Is the protection of wildlife and habitat for survival important? In the United States the preserving of wildlife and their habitat has always been important. For a brief time, their thought had been put to the wayside, with the increased need for agriculture, raising of livestock and development of subdivisions for the increased population of the country. People did not understand the repercussions that expansion would have on wildlife and their habitat. People are becoming more aware of the damage that has been caused, but there are still questions and worries about how to rebuild and protect the animals and land. Wildlife and habitat conservation programs can be beneficial and successful for the land owner, the public and the environment in the United States.
In the United States there are multiple conservation programs that are available. There are government assisted and non-profit organizations. Most of the programs include the rehabilitation of habitat that has been lost or damaged and they include the protection, and sometimes the reintroduction, of wildlife that once was found in that area. Sometimes these programs are used to purchase the land for management and give access for the public to enjoy. Other times the program will work with land owners for the management and protection. One of the programs is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which is administrated by the Farm Service Agency and was established in 1985 by president Ronald Regan. It is the largest private land program in the United States. As of December 2018, there were approximately 22.44 million acres that are in the program. Another popular incentive program is the Agriculture Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), which was established in 2014. The program consolidated the farm and ranch lands protection program, agriculture conservation easement program, grassland reserve program, healthy forest reserve program and wetlands reserve program. The ACEP provides financial and technical assistance for the conservation of agriculture lands and wetlands and their related benefits. In 2017 the program included a total of 298,500 acres across the United States.
Conservation programs have many benefits when they are conducted in the correct manor. Conservation programs can create barriers along waterways to ensure that water is kept free of contaminates. All water starts at one location and feeds into an ocean or lake. Depending on farming practices runoff from pesticides or livestock can get into the water system and contaminant it. Local vegetation and trees along the bank can assist in the filtration of waterways and runoff that feeds into those waterways. Wetlands act as natural filtrations for the water as it moves downstream. These programs can reestablish lost or diminishing plant or wildlife that were once naïve to the region. As the United states population expands there is a need for more development. These developments can take away habitat that a species might depend on for survivability. Conservation programs ensure there is ample habitat available and it cannot be developed in the future. In a study conducted by the Kansas State University it was found that the number of Greater Prairie Chickens had decreased from 142 birds in 9 groups of greater than or equal to 5 in 1981 to 18 birds with no groups of greater than or equal to 5 (McNew p. 41). There are many factors that can be the result of why the numbers declined but it was found that colonization was influenced by grazing management prairie-chickens were twice as likely to colonize ungrazed than grazed locations (McNew p. 45).
People have different views on why and how the programs are being conducted. One thought is that it will close the land for all use. When the land is accepted into a program the goal is that it is used by the public for recreational use or that it is still farmed under different methods of practice. Most times the land is only closed for a short period of time for the rehabilitation to a maintainable state. Some think it takes a lot of money to manage these programs. Yes, for some of the programs they either buy the property outright or the provide the owner market value incentive to subsidize the loses that may occur. In a paper from Daniel R. Petrolia from Mississippi State University “For an immediate-scale program in which 50% of restored land was suitable for wildlife, 30% of respondents received improved storm protection, and harvest levels increased by 15%, we estimated that the average U.S. household is willing to pay roughly between $700 and $2,800.”.
In conclusion, even though there are questions and concerns of conservation programs from the government or Non-Profit organizations it is important that we think about our lands and wildlife and the need to preserve them for future generations. Author Timothy Beatley states “Without a doubt, however, the next decade will witness even greater conflicts between urban development and protection of endangered species, and HCPs undoubtedly will be even more extensively utilized.” (p. 71). The time to plan and act is now, not when it is
Works Cited
Duke, Joshua, et al. “Cost-Effective Conservation Planning: Lessons from Economics.” Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 125, Academic Press Ltd., Aug. 2013, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1355751224/. Accessed Feb. 25, 2019
Collaborative Planning for Wetlands and Wildlife: Issues and Examples, Island Press, 1995. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=3317291. Accessed Feb.
McNew, L. B., Prebyl, T. J., & Sandercock, B. K. (2012). Effects of rangeland management on the site occupancy dynamics of prairie-chickens in a protected prairie preserve. Journal of Wildlife Management, 76(1), 38-47. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/922006136?accountid=8289. Accessed Feb. 27, 2019
Petrolia, D. R., Interis, M. G., & Hwang, J. (2014). America’s wetland? A national survey of willingness to pay for restoration of louisiana’s coastal wetlands.Marine Resource Economics, 29(1), 17-37. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/docview/1639475403?accountid=8289. Accessed Feb. 27, 2019United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency website https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/conservation-programs/conservation-reserve-program/
