This lesson has permeated every aspect of the linkage designs that are now being successfully implemented in southern California. The Missing Linkages report (http://scwildlands.org) was a map of potential linkage areas at risk. The next step was to identify the top priorities for detailed plans and immediate action. Instead of relying solely on scientists to prioritize linkages, we invited every interested party to another workshop to select criteria. After participants saw the priorities resulting from the first weighting scheme, they argued to change the weights. It took forever, but at the end of the day, each participant agreed that the final criteria were better than the scheme each of us had advocated at the start of the day. And everybody owned the final priorities.