News For Immediate Release
August 24, 2020
Contact: Rupert Munro, 406-587-9591, rupert@perc.org
(Bozeman, Montana) — On Monday, August 24, PERC was named one of six finalists for the prestigious Templeton Freedom Award. This prize nomination, which is presented by Atlas Network, recognizes PERC’s leadership in endangered species recovery through the advancement of our recent Endangered Species Act reform recommendations.
“PERC’s policy wins illuminate how positive environmental outcomes are best achieved by aligning incentives with landowners,” said Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network. “PERC has proven that we can transcend the top-down strategies of old that proved wasteful and ineffective; its work shows how to spur innovation from the bottom up, in the interest of protecting nature.”
PERC’s reforms, which increase recovery by aligning incentives for landowners and species, proposed restoring a “two-step” approach to the Endangered Species Act, clarifying species-specific listing and delisting criteria and rolling back regulatory expansions that discourage private conservation. These recommendations were aligned with reforms signed by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on August 12, 2019.
“We are excited and honored that PERC’s unique, incentive-based approach to the environment has earned us a spot as a finalist for the prestigious Templeton Freedom Award,” said Brian Yablonski, CEO of PERC. “This recognition will highlight the positive impact PERC’s market-based conservation is having on the environment and equip us to bring our message to an even larger audience.”
As part of PERC’s “Recovering Endangered Species” initiative, recommendations were also made to reduce wild horse and burro populations, which currently stand at more than three times the public range’s capacity, causing stress on the ecosystem and competition with endangered species. Through an incentive-payment-based adoption program suggested by PERC, the Bureau of Land Management has increased horse and burro adoptions by 91% in the first year of the program, saving taxpayers $170 million in future costs.
The winner of the Templeton Freedom Award will be announced on November 12, 2020.
You can support PERC’s efforts here and sign up to receive our magazine and emails here.
About Atlas Network’s 2020 Templeton Freedom Award
Awarded annually since 2004, Atlas Network’s Templeton Freedom Award is named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. This prestigious prize honors Sir John’s legacy by recognizing Atlas Network’s partner organizations for exceptional and innovative contributions to the understanding of free enterprise and the advancement of public policies that encourage prosperity, innovation, and human fulfillment. The Templeton Freedom Award is generously supported by Templeton Religion Trust and will be presented during Atlas Network’s Freedom Dinner on Nov. 12. The winning organization will receive a $100,000 prize, and five additional finalists will receive $20,000 prizes.
About Atlas Network
Atlas Network increases opportunity and prosperity by strengthening a global network of independent civil society organizations that promote individual freedom and remove barriers to human flourishing.
