When Gray Skipper set out to conserve thousands of acres of his Alabama timberland, he never imagined being met with a federal penalty. In 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 30,000 acres of Skipper's property as critical habitat for the black pine snake—an elusive species seen there only once in the past 25 years. The designation undermined his family's ability to manage their land, reduced property values, and cast doubt on whether their conservation efforts would continue.

Nearly two-thirds of listed species rely on private land, but too often, implementation of the Endangered Species Act—passed in 1973—punishes the very people whose help is most needed to recover a species. Fortunately, some recent legal victories suggest that this tide may be turning and presenting a

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