Ranchers have concern over how federal policies such as the Endangers Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and other laws and regulations will affect the status of their ranching operations. The objectives of this study were to compare impacts of public forage losses on ranches in areas experiencing rapid growth (Routt County) and minimal growth (Moffat County) in Colorado. Thirty-five personal interviews obtained detailed cost-and-return information on public, leased, and private land.

The economic feasibility of alternative wetland restoration activities to store water and reduce flood damage was evaluated in the Maple River Watershed, North Dakota, a sub-watershed of the Red River of the North Watershed. The evaluation was based on recent hydrologic modeling and wetland restoration studies, the National Wetland Inventory, local land rental values, and site-specific historical flood damage.

The following report outlines the results of focus group discussions that were conducted to help researchers learn what it is about wetlands, wetland services, and wetland characteristics that matter to people. The participants were asked questions in the areas of natural resources, their prior knowledge of wetlands, wetland types, public policies relating to wetlands, and wetland functions. The focus group discussions reported here were the first set of qualitative discussions in the research project.

This study tests cropland contract hypotheses utilizing a landlord data set. Ordered probit and classical regression models are estimated and presented identifying factors that affect the contract type selection and terms. Results suggest credit constraints are a viable land-leasing hypothesis. Risk aversion, managerial ability, and social capital are also supported.

Este trabajo calcula el valor del regadío en la provincia de León a partir de datos de precios de la tierra desagregados por aprovechamiento y comarca. El valor de los beneficios asociados al regadío puede averiguarse comparando dos parcelas de tierra "iguales" excepto por el hecho de que una de las tierras sea de secano y la otra de regadío.

The terms of grazing lease contracts potentially influence the tenant’s incentive to preserve the vegetation resource. Annual stocking rate decisions dictate the degree of overgrazing, which can be cumulative over long periods of time. The objective of this study is to identify the impact the tenant’s planning horizon and cost structure specified in the lease contract has on his/her profit-maximizing stocking rate. A multi-period nonlinear programming model was developed to identify economically optimal stocking rates each year over a 24-year period.

The development of a land rental market in China may help stimulate further increases in agricultural production. This paper provides a description of land rental transactions in rural China, analyzes the determinants of land supply and demand and estimates the implications land rental activity has for increasing agricultural production.

The effect on housing prices of proximity to different types of parks is estimated using a unique data set of single-family homes sold between 1990 and 1999 in Greenville, South Carolina. While the value of park proximity is found to vary with respect to park size and amenities, the estimates from this study are larger than previous studies. The greatest impact on housing values was found with proximity to small neighborhood parks, with the positive impact of proximity to both small and medium-size parks extending to homes as far as 1500 feet from the park.