LIBERTY HILL, Texas, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A clash between property rights and government ecology plans has been avoided by programs that compensate landowners for conservation.
One place such a program has worked is in the Hill Country of eastern Texas, where the threat of government takeover of land led to a compromise. Landowners can receive payments or tax benefits for keeping land in conservation. Agreements can be for 10 years or forever, The New York Times reported. The programs are termed "Safe Harbor," since they protect the landowners from government conservation actions, the newspaper said.
It began with efforts to protect cedars, which are often considered a drawback by landowners but are a habitat for the golden-cheeked warbler. Government plans to protect cedar-covered lands was met with strong protests until Safe Harbor was developed.
U.S. Sens. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., have introduced a bill that would set a sliding scale -- depending on how long the owners promised to keep the land for conservation -- and a system of credits for conservation that might allow for habitat destruction elsewhere, the Times said. Opponents claim the government is paying people for mere compliance with the law.
