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Congress weighed all the arguments and ultimately arrived at an innovative <br />solution. They reasoned that if reintroduction could be accomplished and recov- <br />ery achieved without full ESA protection, this was clearly better than making no <br />progress at all. An experimental provision of the ESA was created that gave <br />federal managers license to create flexible reintroduction plans that were respon- <br />sive to state and local concerns. This provision permits agencies to relax portions <br />of the ESA, but only to the point where recovery is still achieved. <br />We face a similar impasse today. Private landowners are becoming polarized <br />over the ESA because they are concerned about government infringement on their <br />property rights. They see only proposed regulation and no benefit in providing <br />habitat for threatened and endangered species. Their rejoinder has been draconian <br />"takings" legislation, such as that introduced by Senator Dole. <br />But as the papers in this publication attest, many innovative approaches are <br />available that would make it more in a private landowner's interest to provide <br />such habitat. Such incentives could replace polarization with cooperation. <br />The fundamental problem is that the ESA provides no process for testing new and <br />innovative approaches. And to the extent some incentive strategies are specula- <br />tive and unproven, there's appropriate reluctance to adopt new ideas without <br />sufficient trial. Sorely needed is a process that facilitates -even encourages - <br />creative use of economic incentives. Through experimentation we can learn what <br />works and what doesn't. <br />Defenders of Wildlife believes the ESA is a good law that generally works well. <br />At the same time, we are certain it can be improved. We hope these papers will <br />provide impetus for designing a process to build experimentation with economic <br />incentives into the Endangered Species Act. <br />- HANK FISCHER <br />Project Director <br />x <br />