Removing Barriers to Restoration

Secretary Nichols asked the Task Force to examine four of the most common barriers— the regulatory review process, public funding bottlenecks, personal liability issues, and endangered species/private property issues. The Task Force discussed these barriers from both the landowners’ and the regulators’ points of view, reviewed existing efforts to resolve them, and brainstormed other possible solutions to create incentives and motivate people to do this important conservation work, or perhaps more importantly, to remove the disincentives and barriers for those who already have the desire. The Task Force recommends ten different actions that could reduce these barriers and encourage restoration activities.