A Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances, or CCAA, is a voluntary agreement between the public and private landowners and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the conservation of threatened or endangered species. CCAA is a powerful tool used for the recovery of imperiled species in America`s land, water, and wildlife heritage. It encourages landowners to implement specific conservation practices on their property that benefit the species and their habitats.
CCAA is an incentive-based program, and it provides some regulatory assurances for landowners who participate in this program. These assurances are designed to encourage more landowners to come forward and help in the conservation of the species. Under CCAA, landowners agree to manage their property based on a set of conservation measures, which are designed to benefit the species` survival and recovery. In return, they receive regulatory assurances provided under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act.
The regulatory assurances provided under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act are an essential part of CCAA. They provide participating landowners the certainty that their conservation efforts will not result in additional regulatory requirements or restrictions, even if the species is listed as endangered or threatened in the future. The regulatory assurances are designed to encourage landowners to engage in conservation activities that will benefit the species` recovery without fear of additional regulatory restrictions or penalties.
CCAA is a voluntary program, and participation is entirely optional for landowners. However, it is an effective way for landowners to help conserve threatened or endangered species while still being able to continue their normal land use activities. Landowners may choose to participate in CCAA through individually tailored agreements or through larger ecosystem-level agreements that cover multiple species across multiple landowners.
In conclusion, a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) is a voluntary agreement between the public and private landowners and the USFWS for the conservation of threatened or endangered species. It provides regulatory assurances to landowners who implement specific conservation practices on their property that benefit the species and their habitats. CCAA is an effective way for landowners to help conserve threatened or endangered species while still being able to continue their normal land use activities.