Conservation programs faced with limited budgets often use a competitive enrollment mechanism. Goals of enrollment might include minimizing program expenditures, encouraging broad participation, and inducing adoption of enhanced environmental practices. We use experimental methods to evaluate an auction mechanism that incorporates bid maximums and quality adjustments. We examine this mechanism’s performance characteristics when opportunity costs are heterogeneous across potential participants, and when costs are only approximately known by the purchaser.

Kudzu—Pueraria montana var. lobata (Willd.)—was initially planted in the southern United States and subsequently spread throughout the countryside following changes in land use. Kudzu covers more than 2.8 million ha which prevents uses such as timber production and establishment of carbon plantations. Using data collected on sites in Mississippi, this study examines the after-tax monetary trade-offs of controlling kudzu using different herbicide regimes. The results suggest that the most cost-effective way to control kudzu patches is to apply Escort XP using an aerial applicator.

Despite the potential benefits accruing from use of the rural landscape, access to farmland is a contentious issue with many landowners restricting public access. Within this context, this paper first explores general public preferences and willingness to pay for farmland walking trails in the Irish countryside. Second this paper examines farmers’ willingness to participate in a hypothetical walking scheme whereby the general public will be allowed access to specific trails.

Oregon's landmark land use planning system has been criticized for imposing large negative effects on landowners’ property values, although evidence to support these claims has been lacking. This paper examines longitudinal data for undeveloped parcels since before adoption of the planning system. The sample includes parcels under different land use regulations, and it compares Oregon to Washington.

Silvopastoral systems (SPSs) in Uruguay have been developed in the context of a recently formed plantation forestry sector. Beef cattle farmers have long been adopting forestry mostly as woodlots or SPSs. In spite of the potential complementary relationship between forestry and cattle husbandry, research in temperate regions is scarce. The objectives of this study were to identify constraints for the inclusion of forestry in cattle farms and to assess expansion potential for this land use. A survey was conducted on a sample of 104 landowners with cattle farms larger than 100 ha.

Land improvements with long pay-back periods are often delayed on leased agricultural land. The delay in improvements has been found to result in land degradation, decreased land productivity and environmental problems. An important question is thus how landowners would respond to regulations and mandates concerning land improvements. Based on a Finnish landowner survey, we analysed landowner choices under certain land improvement regulations, using the currently dominant choice of leasing land for agricultural use as the benchmark.

The voluntary nature of programs that pay landowners for conservation measures raises the question of what factors favor participation in such programs. This article focuses on the controversial issue of the impact of information on the participation decision. We develop a straightforward model to analyze how information affects this decision, and empirically estimate the impact of information, as well as other factors, on participation in a conservation program in Saxony, Germany.

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea has in Sweden led to the initiation of government schemes aiming to increase wetland areas in agricultural regions and thereby reduce nutrient transport to the sea. Landowners play a significant role as providers of this ecosystem service and are currently offered subsidies to cover their costs for constructing and maintaining wetlands. We undertook a grounded theory study, in which landowners were interviewed, aiming at identifying landowners' incentives for constructing wetlands on their land.

Much of the recent work in reducing wildland fire danger has occurred in the western and southeastern United States. However, high-risk areas do exist at the wildland-urban interface areas in the Northeast and very little work has been done to understand the fire management issues in this region. Therefore, this study used a survey of residents and landowners within the Plymouth Pine Barrens of southeastern Massachusetts to assess community members' perceptions of wildland fire risk and hazard reduction strategies.