The Conservation easement has become a popular tool for land protection in the past few decades. Whether this development restriction will necessarily decrease the land value is an empirical question. This study employs a hedonic pricing approach to test empirically the effects of conservation easements on land values. The econometric results indicate that conservation easements can slightly increase the land values, but the effect is statistically insignificance. Considering the limited dataset, the interpretation of the results warrant some caution. / Master of Science

The use of conservation easements has been increasing in the United States. However, patterns of growth over time are different for individual states. Little is known on how determinants of conservation easements interact with one another and affect the choice of conservation approaches. The study objective was to analyze conservation easement trends and examine underlying choice determinants in the United States. Panel data models were employed to assess determinants of easement acres and contracts from 1995 to 2015. Findings revealed that the northern United States has the most percentage of land area under conservation easements. The growth in conservation easements was positively related to gross state products, land market values, air quality, and land use, while it was negatively related to state population density, conservation spending, easement duration and endangered species. Public policymakers would use these findings to integrate easement efforts into local planning to meet conservation and land-use objectives.

Farmland preservation has long been viewed by the public as a worthwhile endeavor. A public program can be set up to bring willing buyers and sellers together to facilitate the transfer of development rights. The farmer is paid for the opportunity cost of forfeiting the development rights to the land, while the general public is taxed the amount of their total benefit created by the existence of farmland. Through the data from an attribute-based choice survey (conducted in four geographic areas) the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of the public to preserve farmland that exhibited certain attributes, was estimated. The attributes included different use (grain, hay, vegetable, pasture, forest), location (near urban), quality (prime), size (varied acreage relative to geographic area sampled), and cost (varied costs from $3 to $50) components. Selection bias was tested for in order to confirm that the respondents are an unbiased representation of the geographic areas sampled. If selection bias was present, it would need to be corrected for in order to aggregate the survey results to the population of the geographic areas. Selection bias was tested for using a bivariate probit model with sample selection, a variation on the Heckman correction model. Selection bias was not significant, so the choice model was estimated using a probit model. The response was dependent on the use, location, quality, size, and cost components. Based on the parameter estimates, the geographic areas were compared using the scale parameter. A variation of the Swait and Louviere method was used to find the optimal scale parameter ratios between pair-wise geographic areas. Heterogeneity of the parameter estimates as well as heterogeneity of variances was tested. Prime farmland was significant and positive in all geographic areas, suggesting it should be included in the national ranking criteria for a farmland preservation program. WTP by household for each attribute was reported. Additionally, the WTP was aggregated to provide a hypothetical range of the monetary benefit farmland provides for the residents of each geographic area. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to show how organizations involved with the Hearst Ranch Conservation Easement negotiations might have used the feedback loop characteristic of two-way Symmetrical communication theory to reach consensus on the Hearst Ranch Conservation Agreement. Conservation easements are complex situations and each has separate and distinct goals, constraints, compromises, funding mechanisms, and public values. This study analyzed public documents from seven different organizations that provided input in the public consultations regarding the Hearst Ranch Conservation Easement, which completed in 2005. This study concluded that one of the communication methods adopted during the Hearst Ranch Conservation Negotiation was Hunt and Grunig’s two-way symmetrical communication theory.

What motivates agricultural-land owners to use conservation easements? As these legal tools have become a popular strategy for private land conservation in the U.S., a growing body of literature is examining how and why landowners conserve their properties through conservation easements. This research project expands upon environmental, geographical and rural land development literature through a qualitative fieldwork study of 34 private, conservation landowners associated with the Franklin Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization in western Massachusetts. The study identifies a broad range of environmental, social, spiritual and financial motivations for agricultural-land owners to conserve their properties, and indicates that for the vast majority of study participants certain motivations were more important than others depending on landowners’ level of reliance on their land to sustain their livelihoods. Using this classification criterion, landowner profiles identified in this study include full-time farmers, supplemental-income farmers, and farmland retreat owners. For most of the landowners within the biggest group—the full-time farmers—the most important motivation to conserve was financial; particularly, to obtain a cash payment to improve the economic viability of their farming operation. Nonetheless, the financial motivation was not the only important one for the 34 landowners, nor was it always the most important. This study makes two additional contributions to land conservation research. First, it examines agricultural-land conservation through phenomenological approaches to the study of place. In this regard, findings suggest landowners and land trust staff members have different relationships with the conserved land and its surroundings and, therefore, different senses of place. Second, the study frames agricultural-land conservation through conservation easements as a potential aspect of rural sustainability with respect to the economic, social, and environmental benefits of conservation, from the point of view of both agricultural-land owners and a land trust. The findings also indicate that the landowners of this study were generally very satisfied with the outcomes of using conservation easements despite drawbacks. Overall, this study contributes to land conservation studies through an analysis of individual motivations and experiences that shape the decisions of agricultural-land owners to grant conservation easements.

