Private Land Conservation Research Articles

How to Conserve the Biodiversity on Collective Land in National Park: Conservation Easements in China

Conservation easements (CEs) are used as a conservation mechanism to conserve the biodiversity and ecosystem on private land, and are receiving increasing attention around the world. Most of the literature mainly focused on the contribution of CE to private land conservation in the U.S. and other countries, while its role in collective land conservation remains underreported. China planned to build the world’s largest national parks (NPs) and faced the conflict between nature conservation and social development. As a private and voluntary conservation tool, CEs have the potential to fill the conservation gap, reduce conservation costs, promote adaptive management, and incentivize sustainable national park construction. We reviewed the recent CE practices in Qianjiangyuan, Wuyishan and Nanshan National Parks. The local government and NP administration drove its practices in China’s NPs, whereas non-profit organizations have few opportunities to participate. Furthermore, due to the current legislation’s lack of explicit specifications regarding CEs, the provisions outlined in the CE agreement were insufficiently constructed and did not align with the unique circumstances of the park. Thus, the implementation of the National Park Act serves as a fitting means to introduce the CE in China.

Effects of management practices on Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus density in privately owned working forests across the Southeastern United States

Abstract Obtaining rigorous baseline density estimates of species of conservation interest is key when assisting landowners to achieve management goals on private lands. Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations are declining throughout their range and despite being the focus of numerous private land conservation initiatives, baseline density estimates in privately owned pine forests are lacking. We sought to address this knowledge gap across the Southeastern United States by sampling 105 privately owned pine stands throughout 2018 to 2020 using observer point count and autonomous recording unit (ARU) sampling data. Using Bayesian hierarchical models, we investigated the influence of stand management (brush management or applied fire) on bobwhite density, as well as four landscape‐scale environmental variables. These included percentage cover of forest, herbaceous, agricultural or burnt land area across six different spatial scales ranging from 500‐m to 10‐km around each pine stand. Baseline density on sites with no management was estimated to be 2.24 coveys per 100 ha (1.00–5.03, 95% BCI), with little impact of applying brush management, but a trend for a positive effect of fire management (0.19, −0.01 to 0.38 95% BCI). This impact of fire was seen at both the stand‐scale, correlated with an increase in acreage of applied prescribed burn management, and across the greater landscape area, correlated with cover of burnt area within a 2‐km buffer around each site. There were also strong positive influences of herbaceous vegetation and a strong negative influence of forest cover on bobwhite density. Practical implication: our sampling efforts fill an important information gap regarding densities throughout private lands in the Southeastern United States. Our study also highlights the necessity of landscape scale planning for Northern Bobwhite conservation initiatives because the efficacy of conservation practices (i.e. prescribed fire and brush management) could be altered by the landscape surrounding the treated forest stand.

Collaborative Management on the Eastern Slopes: The Waldron Ranch Grazing Cooperative and Conservation Easement Motivations

Biodiversity conservation is at an inflection point. With the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, novel strategies are needed to conserve ecosystems under a variety of property regimes. In southwestern Alberta, the Waldron Ranch Grazing Cooperative and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) have collaborated to use conservation easements (CEs) to place over 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) of endangered grassland under perpetual protection. Waldron Ranch provides a unique case study, not only due to the size of the total CE, but also the cooperative structure that requires 72 Albertan ranchers to agree on restricting their productivity for conservation protections. We interviewed four individuals from the Cooperative and NCC to understand the motivations, values, and impacts that influenced the CE placement. Key themes include historic sustainable management and minimal impacts to livelihoods, with economic benefits being crucial for CE enrollment, which contrasts with findings from existing literature. Considering these, we expand on the critical role of landowner values and fears when using CEs as a tool for private land conservation. We argue that environmental nongovernmental organizations (eNGOs) need to deeply understand the social complexities that exist on private landscapes if voluntary collaborations are pursued for conservation benefits.

Unpacking conservation easements' assessed land use designations and their implications for realizing biodiversity protection

AbstractNative ecosystem and biodiversity loss from land use conversion into human‐modified landscapes are evident in the United States and globally. In addition to public land conservation, there is an increase in private land conservation through conservation easements (CEs) across exurban landscapes. Not every CE was established strictly for biodiversity protection and permitted land uses can increase human modification. No research of which we are aware has examined the actual tax assessor's land use designations (LUDs) through time. We constructed granular CE datasets (GCED) of CEs and their parcels' tax assessment LUDs for 1997–2008/2009, based on original data from 12 counties in six US states. Using the GCED, we examined patterns in the LUDs, with implications for land uses that could impact CE biological outcomes. We show that LUDs on exurban private conservation lands were predominately residential and agricultural, with increased residential over time. Critically, the LUDs lack a biological conservation exempt designation/category. There is no consistent trend in association between the primary CE reason and its parcel's LUD, suggesting that they coincide in some circumstances but in others, the CE may be a response to contravene the LUD. The majority of the first CE reasons are focused on open space preservation, except in some counties where agricultural land uses and agricultural CEs are associated. The economically and human‐focused LUD is one of many social factors that should be considered in a classification system for private land conservation and CEs more specifically. These results prompt the land conservation, conservation biology, and environmental planning communities to explore assessed land uses' impact on biodiversity conservation objectives.

