Developing New Tools to De-Risk Wildlife Occupancy on Private Lands

Private lands support much of the biodiversity in North America, but supporting wildlife can be costly for landowners. Innovative tools are needed to reduce the risks that wildlife pose to private landowners while conserving biodiversity. Here, we present a range of innovative tools that have effectively been used to "de-risk" wildlife occupancy of private lands in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Lessons learned from these risk reduction strategies inform conservation more broadly by highlighting the importance of economic and risk-management considerations to wildlife conservation on private lands. Incorporating de-risking tools into the wildlife conservation toolbox can help conservation practitioners more strategically allocate resources to benefit wildlife and the private lands that help support them. This work presents a range of innovative tools that have successfully been used to "de-risk" wildlife occupancy of private working lands. By reconciling the economic interests of private landowners with the goals of conservationists, these tools have improved conservation outcomes on and around working lands. Lessons learned from implementing these new risk-reduction tools can help conservation practitioners more strategically allocate resources to benefit wildlife and the private lands that help support them. image