Adoption of conservation easements among agricultural landowners in Colorado and Wyoming: The role of economic dependence and sense of place

作者：Cross Jennifer Eileen^*; Keske Catherine M; Lacy Michael G; Hoag Dana L K; Bastian Christopher T

来源：Landscape and Urban Planning, 2011, 101(1): 75-83.

DOI：10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.01.005

• Conservation easements
• Place attachment
• Sense of place
• Economic dependence
• Land rusts
• Agricultural landscape

The inter-mountain west is one of the most highly urbanized and rapidly growing regions in the United States. Conservation easements are one common tool used to protect rural and agricultural land from urban development. This paper examines the attitudinal and demographic characteristics of agricultural landowners to predict adoption of conservation easements. The study has two primary objectives: (1) to broaden the literature on sense of place and place attachment by including a measure of economic dependence as one dimension, and (2) to examine the relation of this dimension with attitudes towards land trusts and participation in conservation easements. Agricultural landowners (N=2266) in Colorado and Wyoming were surveyed about their sense of place for their land, their attitudes towards land trusts, and perceived need for land conservation. Factor analysis of 12 measures of sense of place indicated that place identity, conservation ethic, and economic dependence ere distinct dimensions of sense of place among agricultural landowners. Logistic regression analyses revealed that economic dependence had a significant and negative relation with landowner's trust of and trusts and placement of a conservation easement on agricultural land, whereas a conservation ethic and spiritual attachment are positively related. Two main implications for land trusts are that time spent contacting landowners is time well spent and intake questionnaires could be used to screen and owners for both a conservation ethic and a sense of economic dependence providing information hat might improve the possibility of reaching an easement agreement.

• 出版日期2011-5-15