Since 1980's, there have been many changes in the system of nature protection of the Czech Republic. Private environmental groups -- land trusts -- evolved. Institutions and social norms have become more important. The thesis compares institutional framework of conservation in the Czech Republic, based on rentals, voluntary agreements and ownership, with American land trust movement and its system of conservation easements, supported by both federal and local governments.

This is a study of conservation easements of forestland in the Northern forest Region of New York State. Forestland easements are the subset of conservation easements encumbering forestland. As of 1995, there were 79 of these forestland easements within the study area. Of this total of 79 forestland easements, 50 were granted as donations and the remaining 29 were granted in sales. Most forestland easement donors were individuals or related individuals. Forestland easement sellers are split between industrial owners and individuals. Eight forestland easement grantees in the Northern Forest Region were identified. This group of grantees includes one public agency and national, regional, and local land trusts. Deeds to the forestland easements inventoried in this study contain 155 separate variables. These variables reflect the differences in encumbered properties, ownership goals of grantors, and land management goals of grantees. Deed information shows that forestland easements have a broad common purpose of preventing change or directing change in an acceptable manner. The specifics of preventing and directing change will vary with each property. The limits of acceptable change are a large part of working out the agreement between grantor and grantee. Interviews with both donors and sellers reveal that, in retrospect, most are satisfied with their decision to grant the forestland easement. Analysis of forestland easement deed content reveals embedded potential future problems for owners of encumbered properties. Recommendations contained in this report provide guidance for landowners considering the grant of a forestland easement and suggestions for deed content. Most landowners made forestland easement granting decisions that are favorable from their perspective, but less than optimal from outside observation. / Ph. D.

Conservation easements are increasingly becoming a popular land use control for landowners, government agencies and non-profit conservation organizations. These legal documents restrict a landowner's development rights and constrain other property uses. The landowner (grantor) voluntarily places an easement on his or her property, while the government agency or qualified conservation organization (grantee) holds it in perpetuity. While the Land Trust Alliance's (LTA) most recent estimate of easement-protected land amounts to nearly 2.6 million acres in 2000, an estimate of forestland protected is nonexistent. Additionally, no empirical studies address forest management on current easements nationwide, although a few studies address forestry at the state- or regional-level. As a result, this survey was designed to address three goals by sampling 1,527 conservation organizations and 63 state government agencies that may hold conservation easements. The first goal estimates total forestland protected. The second goal determines forestry restrictions commonly found in current easements. The third goal ascertains the impact of easements on forest management and timber supply. Survey results show that over 536 conservation organizations and 20 state agencies hold over 16,025 conservation easements on 4.9 million acres of all land types. Of these totals, a minimum of 3,598 easements protect over 2.5 million forestland acres. Forest management restrictions tend to vary based on the protected property's forest resources. The desires of the grantee holding the easement also influence the type and level of forestry restrictions. To date, conservation easement restrictions do not appear to impact timber supply nationally, although local or regional timber supply may be impacted in the future, especially in the Northeast. Several conclusions offer technical insights on forestland protection by conservation easements. First, grantees should complete a baseline forest inventory prior to placing an easement on a forested property. This inventory provides a basis for drafting effective easement provisions and permits future monitoring. Second, grantees should encourage professionally-written forest management plans on every working forest easement. Third, all conservation organizations need to work cooperatively with government agencies in locating potential conservation lands. GIS/GPS technology helps demonstrate the spatial relationship of conservation easements to other government-protected lands, promoting efficient location of properties that augment other protected lands. / Master of Science

The diploma thesis identifies the motivation of the land trusts in the Czech Republic and analyses the institutional environment, in which they work. Furthermore, it defines the factors influencing the activity and efficiency of the private land conservation and explores its relationship with the biodiversity conservation provided by the public sector. The method used is an analytical narrative consisting of the combination of oral narration and socio-economic analytical methods. Interviews with selected land trusts managers were carried out and original case studies were created. As emerged from the analysis, land trusts are created in order to complete the state biodiversity conservation, upon which they are dependent mainly as far as money is concerned. The land trusts have most of the areas in a long-term tenancy. They do not have enough money to buy the areas. This is also proved by the shortage in business activities in comparison with foreign countries. The situation of private conservation abroad was examined as well and compared with the situation in this country. The main contribution of this diploma thesis is the fact that it creates the overview of private biodiversity conservation in the Czech Republic and abroad as one of the first thesis.