GoldenCheekedWarbler_Cooperation_Wolfe_David_TallahasseeFL_20May2022_Reel4107.mp3

David Wolfe [00:00:00] We made a strong effort beginning in the mid-1990s to build more cooperative relationships with private landowners, because there had been a lot of concern by private landowners over the federal listing of the warbler, concerns about potential loss of private property rights and infringement upon their ability to manage their land as they saw fit.

David Wolfe [00:00:23] And so we wanted to turn that around and see if we could build more cooperative relationships with private landowners to conserve and restore habitat for these species, while also enabling the landowners to carry on with their land management activities.

David Wolfe [00:00:43] And so in my work, I moved forward with a combination of regulatory assurances and financial incentives to try to encourage and motivate more landowners to participate in conservation of the warbler...

David Wolfe [00:00:57] I think one of the best examples of my experience with landowners and how those tools worked, and something I'm particularly proud of, is a group of landowners out in western Bandera and eastern Real counties, some of the most important and high quality golden-cheeked warbler habitat anywhere on the planet.

David Wolfe [00:01:21] We started working with a small number of landowners out in that area. And actually, the way we got started with that work was through the interest in one or two landowners in the property tax wildlife valuation. They were interested in moving away from an agricultural endeavor, cattle grazing in particular, and putting in place wildlife management such that they could get the wildlife valuation. They were much more interested in wildlife than cattle, but obviously wanted the property tax benefit as well.

David Wolfe [00:01:59] And so that's a financial incentive right there. It's not a direct payment, but it's, it's certainly a benefit on the property tax side of things.

David Wolfe [00:02:10] And so that was a process of educating those landowners about what they had and how they could manage to create more benefits for the golden-cheeked warbler to conserve existing habitat, and restore and enhance additional habitat.

David Wolfe [00:02:27] And those neighbors were kind of sharing their experience with other neighbors in that area. And that's a great way for conservation to spread from landowner to landowner, because landowners trust each other, typically, and they're going to open the door for them to have discussion much more rapidly than someone from a state or federal agency or a nonprofit organization. And so that was a great way to kind of spread the message of the benefits of managing for the golden-cheeked warbler.

David Wolfe [00:03:01] And there was so much interest and at the same time, the recognition from these landowners that there were a variety of threats to that area - development, pipelines, water diversion, drilling for natural gas, new highways being proposed, all kinds of threats.

David Wolfe [00:03:19] And so the idea was hatched to build an alliance, a collaborative of the landowners in this area, which ended up being called the Bandera Canyonlands Alliance, to work together as neighbors to basically maintain the integrity of that landscape.

David Wolfe [00:03:39] So what started with discussions about golden-cheeked warbler habitat, and managing for wildlife to benefit from the wildlife property tax valuation, ended up becoming an entire alliance of dozens and dozens of landowners in this region, with a focus on maintaining the integrity and the aesthetic and the biological, cultural values of this important region.