In a previous life, I was one of the judges of the program you are talking about, and the conservation achievements of the ranching community are nothing short of astonishing.
I would also like to talk about a recent program by the Audubon Society called the working lands program. The Audubon Society is probably the oldest bird conservation organization in northern North America, if not the world. They have a working lands program. They finally realized that working with the ranching community in the United States—this is a U.S. program.... They are “partnering with ranchers who own remaining grasslands to develop market-based management that benefits prairie birds while sustaining the livelihoods of the ranchers.” This is a very significant statement, in my view. Sustaining the livelihood of a rural community, in this case the ranching community, is absolutely critical to maintaining the ecosystem services that grasslands provide.
Mr. Masswohl, why do you think there is a view in parts of the environmental community that getting people off the land and negatively affecting the livelihoods of rural communities is an effective way to generate conservation? Why do people believe that?