The boundaries between public and private lands are often blurred in the context of natural resources, wildlife, and conservation benefits. The health of one is intricately interconnected with the health of the other. 

With 70 percent of land in the United States privately owned, it’s imperative that property owners have incentives to invest in conservation that benefits them and the wider environmental landscape. By doing conservation with landowners rather than to landowners, we can enlist them as partners in conservation, rewarding individual efforts and incentivizing cooperation. 

Likewise, we can strengthen the effectiveness of public land management by harnessing the power of entrepreneurship, markets, and cooperative partnerships—all while retaining federal ownership. Today, PERC explores reforms that could provide public land managers with greater freedom and flexibility to implement creative, locally responsible solutions, whether it’s charter forests, conservation leasing, outcome-based grazing permits, or cooperative management with states and local communities. 

Fostering holistic conservation practices across public and private lands can have a broader and more lasting impact.