Amos S. Eno

Saving Species on Private Lands is a very important book for conservation in America for the 21st century. For over 45 years, since its passage by Congress in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has been primarily the province of federal and state wildlife agencies for implementation of conservation strategies. As a result, not much progress has been made on species recovery. This is not surprising, since 80 percent of endangered species habitat nationwide is on private lands, and public agencies have largely ignored private landowners for decades.

Progress on species recovery will only be made by encouraging the stewardship by private landowners on a scalable basis. This core constituency of 13 million Americans is the key to species recovery in America. Lowell Baier’s book is a major contribution to breaking through this barrier to engage and encourage private landowners to participate in species recovery. I encourage any landowner hosting endangered species or having species in the vicinity of their properties to read this important book. It will advance the conservation cause in America more than any and all environmental advocacies.