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The Interior Department is expanding its efforts to save one of North America's most critically endangered amphibians—the Wyoming toad. This month, the Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced the creation of the Wyoming Toad Conservation Area, which was made possible through a sale from private landowner to a conservation nonprofit, and ultimately the federal government, which purchased more than 1,000 acres through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The new designation is the 13th conservation area managed by USFWS, which for most of its history only managed wildlife refuges on federal lands. The new conservation areas are focused on voluntary conservation easements on private land. High Country News reports that plans are underway for another two conservation areas, in Montana and Florida.
Nearby, Laramie Basin landowner Fred Lindzey provides habitat for the toads and works with the USFWS to facilitate regular surveys on his land. Under a safe harbor agreement, USFWS agreed to not demand more conservation work from Lindzey without his consent.
The combination of tools and designations being used to help the Wyoming toad across public and private land are the sorts of examples that the Center for Western Priorities highlighted in our recent Conservation Toolbox report—and a demonstration of how collaboration is the key to conservation wins.
“When we invest in a species like the Wyoming toad, we really can turn it around,” USFWS Director Martha Williams told High Country News. “This is a perfect example of what we can do when we persevere and give a species time, and when we all work together toward its long-term recovery.”
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There was this idea that you would take the people out of living in these protected spaces, but they could come and they could visit and they could enjoy the natural environment, and we would protect that environment up to an extent. But Indigenous presence is vital to the stewardship of the land.” 
