While some of these activities still go on because of Corps of Engineers permit, others must be discouraged by the fear that their property will be taken. Current programs create perverse disincentives that devalue land if it contains rare wildlife or habitat the last thing you should do to make some more plentiful. Government environmental regulations which take private property hurt conservation. In a free market with protected private property each resource manager is encouraged to ensure that his resource is not only valuable today but in the future as well. As a result, the individual closest to the resource has an incentive to actively engage in determining what are the best practices for his particular site and situation as no government regulator will ever be able to do.
Successful conservation is dependent upon protected private property.