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.

Legal instruments of ensuring access to land This thesis is concerned with an analysis of legal instruments of private and public law, which are able to ensure an access to land. The thesis is written from a perspective of a land owner without an access or with a difficult access to his land. Hence the content of this thesis is limited to legal instruments protecting such owner. The aim of the thesis is to cover all the legal options of ensuring an access to land, provide a detailed analysis of each instrument and further consider its frequency and suitability for general practice. In addition, I also present comparison of the instruments from the aspect of procedural law. Within the thesis I make an extensive use of case law, which illustrates both the potential development of legislation and familiarizes the reader with an abstract legal terminology by its application to real-life situations. The thesis is divided into nine chapters, whereas the chapter one provides a classification of the legal instruments from the private and public law perspective and a classification into a voluntary and a forced access. This chapter is followed by an enumeration of each instrument of ensuring an access to land. Firstly, there are listed the private law instruments, i.e., lease, easement, necessary passage, statutory...

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

Utveckling sker konstant i Sverige och det innebär fler ledningar i marken vilket leder till fler frågor om juridiska rättigheter. Elnätet är uppdelat i tre olika storlekar; stamnät, regionnät och lokalnät. Elnätet är en viktig del i infrastrukturen och det bör då juridiskt skyddas genom till exempel ledningsrätt eller avtalsservitut. Problematik kan uppstå kring elledningarnas juridiska rättigheter såsom när en överlåtelse sker m.m. Därmed är det viktigt att undersöka hur elledningar juridiskt bör skyddas. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur elbolagen juridiskt skyddar sina elledningar samt för- och nackdelar med de juridiska rättigheterna utifrån elbolagens och lantmäterimyndigheternas åsikter. Syftet är även att belysa vilket det mest förekommande problemet kring juridiska rättigheter av elledningar är. De frågeställningar som upprättades utefter syftet var: Hur skyddar elbolag juridiskt rätten till sina elledningar? Vilka för- och nackdelar finns det för de olika juridiska rättigheterna utifrån elbolagens samt lantmäterimyndigheternas åsikter? Vilket är det mest förekommande problemet elbolag har kring juridiska rättigheter av elledningar? Genom en kvalitativ metod i form av en intervjustudie kunde underlag till studien fås. Intervjustudien bestod av 16 intervjuer med sakkunniga personer inom området från elbolag och lantmäterimyndigheter. Då studien skulle täcka hela Sverige valdes elbolag och lantmäterikontor med en geografisk spridning. Studien visar att elbolag juridiskt skyddar sina elledningar beroende på dess storlek. Studien visar även på skillnaden mellan elbolagens och lantmäterimyndigheternas åsikter kring för- och nackdelar med de juridiska rättigheterna. Problematik kan uppstå beroende på vem som äger marken där ledningen ska anläggas. / Sweden is constantly developing and it means more lines in the ground, which leads to more questions about their legal rights. The electricity grid is divided into three different sizes; the core network, the regional network and the local network. The electricity grid is an important part of the infrastructure, and it should be legally protected through for example, utility easement or agreement easement.. Issues may arise about the legal rights of power lines such as when a transfer occurs, etc. Thus it is important to examine how the power lines should be legally protected. The purpose of the study is to examine how the electricity companies legally protect their power lines, as well as the pros and cons of the legal rights, based on the aspects of electricity companies and cadastral authorities. The purpose is also to highlight the most common issue regarding the legal rights on power lines. The questions that were formulated according to the purpose were: How do electricity companies legally protect their power lines? What are the pros and cons of the legal rights based on the views of electricity companies and surveyors? What is the most common problem that electric companies have about legal rights of power lines? By using a qualitative method in form of an interview study, the data for the study has been obtained. The interview study consisted of 16 interviews with experts from electricity companies and cadastral authorities. As the study should cover all of Sweden, electricity companies and land surveyors were selected with a geographical spread. The study shows that electricity companies legally protect their power lines depending on their size. The study also shows the differences between the electricity companies and the cadastral authorities ́ views on the pros and cons of the legal rights. Issues may occur depending on who owns the land where the lines are to be constructed.

