Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T04:25:34.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Protecting Rural Amenities Through Farmland Preservation Programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Cynthia J. Nickerson  and
Daniel Hellerstein
Cynthia J. Nickerson
Affiliation:
Resource Economics Division, USDA-Economic Research Service
Daniel Hellerstein
Affiliation:
Resource Economics Division, USDA-Economic Research Service
Get access

Abstract

We investigate what farmland preservation programs reveal about the importance of protecting different rural amenities. An extensive content analysis of the enabling legislation of various farmland protection programs suggests wide variation exists in the protection of amenities. An analysis of 27 individual Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) programs’ selection criteria suggests these programs favor preserving amenities that are jointly provided by cropland and livestock operations. These PDR selection criteria also reveal unique preferences regarding the spatial patterns of preserved agricultural lands. Variation in relative weights given to protecting most parcel characteristics in PDR programs is not easily explained by factors that characterize areas experiencing farmland losses.

Keywords

farmland preservationrural amenities
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , April 2003 , pp. 129 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agresti, A. (1996). An Introduction to Categorical Data Analysis. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.Google Scholar
American Farmland Trust (AFT). (2000). “State Farmland Protection Statutes by State.” Online. Available at http://www.farmlandinfo.org/fic/laws.html.Google Scholar
American Farmland Trust (AFT). (2002a, January). “Status of State PACE Programs” Fact sheet. Online. Available at http://www.farmlandinfo.org.Google Scholar
American Farmland Trust (AFT). (2002b, January). “Status of Local PACE Programs” Fact sheet. Online. Available at http://www.farmlandinfo.org.Google Scholar
Barnard, C. H. (2000). “Urbanization Affects a Large Share of Farmland.” Rural Conditions and Trends 10(2), 57–63.Google Scholar
Beasley, S. D., Workman, W. G., and Williams, N. A. (1986). “Estimating Amenity Values for Urban Fringe Farmland: A Contingent Valuation Approach: Note.” Growth and Change 17, 70–78.Google Scholar
Bergstrom, J., Dillman, B., and Stoll, J. (1985). “Public Environmental Amenity Benefits of Private Land: The Case of Prime Agricultural Land.” Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics 17(1), 139–149.Google Scholar
Bowker, J. M., and Didychuk, D. D. (1994, October). “Estimation of Nonmarket Benefits of Agricultural Land Retention in Eastern Canada.” Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 23(2), 218–225.Google Scholar
Cattaneo, A., Bucholtz, S., Dewbre, J., and Nickerson, C. (2002, July). “The CRP Balancing Act: Trading Off Costs and Multiple Environmental Benefits.” Paper presented at annual meetings of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Long Beach, CA.Google Scholar
Cropper, M., Evans, W., Berardi, S., Dulca-Soares, M., and Portney, P. (1992). “The Determinants of Pesticide Regulation: A Statistical Analysis of EPA Decision Making.” Journal of Political Economy 100(11), 173–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duke, J. M., and Hyde, R. A. (2002). “Identifying Public Preferences for Land Preservation Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process.” Ecological Economics 42(2), 131–145.Google Scholar
Furuseth, O. (1987). “Public Attitudes Toward Local Farmland Protection Programs.” Growth and Change 18(3), 49–61.Google Scholar
Halstead, J. (1984). “Measuring the Nonmarket Demand Value of Massachusetts Agricultural Land: A Case Study.” Journal of the Northeastern Agricultural Economics Council 13(1), 12–19.Google Scholar
Heimlich, R. E., and Anderson, W. D. (2001). “Development at the Urban Fringe and Beyond: Impacts on Agriculture and Rural Land.” Ag Econ Report No. 803, USDA/Economic Research Service, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hellerstein, D., Nickerson, C., Cooper, J., Feather, P., Gadsby, D., Mullarkey, D., Tegene, A., and Barnard, C. (2002). “Farmland Protection: The Role of Public Preference for Rural Amenities.” Ag Econ Report No. 815, USDA/Economic Research Service, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hewitt, J., and Brown, D. (2000). “Agency Costs in Environmental Not-for-Profits.” Public Choice 103, 163–183.Google Scholar
Irwin, E. G., and Bockstael, N. E. (2001). “The Problem of Identifying Land Use Spillovers: Measuring the Effects of Open Space on Residential Property Values.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 83(3), 698–704.Google Scholar
Kline, J., and Wichelns, D. (1996). “Public Preferences Regarding the Goals of Farmland Preservation Programs.” Land Economics 72(4), 538–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kline, J., and Wichelns, D. (1998). “Measuring Heterogeneous Preferences for Preserving Farmland and Open Space.” Ecological Economics 26(2), 211–224.Google Scholar
Krieger, D. J. (1999, April). “Saving Open Spaces: Public Support for Farmland Protection.” Working Paper Series WP99-1. Center for Agriculture in the Environment, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Margolis, H. (1992). Selfishness, Altruism, and Rationality. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Migue, J. L., and Belanger, G. (1974). “Towards a General Theory of Managerial Discretion.” Public Choice 17, 27–47.Google Scholar
Nickerson, C. (2001, April). “Smart Growth: Implications for Agriculture in Urban Fringe Areas.” Agricultural Outlook, pp. 25–28.Google Scholar
Niskanen, W. A. (1991). “A Reflection on Bureaucracy and Representative Government.” In Blair, A. and Dion, S. (eds.), The Budget-Maximizing Bureaucrat: Appraisals and Evidence. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Quiggin, J. (1997, June). “Altruism and Benefit-Cost Analysis.” Australian Economic Papers 36(68), 144–155.Google Scholar
Reichelderfer, K., and Kramer, R. A. (1993). “Agricultural Resource Policy.” In Carlson, G., Zilberman, D., and Miranowski, J. (eds.), Agricultural and Resource Economics. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rosenberger, R. (1998). “Public Preferences Regarding the Goals of Farmland Preservation Programs: Comment.” Land Economics 74(4), 557–565.Google Scholar
Rosenberger, R., and Walsh, R. (1997). “Nonmarket Value of Western Valley Ranchland Using Contingent Valuation.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 22(2), 296–309.Google Scholar
Samuelson, P. (1954). “The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure.” Review of Economics and Statistics 36(4), 381–389.Google Scholar
Stevens, J. (1993). The Economics of Public Choice. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service. (1997). National Resource Inventory (NRI). USDA/NRCS, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. (2000). “Intercensal Estimates by County.” Online. Available at http://eire.census.gov/popest/data/counties/tables/COEST2001-12.php. [Website revision date May 23, 2002].Google Scholar
Weingast, B., and Moran, M. (1983). “Bureaucratic Discretion or Congressional Control? Regulatory Policymaking by the Federal Trade Commission.” Journal of Political Economy 91, 765–800.Google Scholar
Yates, A., and Stroup, R. (2000). “Media Coverage and EPA Pesticide Decisions.” Public Choice 102, 297–312.Google Scholar