Ag-Related Practices Main Threat to Western Wildlife

September 3, 1999

A new USDA study shows that agriculture, logging and mining, traditionally the economic base of many rural communities, now are the primary threats to endangered species. To protect species, agriculture and such developments as housing construction will have to become more compatible with species and habitats.

Wildlife habitat is becoming more fragmented as development converts natural areas and agricultural lands to more urban uses, the report says. As habitat is reduced, the value of remaining wildlife resources "is likely to increase."

To protect resources, efforts will need to focus on making "traditional sectors of western economies, such as agriculture, as well as newly important sectors, such as housing construction, more compatible with wild species and their habitats," the report continues.

Farmers in the West have enrolled more than 8.2 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program, the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Emergency Wetlands Reserve Program. To be successful, according to the report, conservation programs "Must not only provide for the biological needs of species but also account for the economic constraints faced by local agents."

That means designing programs "that address the unequal costs and benefits associated with protecting wildlife resources and building into these programs the flexibility to deal with local wildlife needs and local economic conditions."

Balancing land and water needs for economic growth with the land and water needs of wildlife "will likely be an important policy issue for the foreseeable future."