Our Approach to Restoring Land, Water & Wildlife

In June 2007, the American bald eagle was officially removed from the endangered species list. This victory is inspiration to continue protecting imperiled wildlife.

Environmental Defense works with landowners, businesses, indigenous groups and others to restore ecosystems and protect biodiversity.

We seek to leverage market incentives and other innovative financing options to drive billions of dollars in government and private funds towards rehabilitating major rivers and coastal delta systems, reversing the decline of rare habitats and bringing endangered species back from the brink of extinction.

Revolutionizing conservation

Farmers, ranchers and private forest owners manage more than 70% of the landscape of the contiguous U.S. Their agricultural practices have a dramatic impact on air, water quality and wildlife habitat. And yet, two out of three farmers are turned down when they seek funding to make environmental improvements on their land. This year, Congress has an unprecedented opportunity to reshape federal farm policy.

Environmental Defense is championing efforts to ensure the 2007 Farm Bill moves away from damaging farm subsidies while dramatically expanding conservation programs that will reward more farmers. In  July, the House passed legislation that includes many of our recommendations to improve conservation programs and increases conservation spending by $4.5 billion over five years.  But it failed to deliver major subsidy reforms.  Our focus has now shifted to the Senate, which will take up work on the Farm Bill this fall. (More on our farm campaign: Healthy Farms, Healthy Foods.)

Coastal and watershed ecosystems

A new report we prepared with the National Wildlife Federation warns of the need to rethink flood management in the face of global warming. We are calling on Congress to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to focus on flood control and environmental restoration and to establish independent review of high price projects.

Restoring wetlands

Hurricane Katrina brought into stark relief the need to restore Louisiana’s vanishing coastal wetlands. Scientists say 2.7 miles of wetlands can soak up as much as one foot of storm surge. We are working with the state of Louisiana and others to ensure major restoration projects are undertaken to protect the Gulf coastline. (More on our coastal Lousiana work.)

Protecting our rivers

Across the country, we are working with farmers, government agencies and local groups to reduce pollution from agricultural activities and restore the river flows and the native river bank habitat that is so vital to biodiversity and clean water. Priority areas for this work include the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, the Chesapeake Bay, the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, the Great Lakes, Texas and the Colorado River Delta.  All are vital ecosystems that provide fresh water and vital habitats for birds, fish and other species. (More on our rivers and delta work.)

Cleaning up the hog industry

Hog farming is big business in North Carolina.  But 10 million hogs produce a mind-boggling amount of waste that pollutes the water and air. Environmental Defense has worked with stakeholders on this issue for more than a decade.  And this summer, North Carolina became the first state to ban new hog lagoons.  The law sets standards for new waste systems and gives farmers incentives to use innovative technologies to convert existing lagoons.  We recently released an influential analysis showing that installing cleaner waste management systems would create thousands of new jobs. (More on our hog work.)

Bringing species back

Most at-risk species in the U.S depend on private land for survival. We pioneered a program that provides farmers, ranchers and other land managers with financial incentives to restore habitats for endangered species, without the fear of incurring additional responsibilities in the future. Since its debut 12 years ago, Safe Harbor has expanded to include dozens of species on more than 3 million acres nationwide. (More on our endangered species work.)

Tax incentives

We helped design legislation sponsored by a bipartisan group of Senators that would award $400 million dollars a year in new tax credits to private landowners who help endangered species on their property. Our goal is to restore and remove from the endangered species list 15 species, including the red-cockaded woodpecker, Aplomado falcon, and bog turtle. (More on our law and policy work.)

Posted: 27-Jul-2007; Updated: 27-Aug-2007