1. Prioritizing Conservation Easement Recruitment Efforts.
- Author
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HARDY, R. DEAN, HEPINSTALL-CYMERMAN, JEFFREY, and FOWLER, LAURIE
- Subjects
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CONSERVATION easements , *TAX incentives , *LAND trusts , *STRATEGIC planning , *REAL property - Abstract
In the United States, tax incentives combined with the ecological significance of private land are driving the expansion of conservation easements held by land trusts. This development suggests a need to further identify efficient methods for assessing the conservation value of private land. We collaborated with two land trusts on a conservation assessment of the Upper Oconee Watershed in northeastern Georgia. We identified nine landscape-level conservation features that were important to the land trusts' missions. To weight the conservation features in the creation of a parcel-level index model, we used criteria from the Georgia Land Conservation Program. Out of 32,657 parcels analyzed, we identified 111 priority parcels that contain 2-15 percent of each conservation feature in the watershed. We recommended these priority parcels to the land trusts for use in their easement recruitment campaigns and conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
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