This Master’s thesis is focused on the easement of a trail and a path on a lands in Boskovice city. It devotes himself to the creation, extinction and rights that related to their ownership. It includes valuation of selected lands - using the locally usual price, the yield method according to the law and the price agreed in the contract for the establishment of a trail and a path. Subsequently is made their comparison.

När en ledningsägare behöver ta en annan markägares mark i anspråk görs det oftast genom att upprätta ett avtalsservitut, nyttjanderätt eller genom en ledningsrättsförrättning. Det kan då uppstå problem när förrättningslantmätaren ska bilda en ledningsrätt då det avtal som ligger till grund antingen kan innehålla för få eller för många avtalspunkter som inte är möjliga för Lantmäteriet att besluta om. Det kan även resultera i utredningar gällande vilka sakägare som innehar avtal samt vilka som saknar avtal. En kostnadsutredning kan krävas som antingen har sin värdetidpunkt i samband med förrättningen eller vid en tidigare tidpunkt i de fall ledningsägaren redan har påbörjat sitt arbete enligt överenskommelse med markägaren men inte beslutat om ersättning. Då behöver förrättningslantmätaren utföra en uträkning med hjälp av konsumentprisindex (KPI). Det är mycket ovanligt att ett avtalsservitut i sin helhet kan omvandlas till ledningsrätt, även om detta enligt lag är möjligt. Ibland upplöses avtalsservituten i samband med förrättningen, medan de i vissa fall ligger kvar vid bildandet av ledningsrätt och därmed finns gamla rättigheter kvar som sedan väcks till liv igen i de fall ledningsrätten upphävs. Det förekommer även att servitutet är till förmån för ett annat bolag än de som söker ledningsrätten på grund av att det har skett ett ägarbyte av anläggningen sedan det ursprungliga avtalet. Den slutsats författaren kommit fram till är att ett förberedande avtal med markägaren båda kan underlätta eller försvåra arbetet för förrättningslantmätaren som handlägger förrättningen. Detta eftersom förrättningen kan kräva längre tid och bli mer kostsamt i de fall omfattande utredningar samt bedömningar behöver göras, samtidigt kan ett förberedande avtal även underlätta handläggningen i de fall delar av förrättningen redan är beslutade mellan ledningsägare och markägare. Intervjuer med förrättningslantmätare, ledningsägare och en studie av förrättningsakter har visat att det stora problemet grundar sig på att parterna ställer olika krav på avtalen. Genom de intervjuer som genomförts framkom det även att ledningsrättsförrättningar ofta uppfattas som enkla ärenden och lämnas då åt nyblivna och oerfarna förrättningslantmätare som är i större behov av stöttning och handledning. Genom denna studie har författaren fått uppfattningen av att det finns ett behov av en tydligare dialog mellan Lantmäteriet och ledningsägarna. / When a utility owner needs to take over another landowner's land, this is usually done by establishing a contractual easement, right of use or through a management right transaction. Problems can then arise when the administrative surveyor is to form a management right as the underlying agreement can either contain too few or too many agreement points that are not possible for the National Land Survey to decide on. It can also result in investigations regarding which stakeholders have agreements and which do not. A cost assessment may be required that either has its value date in connection with the transaction or at an earlier time in cases where the management owner has already begun his work in agreement with the landowner but has not decided on compensation. Then the business surveyor needs to perform a calculation using the consumer price index (CPI). It is very unusual for a contractual easement in its entirety to be converted into management rights, even if this is possible by law. Sometimes the contractual easements are dissolved in connection with the procedure, while in some cases they remain at the formation of management rights and thus old rights remain which are then revived in cases where the management rights are revoked. It also happens that the easement is in favour of a company other than the one seeking the right of management due to the fact that there has been a change of ownership of the facility since the original agreement. The conclusion the author has reached is that a preparatory agreement with the landowner can both facilitate or complicate the work for the administrative surveyor who handles the procedure. This is because the procedure may require longer time and become more costly in cases where extensive investigations and assessments need to be made, at the same time a preparatory agreement can also facilitate the processing in cases where parts of the procedure have already been decided between management and landowners. Interviews with administrative surveyors, management owners and a study of administrative documents have shown that the most essential problem is based on the parties placing different demands on the agreements. Through the interviews that were conducted, it also emerged that management rights services are often perceived as simple matters and are then left to new and inexperienced business surveyors who are in greater need of support and guidance. Through this study, the author has gained the impression that there is a need for a clearer dialogue between Lantmäteriet and the management owners.

