Today, we’re talking about one of the most powerful – and often polarizing – conservation tools in the country: the Endangered Species Act. 

For over 50 years, the ESA has helped bring species like the bald eagle and black-footed ferret back from the brink. But for many private landowners, the law has also created unintended consequences – making it harder, not easier, to do the right thing for wildlife. 

So how do we get beyond conflict and litigation to real conservation results – for species and for the people who steward the land? 

To help us explore that question, Lesli Allison, our CEO at Western Landowners Alliance, sits down with Leo Miranda. Leo is the Executive Director of Conservation Without Conflict and the former Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a landowner himself. 

Together, they talk about how trust, transparency, and voluntary partnerships have transformed conservation in the Southeast – and what it would take to scale those solutions across the country. 

listen

links

Learn more about Leo Mirinda’s organization, Conservation Without Conflict  

Leo mentions this book by Lowell E. Baier, Inside the Equal Access to Justice Act 

Hear more from Leo in this live conversation in Ed Roberson’s Mountain and Prairie podcast.  

Hear more from Leo in this episode of Working Wild University: What can pollinators teach us about the future of conservation? 

Credits

On Land is a production of Western Landowners Alliance, a West-wide organization of landowners, natural resource managers and partners dedicated to keeping working lands whole and healthy for the benefit of people and wildlife. This episode was hosted by Lesli Allison and produced by Zach Altman. Booking by Joanna Stanley.

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