Set asides and agricultural subsidies.

It has been said that there is insufficient quantity of set-asides (Wilderness Areas, National Wildlife Refuges, State reserves, Ted Turner's estate) in the U.S. It has also been noted that the Federal government's budget is chronically red. Which means (1) there really isn't much money to purchase additional pristine land to prevent development, and (2) we really ought to be looking for things to cut. Here's something to cut: agricultural subsidies. Watch what happens. Without the welfare funds Mr. and Mrs. Farmer have been depending upon as of late, Mr. and Mrs. Farmer cannot continue in their chosen profession. The farm fails. No one else can run it profitably as a farm. Which means its price will drop. In steps the Feds. At bargain prices, using the money it saved by not subsidizing food production, the Feds can snatch up this former farmland and let it go to seed. New wildlife territory. And at perhaps a negative cost to the taxpayer. Everybody wins!

[Yes, I know. Farming is important. I mean, where, other than from all our trading partners, can we get enough food to feed our people? And yes, I know. Converting farmland into wildland is not going to magically make all the wildlife come back. But it may have an impact, right?]