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M. GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR SPECIES NOT LISTED UNDER THE ACT A. The State and the Department affirm their commitment to cooperatively take actions, • and encourage others to voluntarily take actions in concert with the State's and the Department's duties, such that the need for future protection under the Act will be greatly reduced and in some cases eliminated. B. These actions will be identified, organized and implemented through the development of collaborative action plans (hereinafter referred to as Conservation Agreements) designed to reduce or eliminate risks to species and their habitats that might otherwise lead to the need for their protection under the Act. While it is recognized that existing laws provide a framework for implementation of these Conservation Agreements, the State and the Department agree, when developing and implementing Conservation Agreements, to place the highest emphasis on voluntary measures that reduce or remove risks to species and habitats so that mandatory measures as may be required by law do not have to be invoked: C. The State and Department believe that Conservation Agreements will be most successful where they appropriately and flexibly balance economic vitality, respect for the property rights of landowners and water users, and maintenance of public values, including hunting and angling opportunities. Therefore,. the State and the Department believe that Conservation Agreements need to be: (1) based on sound and objective scientific data and analysis, informed as appropriate by peer review; (2) based on a decision-making framework that is collaborative and which places a premium on effective, quick, and responsive communication; (3) cost-effective, such that participants actively keep costs to a minimum by selecting the least costly means to implement Conservation Agreements, by capturing economies of scale through watershed approaches that address multiple conservation objectives, and by developing efficiency enhancing measures that apply to all aspects of the administration of Conservation Agreements in order to reduce overhead; (4) predictable, such that participants fully understand what is expected of them; if expectations change as a result of the adaptive and dynamic nature of implementing Conservation Agreements on the ground, then the bass for these changes will be fully communicated well in advance of making the desired changes on the ground; (5) adaptive, such that participants can easily change approaches or tools according to results of monitoring and evaluation, consistent with 3 of 9