be delayed for four or five years or even until next year, but are slated to begin this year. Twenty landowners with over 170,000 acres of property ö most of them cattlemen ö already have shown interest in participating in the pilot, a project that is getting a boost from senior levels within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Word also is spreading to other states. California Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced), who chairs the Assembly's Agriculture Committee, has asked for information on the Resource Conservation Agreement concept. With urging from supporters within USDA, such as Glenda L. Humiston, Deputy Under Secretary, Natural Resources & Environment, there also may be a California pilot project.

Three briefings on the Resource Conservation Agreement program were given at the end of February in Washington, D.C. The first was directed to staff members of the Florida Congressional Delegation who work on environmental and agricultural issues. The second was directed to senior-level staff at USDA. The third was directed to senior-level staff at other agencies and representatives of conservation organizations with offices in Washington, D.C.

The briefings were led by Craig Evans, President of Florida Stewardship Foundation, which has spearheaded development of the Resource Conservation Agreement program.

All three briefings included statements of support from a seventh-generation Florida landowner, the Florida Cattlemen's Association, Florida Farm Bureau Federation and National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Officials from USDA and USFWS appeared to offer their support, as did representatives from Defenders of Wildlife and Environmental Defense Fund.

The next steps are to: 1) verify USDA's authority under existing law to enter into service contracts with private landowners to carry out the 20-year term of the Resource Conservation Agreements, and 2) earmark funds for the pilot projects. Funding will come from existing conservation programs, that will be blended together, as appropriate, under the Resource Conservation Agreement, as well as from new funding, most of which can be accommodated by Vice President Gore's recently-announced $1.3 billion funding initiative for USDA conservation programs in Fiscal Year 2000-20001.

Funding for Resource Conservation Agreements also has been included in the Florida Forever Act, which was passed by the Florida Legislature last year. Unfortunately, the language dealing with Resource Conservation Agreements greatly limits the way in which these agreements can be used on private lands, a serious glitch that effectively eliminates many private lands from consideration, including all those with Priority 1 and 2 habitats that accommodate the endangered Florida panther.

As a result, Florida landowners may be very glad the federal government is giving this concept such high-level, positive attention.

More information on the Resource Conservation Agreement can be obtained from Florida Stewardship Foundation, 621 N.W. 53^rd Street, Boca Raton, Fla. 33487, or from the project web site: http://privatelands.org