The Resource Conservation Agreement Concept

Partners in Conserving America's Resources

The Resource Conservation Agreement

Here's where you can obtain a complete explanation of the Resource Conservation Agreement concept, developed through a five-year consensus-building effort through this project.

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1. Introduction

This document briefly describes the importance of the Resource Conservation Agreement concept. When you are done, click the back button on your browser tool bar to return to this page.

2. Quick Overview #1

This document briefly describes the Resource Conservation Agreement. Again, when done, click the back button to return to this page.

3. Quick Overview #2

This document briefly describes the principal payment options for Resource Conservation Agreements. Again, when done, click the back button to return to this page.

4. Benefits of the Resource Conservation Agreement

This page contains a description of the principal benefits of the Resource Conservation Agreement -- to private landowners, government agencies, the environment and American taxpayers. Again, when done, click the back button to return to this page.

5. Outline of the Proposed Resource Conservation Agreement

This page contains a detailed outline of the proposed Resource Conservation Agreement. It describes the mechanics of the agreement, eligible lands, payment options and penalties and reclaim provisions. Again, when done, click the back button to return to this page.

6. Guidelines for the Resource Conservation Agreement

This document lists a set of guidelines that were developed through a series of consensus discussions -- among private landowners, conservation interests and representatives of government agencies -- on how the Resource Conservation Agreement concept should be carried out and applied to individual parcels of land. Again, when done, click the back button to return to this page.

7. The Property Analysis Record

This page describes a database developed through grants from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to accurately determine the costs of each type of management activity that could be carried out over time to maintain habitats for endangered species, wetlands and other natural resources. It is possible this database could be used as a basis for determining an acreage rate that accurately reflects the value of each service provided by a landowner under the proposed "Resource Conservation Agreement." Again, when done, click the back button to return to this page.

8. Criteria for Evaluating Private Lands

This proposal was developed by Martin B. Main, Ph.D., a wildlife ecologist at the University of Florida, to help in determining which parcels of land should receive priority in offering "Resource Conservation Agreements" -- or incentives to participate in conservation programs -- to landowners. This proposal focuses on preservation of the endangered Florida panther, but could be modified to include criteria for other natural resources. Again, when done, click the back button to return to this page.

9. Discussion about the Resource Conservation Agreement

This page reports on the discussion that occurred regarding the outline of the Resource Conservation Agreement at the October 1998 workshop. Some of the questions you may have about this agreement may be answered by reviewing the discussions that occurred to reach consensus among the workshop participants. Again, when done, click the back button to return to this page.

10. Working Draft of the Resource Conservation Agreement

This is a complete working draft of the proposed Resource Conservation Agreement. Your comments and input are welcome.

11. Exhibits & Attachments for the Resource Conservation Agreement

This is a detailed outline of the 4 Exhibits and 10 Attachments that will be a part of the Resource Conservation Agreement.

12. Provisional Contract

This outline describes a proposed provisional contract, that would be used to provide payments to private landowners who wish to participate in a Resource Conservation Agreement and to the organization and/or agency that would oversee the agreement during a two-year planning period while baseline data is gathered, documents are prepared and the formal Resource Conservation Agreement is being negotiated.

To see how this concept can be applied to a parcel of property, click on:

Model Project: Hall's Tiger Bay Ranch	This is a copy of the documentation prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service for the project's model project.
Pilot Projects: 20 landowners - 170,000 acres	Twenty landowners, with 170,000 acres of land, have expressed interest in being the first to participate a pilot project to demonstrate the value of the Resource Conservation Agreement. This page includes brief descriptions of each property and the reasons why the owners wish to participate.

Also:

Quick Update:
Quick Update

Here's where you can quickly update yourself on activities related to this project. You may want to bookmark this page, to obtain its succinct one-paragraph summary of activities that is posted each month.

Thank you for taking the time to review these documents. If you wish to explore some of the other pages in this site, please click on your choice below: