2.6 Owner, agency, and political climate are amenable to in-water, private conservation project.

Successful implementation of proprietary conservation projects in ocean and coastal waters will likely require the direct approval of owners and regulatory agencies, and may require the indirect approval of political figures. If land and resource owners, regulatory agencies, and political figures are not amenable to private, in-water marine conservation projects, then the project is likely not feasible at the present time. Given this, organizations must gain an understanding of how conservation leasing or ownership project proposals will be received by entities that ultimately must approve it. This issue is of utmost importance if the lands and resources in question are publicly owned and managed. If the lands and resources are privately owned, then management agencies and political figures will have less influence over the project unless critical regulatory permits are needed.

Owners and Agencies

Lands and resources lying within ocean and coastal waters may be publicly or privately owned. If they are publicly owned, the lands and resources may be managed by government agencies at the local, state, or federal levels. These government agencies may have both proprietary (ownership) and regulatory (legal) responsibilities for the lands and resources. When a single agency has both roles, conservation organizations will have to acquire proprietary interests (through leasing or ownership) and acquire regulatory permits (for activities such as restoration) from the same agency. This is a simplified and often times less complicated situation. If, however, different agencies manage the proprietary aspects of the lands and resources than those that oversee the regulatory aspects of the same lands and resources, conservation organizations will have to deal with separate agencies to acquire the proprietary and regulatory authorizations.

Whichever the case, it is likely that owners and regulatory agencies will lease, sell property rights, or issue permits only when they agree with the conservation organization's goals for the site. While the owners and agencies may have different underlying motivations for leasing or selling the lands or resources and issuing permits, if there is general agreement over the long-term status of the lands or resources, then authorizations are more likely to be received. As such, it is vital to understand the owner's and agencies' perspectives related to the use of the site. Organizations should carefully develop and articulate their conservation goals to better align with the land and resource owner's perspective and the regulatory agencies' criteria. Stated goals such as restoring habitat, providing public use, or undertaking scientific research may be more acceptable than goals such as protecting viewsheds, prohibiting consumptive uses (such as hunting and fishing), or preventing proposed development projects.

In dealing with public agencies, a step that many conservation organizations overlook is to first undertake some research of the laws and rules that govern those specific agencies. However laudable a conservation goal may be, initial success in attracting the attention of a public agency and eventually selling them on the project depends upon the ability to clearly and concisely state it in terms that are reflected in the statutory goals of the public agency. When possible, the exact terms found in the governing statutes should be used.

Similarly, conservation organizations often embrace certain buzz words that are only meaningful for their organization. To the extent that these terms are equally embraced by public agencies, they can be helpful. However, when it becomes apparent that they are not, the conservation organization should strive to restate their strategies in terms that are common and accepted within the target agency.

Politics    

Projects must also be viewed within a positive political climate to be successful. Given this, it is essential to understand the political aspects and concerns related to conservation leasing and ownership in each area. Assessing the political acceptability of projects will likely need to be undertaken at all appropriate local, state, and federal levels. Many conservation organizations have government relations and external affairs staff in addition to established processes for evaluating risks, including risks related to political matters and relationships. Such staff and processes should be involved in project decision-making at this point (if not before).