Den som är sakägare i en förrättning eller process har rätt att föra sin talan. Det vill säga rättatt inkomma med yrkanden, överklaga beslut och i vissa fall rätt till ersättning. Vidlantmäteriförrättningar, enligt bland annat ledningsrättslagen, avgör förrättningslantmätarenvilka som är sakägare och får föra sin talan i förrättningen.Ledningsrätt gör det möjligt för en ledningshavare att dra fram och ha sina allmännyttigaledningar i annans mark. Lantmäterimyndigheten prövar frågan vid en ledningsrättsförrättningenligt bestämmelser i ledningsrättslagen (fortsätt LL) och i ett antal frågor blir dessutomfastighetsbildningslagen (fortsatt FBL) tillämplig.Vilka som ska vara sakägare vid en ledningsrättsförrättning behandlas i LL 18 § jämte FBL 4kap. 11 §. Bestämmelsen i FBL stadgar att förrättningslantmätaren ska utreda vilka som ärsakägare i förrättningen. Bestämmelsen i LL stadgar att rättighetshavare, med rätt till fastighetsom kommer att belastas av ledningsrätt, ska vara sakägare om deras rätt berörs. De syfte ochfrågeställningar som formulerats i arbetet går ut på att undersöka hur man avgör om någonsrätt berörs – och hur omfattande förrättningslantmätarens utredningsplikt är. Ett perspektiv avrättsekonomi har också adderats till undersökningen.Med utgångspunkt i syfte och frågeställningar har metoden utformats. För att undersöka hurlagstiftaren avsåg att sakägarbegreppet skulle tolkas och hanteras har förarbeten undersökts.Så även de vägledande rättsfall som finns. För att se hur begreppet tillämpas i praktiken har 40genomförda ledningsrättsförrättningar undersökts. Vidare har förrättningslantmätare ochtekniska råd intervjuats.Resultatet från undersökta förrättningsakterna visar att hanteringen av sakägarbegreppet ärmycket varierande. I vissa förrättningar är alla rättighetshavare, vars rättighet korsas sakägare.I andra är ingen av dessa sakägare. I intervjuerna förstärks bilden av att begreppet tolkas olika  och är svårt att tolka. Det finns också en varierande syn på hur strikt tolkningen ska göras ochhur omfattande utredningsplikten är.Förarbetena ger inte mycket svar i frågan om hur begreppet ska tolkas. Däremot finns ett antalrättsfall som vägledning. I rättsfall där ledningsrätten kommer att gå in på upplåtet utrymmeför en ledning (upplåten med avtalsservitut eller ledningsrätt), har domstolen ansett atträttighetshavarna ska anses vara berörda.Utifrån ett perspektiv av rättssäkerhet kan sägas att det ska vara förutsebart hur lagen kommeratt tolkas. I dessa fall skiljer sig tillämpningen åt för mycket för att vara förutsebar, något somtyder på att lagrummets utformning inte är tillräckligt tydligt för att uppfylla ett rättssäkertförfarande.Ett förtydligande eller en omformulering behövs – både ifråga om hur mycket som ska utredasoch ifråga om tolkningen av begreppet berörs. / Interested parties in a cadastral procedure or process holds the right to take legal actions. Incadastral procedures such as utility easement procedures, it is the cadastral surveyor decidingon who should be considered an interested party.Utility easement is a way for a proprietor of utility easement to ensure its right to have publicutilities in someone else’s land. In Sweden it is the cadastral authority determining if utilityeasement can be formed in a utility order according to the Utility Easement Act.The legal framework in deciding which ones should be considered as interested parties in autility easement procedure are to be found in the Utility Easement Act and the PropertyFormation Act. According to these the cadastral surveyor is responsible for investigating whoshould be interested parties in the procedure. It also says that a right-holder, with the right tospace on a property that will be claimed by the utility easement should be an interested party ifhis right is concerned.To examine how the legislator intended the law to be interpreted, the legislative history hasbeen investigated. Also, cases from court regarding this specific question has been studied forguidance in the interpretation. To investigate how cadastral surveyors’ apply the concept inutility easement procedures a study of cadastral documents has been done. In addition to thisseveral cadastral surveyors and technical judges have been interviewed to convey their viewand approach to the concept.The result shows that who is considered an interested party in the utility easement proceduresis handled differently between different cadastral procedures. The interviews reinforce thepicture of a concept that is difficult to interpret and therefore has a varying interpretation.The legislative history does not describe how to interpret the concept of interested parties. Butaccording to the cases, the court seem to have a quite low threshold for when a right-holdershould be considered as an interested party. The differences in how the concept of interested  parties according to the Utility Easement Act are interpreted indicates an inadequatelegislation.The formation of the concept of interested parties is vague which opens for a lot of differentinterpretations. A clarification is well needed, and a reformulation would be even better –both in the interpretation of the concept interested parties and the cadastral surveyors’ duty toinvestigate.

