Remember the knock-down drag-out fight in the Pacific Northwest over northern spotted owl habitat? And closer to home, the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, which pitted Front Range developers against conservationists?
Last week, two government agencies announced an effort that could defuse some of these battles by forging long-term agreements with ranchers and farmers, allowing them to continue commercial activities in exchange for promises to maintain habitat.
Working Lands for Wildlife would protect landowners from further restrictions so long as they keep promises to engage in agreed-upon practices meant to allow the species to survive. The agreements could last as long as 30 years, which would provide certainty for those who make a living off the land.
To be sure, some conflicts between wildlife that is endangered or on the cusp of being declared so are too great to overcome.
But the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has designed this program in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to focus on seven species that pose opportunities for animals and people to co-exist.
In Colorado, the most pertinent is the greater sage grouse, which has not been declared threatened or endangered, but eventually could be.
David White, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, tells us there are certain grazing management practices that, as it turns out, are beneficial for both the sage grouse and ranchers.
For instance, allowing grass to be grazed no shorter than 6-8 inches allows habitat for the birds, yet maintains grass at a level in which it remains healthier for future grazing.
Keeping cattle out of certain areas during nesting season lets the sage grouse hatch out its young, and gives grass a chance to flourish. In addition, simple actions, such as putting plastic markers on the top line of a barbed wire fence prevents a significant number of devastating bird collisions with the hard-to-see fencing.
The over-arching idea is to cooperatively increase sage grouse populations in an effort to keep them from being listed as threatened or endangered, a designation that could trigger lawsuits and more heavy-handed government intervention.
Farmers and ranchers who enter into such voluntary agreements may receive conservation grants. And they will get a guarantee that even if the animal is eventually listed, they'll face no further restrictions. And depending on the length of the agreement, they would have those assurances for many years.
Working Lands has the potential to be the rare win-win in situations that often end in acrimony.