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55 5. Incentive-based Protection While regulatory tools will always be part of river protection, the Conservancy is working on creating incentives for good stewardship among private landowners. The Conservancy's primary incentive tools are conservation easements, which can provide federal income and estate tax benefits for a landowner while guaranteeing long-term protection of their critical habitats. We are also looking at trying to develop other incentive programs that encourage landowners to restore riparian habitats and to tolerate natural flooding processes. Supporting other stewards of the land on the land through these kinds of agreements is the main thrust of our Yampa work. I believe that developing creative incentives for private landowners is the biggest untapped potential for protecting private land rivers. We all know that regulation often promotes the destruction of habitat and mistrust of public values, whereas incentive programs have proved far more effective in the scope of their effect. For example, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Program over a period of 26 years bas proteeted less than 0.6 percent of the nation's rivers, most of which occur on public land. On the other hand, the Federal Rood Insurance Program-- despite its many flaws--has been implemented on 85 percent of the nation's rivers. On another front, The Nature Conservancy has protected only 7 million acres of land in 43 years, while the Crop Reduction Program has protected more than 40 million acres of land in less than 7 years. There is no question that incentive based programs have much greater influence, especially in the growing climate of private property rights. Conclusion On the whole, we have yet to witness widespread success on conserving private land rivers within the United States. The need, however, could not be more pressing. Over half of the country's biological diversity can be found on these river segments as can the majority of threats and complex issues. I think. we need to commit more energy to private land rivers, and create programs that respond to the considerably different issues they embody. And I believe that building partnerships among diverse interests and creating protection programs that reward people for good stewardship are the essential building blocks to any private land conservation effort. Thanks for your time. Rivers Without Boundaries 1994