Trends in private land conservation

Increasing complexity, shifting conservation purposes and allowable private land uses

Bibliographic Data

ID11463189
AuthorsJessica Owley (0000-0001-5053-0753, University of Miami, corresponding author), Adena R Rissman (0000-0001-8566-3708, University of Wisconsin–Madison)
Year2016
Volume51
Pages76-84
Publication date2016-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLand Use Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0264-8377 • E-ISSN: 1873-5754
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.10.026
OpenAlexW2179707546
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited16

The terrain of private-land conservation dealmaking is shifting. As the number of acres of private land protected for conservation increases, our understanding of what it means for a property to be "conserved" is shifting. We examined 269 conservation easements and conducted 73 interviews with land conservation organizations to investigate changes in private-land conservation in the United States. We hypothesized that since 2000, conservation easements have become more complex but less restrictive. Our analysis reveals shifts in what it means for private land to be "conserved." We found that conservation easements have indeed become more complex, with more purposes and terms after 2000 compared to conservation easements recorded before 2000. However, changes in restrictiveness of conservation easements varied by land use. Mining and waste dumping were less likely to be allowed after 2000, but new residences and structures were twice as likely to be allowed. We found a shift toward allowing some bounded timber harvest and grazing, and a decline in terms that entirely allow or prohibit these working land uses. Interviews revealed staff perceptions of reasons for these changes. Our analysis suggests that "used" landscapes are increasingly important for conservation but that conserving these properties stretches the limits of simple, perpetual policy tools and requires increasingly complex and contingent agreements

Business · Easement · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Land use · Natural resource economics · Political science · Private property · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Economic and Environmental Valuation · Forest Management and Policy · Ecology

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