The Adverse Environmental Consequences of Uncompensated Land-Use Controls

Private land is indispensable to environmental conservation. Over three-fourths of those species currently listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act rely upon private land for some or all of their habitat (USGAO 1994). Most wetlands are in private hands as well (Kusler 1992, 29). In addition, a dispro-portionate amount of many important ecological services are provided by private lands (Thompson 2002, 249). Without conservation on private lands, meaningful ecological conservation cannot be achieved.