Myth: It sets a bad precedent for private organizations to assume the conservation responsibilities of government agencies.

Fact: Private organizations often assist government agencies with their conservation responsibilities for legitimate reasons.

Private organizations have augmented and complemented governments' conservation roles for several decades. From an acquisition and protection perspective, this has happened mostly in terrestrial areas but is becoming more common in ocean and coastal areas. There are two fundamental reasons private organizations may want to aid governments with their marine conservation roles: 1) the responsible government agencies need assistance, or 2) the responsible government agencies may not be performing as private organizations desire.

• Agencies need assistance: Government agencies are notoriously understaffed and under-funded for the broad and geographically wide responsibilities they often hold. As a result, in some situations government agencies may simply not have the capacity to completely fulfill their conservation missions. The ability of private organizations to bring needed staffing, funding, and expertise to specific areas or to focus on specific resources can prove invaluable to government agencies.

• Agencies not performing: In some cases, private organizations may believe that government agencies are not meeting their conservation missions for reasons other than capacity. In these situations, there may be political, procedural, or philosophical reasons (among others) why the agencies and organizations disagree on how the agencies are fulfilling their conservation responsibilities. These situations provide opportunities for private organizations (especially ocean and coastal-related organizations) to obtain responsibility for ensuring conservation success. As opposed to serving in roles as advocates, policy advisors, agency watchdogs, educators, or scientists, private organizations can acquire proprietary rights to lands and resources lying within ocean and coastal waters and implement conservation activities first-hand.