Chapter 6 - Landscape Considerations for Conservation Planning on Private Lands

Abstract

Private lands offer some of the best opportunities and greatest challenges for conservation planning, especially at landscape scales. The large landscapes contain significant amounts of private lands that are often the most productive lands and offer some of the best potential for biodiversity conservation and other conservation objectives. The use of models for conservation planning of private lands at landscape scales generally parallel similar efforts on public lands. However, conservation planning on private lands presents various challenges not inherent in planning for public lands. Foremost are concerns for private property rights and proprietary information that complicate planning and model development. Distrust of planning conducted by agencies and lack of funding for planning conducted by private landowners unless paid for independently are formidable challenges. Mixed-ownership landscapes present additional challenges with respect to linking effective planning processes for both public and private lands. Various solutions exist addressing these challenges, including the use of an ecosystem diversity focus in planning and linking planning processes and outputs to existing programs used by private landowners including various Farm Bill programs. Finally, generating interest in conservation planning by private landowners and identifying suitable incentives that can help balance conservation objectives with economic and other objectives of private lands holds promise.