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

Conservation easements are among the fastest growing techniques for protecting land and open space. Conservation easements are legal agreements between a landowner and a conservation organization that limits or restricts entirely the right to develop a property in order to protect important conservation values associated with the property. At the heart of the conservation easement movement is the assumption that easements will protect ecologically important lands in perpetuity. However, there is little evidence that conservation easements can protect land permanently. Very few land trusts have experience in dealing with the myriad of challenges associated with long-term enforcement of conservation easements. This study sought to examine scenic easements acquired for the Blue Ridge Parkway in the 1930's and 40's and to develop an understanding of the challenges faced by the Parkway in attempting to enforce the terms of scenic easements drafted nearly 70 years ago. The scenic easements acquired for the Blue Ridge Parkways represent the first wide spread use of conservation easements in the country. The Parkway's early architects had few examples of easement programs to assist them in acquiring and managing these early forms of conservation easement nor did the NPS have the network of conservation organizations that exists today. This study reviews the process utilized by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of North Carolina to acquire scenic easements for the Blue Ridge Parkway and assesses the deeds used to convey the scenic easements from the states to the federal government. Further, this study evaluates and examines the number and types of violations of easement terms experienced by the Parkway and the various factors that may have contributed to violations of scenic easement restrictions and requests to alter/amend easements. This study also evaluates the various strategies used by the National Park Service to exchange and release scenic easements. Finally, this study concludes with a number of recommendations for improving the management of the Parkway's scenic easements and how organizations currently holding conservations can improve the stewardship of easements by incorporating adaptive management principles into their conservation easement stewardship programs. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Interactions between animal populations and their environment form the foundation of wildlife management, and provision of resources that enhance fitness produce effectual management. Hunting is a selective force that shapes behavior and other adaptations of harvested species and may subsequently impact diel habitat use. Moreover, linking habitat use to biological outcomes, such as survival, is needed to evidence habitat suitability because of equivocal relations among population density, habitat correlations, or energy availability to population dynamics. The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is among the most coveted and harvested waterfowl in North America and is a migratory species of ecological, economic, and social importance. The Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) is an ancestral and continentally important wintering area for North American mallards despite significant anthropogenic wetland transformation. Through targeted objectives and consequence of soil and water conservation, financial assistance programs have expanded waterfowl habitat on private lands in Mississippi. I radiomarked 265 female mallards and tracked their diel habitat use in winters 2010-2015 to evaluate objectives related to their wintering ecology in the MAV of Mississippi. Specifically, I investigated whether waterfowl hunting influenced use of some habitats during hunting season, the effectiveness of financial assistance programs in providing habitat, and habitat suitability through habitat specific survival rates. Females made greatest use of forested and emergent wetlands diurnally and emergent wetlands and flooded cropland at night. Results suggested that mallards did not avoid flooded cropland or emergent wetlands diurnally during hunting season, but conclusions were complicated by significant use of inviolate sanctuaries. Mallards used numerous incentivized conservation program wetlands, but use was less than public and privately managed wetlands. Among conservation programs, those with large enrollment and a focus on restoration (i.e., Wetlands Reserve Program) were most used by mallards. Apparent survival was independent of diurnal habitat use suggesting that mallards use of wetland complexes leads to their winter survival. Restoration of forested wetlands should be a management focus and easement programs provide such inroads on private lands. Public wetlands are an important source of habitat and inviolate sanctuary should be considered where waterfowl hunting is a predominate activity.