Texas landowner perceptions regarding ecosystem services and cost-sharing land management programs

Olenick, Keith L.; Kreuter, Urs P.; Conner, J. Richard

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2004.09.016

Cited by 34 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Consistent with previous research, landowners preferred shorter-term contracts (Olenick et al 2005, Womack 2008, Sorice et al 2011, Rodriguez et al 2012. Landowners showed a decreasing preference for longer-term contracts, but were generally indifferent between 70-and 100-year contracts.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Increasing participation in incentive programs for biodiversity conservation

Sorice

Gartner

et al. 2013

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Engaging private landowners in conservation activities for imperiled species is critical to maintaining and enhancing biodiversity. Market-based approaches can incentivize conservation behaviors on private lands by shifting the benefit-cost ratio of engaging in activities that result in net conservation benefits for target species. In the United States and elsewhere, voluntary conservation agreements with financial incentives are becoming an increasingly common strategy. While the influence of program design and delivery of voluntary conservation programs is often overlooked, these aspects are critical to achieving the necessary participation to attain landscape-scale outcomes. Using a sample of familyforest landowners in the southeast United States, we show how preferences for participation in a conservation program to protect an at-risk species, the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), are related to program structure, delivery, and perceived efficacy. Landowners were most sensitive to programs that are highly controlling, require permanent conservation easements, and put landowners at risk for future regulation. Programs designed with greater levels of compensation and that support landowners' autonomy to make land management decisions can increase participation and increase landowner acceptance of program components that are generally unfavorable, like long-term contracts and permanent easements. There is an inherent trade-off between maximizing participation and maximizing the conservation benefits when designing a conservation incentive program. For conservation programs targeting private lands to achieve landscape-level benefits, they must attract a critical level of participation that creates a connected mosaic of conservation benefits. Yet, programs with attributes that strive to maximize conservation benefits within a single agreement (and reduce risks of failure) are likely to have lower participation, and thus lower landscape benefits. Achieving levels of landowner participation in conservation agreement programs that deliver lasting, landscape-level benefits requires careful attention not only to how the program structure influences potential conservation benefits, but also how it influences landowners and their potential to participate.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Increasing participation in incentive programs for biodiversity conservation

Sorice

Gartner

et al. 2013

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Each scenario was framed as a performance contract, a legal instrument in which the landowner receives the full financial benefits once the criteria of the program have been satisfied. This type of contract is preferred in central Texas (Olenick et al 2005). Selection of the "neither contract" option can be considered a protest in which respondents reject the premise or some other aspect of the choice task (e.g., its complex nature) (Louviere et al 2000).…”

Section: Survey Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incentive Structure of and Private Landowner Participation in an Endangered Species Conservation Program

Sorice

Haider

Conner

et al. 2011

Conservation Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the United States, voluntary incentive programs that aid conservation of plant and wildlife species on private lands provide a structural solution to the problem of protecting endangered species by reducing costs and enhancing benefits to landowners. We explored the potential for incentives to encourage landowners to manage land cover for the benefit of endangered songbirds in central Texas (U.S.A.) by asking landowners to indicate their preferences for financial incentives, technical assistance, and regulatory assurances. We identified owners of potential songbird habitat and collected data in face-to-face interviews and self-administered questionnaires. We used a latent-class stated-choice model to identify 3 classes of landowners whose choices varied on the basis of their attitudes and perceived social norms: (1) strong positive attitude, perceived social pressure to participate, and willing to participate with relatively few incentives, (2) weak positive attitude, perceived no social pressure to participate, and required strongest incentives, and (3) negative attitude, perceived social pressure not to enroll, and unwilling to participate regardless of incentive structure. Given this heterogeneity in preferences, conservation incentives may increase management of land cover to benefit endangered species on private lands to some degree; however, exclusive reliance on incentives may be insufficient. Promoting conservation on private lands may be enhanced by integrating incentives into an approach that incorporates other strategies for conservation, including social networks and collaborative processes that reinforce social norms.

show abstract

“…A large number of studies have found that stewardship motives are an important predictor of BMP adoption and other conservation behavior, such as adoption of organic agriculture (Duram, 1999;Fairweather and Campbell, 2003;Greiner and Gregg, 2011;McCann et al, 1997;Prager and Posthumus, 2010;Reimer et al, 2012). More specific to the findings of this research, environmental motives have been linked with program participation in a variety of contexts, including forest conservation (Erickson et al, 2002), easement programs (Farmer et al, 2011;Kabii and Horwitz, 2006), and incentive-based conservation programs (Moon and Cocklin, 2011;Morris and Potter, 1995;Olenick et al, 2005). Geographic variation in farmer environmental motives has not been substantially investigated in the U.S.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%