Redefining Absentee: Towards Understanding Place Attachment and Stewardship in Non-Residential Landowners in Texas, USA

Approximately 30% of the private land in Texas, USA is under absentee ownership. Understanding who absentee landowners are and their land management behaviors is vital for the protection of privately owned landscapes and the ecosystem services that they support, including surface water quality. By focusing on absentee landowners with properties in five watersheds in Texas, we utilized the theory of place attachment to gain insights into absentee landowners’ land management decisions and their involvement in water quality conservation programs, such as watershed protection plans (WPPs). By conducting a mail-out survey, we obtained 100 responses, which were analyzed using an exploratory factor analysis and a series of nonparametric assessments. The results revealed that, contrary to the term “absentee”, the landowners in our study demonstrated strong feelings of place attachment and heightened land stewardship. Based on these findings, we suggest that instead of considering absentee landowners as obstacles to collaborative conservation initiatives, such as WPPs, natural resource practitioners should recognize and capitalize on the emotional attachment that these landowners have to their properties, thereby fostering their involvement. By demonstrating the owner–land relationship and its behavioral outcomes among absentee landowners, this study provides a novel contribution to the existing literature on place attachment in the context of private land management and conservation.

The contribution of private land conservation to 30x30 in Germany

In line with Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the European Union (EU) aims to protect 30% of its land and sea by 2030 (known as 30x30). Germany has been a vocal supporter of this goal in the international arena but has yet to achieve sufficient protected area coverage domestically. We estimate that Germany needs to report an additional 4.65 million hectares of protected land to achieve 30x30. This article examines the potential of privately protected areas (PPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) to contribute to this goal. We explore the German Federal Nature Conservation Act and identify the legal hurdles for the designation and recognition of PPAs. Furthermore, we argue that OECMs have the potential to contribute significantly to 30x30 in Germany. We estimate that close to one million hectares of land could be classified as OECMs and outline potentially qualifying sites. In conclusion, we discuss the prerequisites for upscaling private land conservation in Germany, focusing on required conditions for establishing OECMs and incentivising conservation easements and long-term conservation leases through national funding programmes.

Tarnished Gold: The Endangered Species Act at 50

The ESA is arguably the most powerful and stringent federal environmental law on the books. Yet for all of the Act’s force and ambition, it is unclear how much the law has done much to achieve its central purpose: the conservation of endangered species. The law has been slow to recover listed species and has fostered conflict over land use and scientific determinations that frustrate cooperative conservation efforts. The Article aims to take stock of the ESA’s success and failures during its first fifty years, particularly with regard the conservation of species habitat on private land. While the Act authorizes powerful regulatory tools for species conservation, there are serious questions as to whether such tools are the most effective means of conserving species and the habitats on which they rely. Given that most species rely upon private land for their survival, the Act’s ability to foster private land conservation is will affect the law’s overall success.

Assessing the impacts of trophy-hunting restrictions on wildlife conservation in private land conservation areas: a bioeconomic analysis

Assessing the impacts of trophy-hunting restrictions on wildlife conservation in private land conservation areas: a bioeconomic analysis

Effects of forest management on private lands in West Virginia on Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea) and the avian community

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) supports private lands conservation projects across the United States to benefit imperiled focal wildlife species using conservation practices to restore habitat. The Cerulean Warbler Appalachian Forestland Enhancement Project (CWAFEP) was initiated in 2015 to help stabilize or reverse Cerulean Warbler population declines by using forest management to create or enhance breeding habitat on private lands in Appalachian focal areas. We evaluated Cerulean Warbler occupancy on CWAFEP sites treated using NRCS conservation practices to inform adaptive management strategies. We also assessed associated forest focal species’ occupancy and species richness of avian guilds to evaluate the effects of conservation practice implementation on the avian community. We conducted point count surveys at 194 locations on 21 private properties enrolled in the CWAFEP in West Virginia during May – July 2019 and 2020. We compared occupancy among four treatments: reference, pre-treatment, 1-year post-treatment, and 2 – 4 years post-treatment sites. To examine how vegetation structure changes among treatments affected occupancy, we also collected and included vegetation variables. Cerulean Warbler occupancy estimates were not different among treatments, suggesting that post-treatment study sites surveyed did not achieve their goal of increasing Cerulean Warbler occupancy. Cerulean Warbler occupancy decreased by 91 % as elevation increased from 200 to 800 m and increased by 397 % as sapling cover increased from 0 to 100 %. Occupancy for three forest focal species (Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Wood-pewee, and Scarlet Tanager) and species richness of four avian guilds also were not different among treatments. Thus, Cerulean Warbler occupancy and selected avian community demographics were not related to recent conservation practice implementation in the short-term (1 – 4 years post-treatment), but there are opportunities to improve NRCS conservation practice implementation for more effective Cerulean Warbler conservation. We suspect that the lack of differences in occupancy and species richness estimates was due to site selection related to ecoregion, small treatment areas, and challenges associated with private lands conservation efforts resulting in insufficient reduction in basal area. If NRCS conservation practices implemented through CWAFEP are going to help reverse Cerulean Warbler population declines, CWAFEP sites need to achieve the recommended basal area range of ∼ 9.2 – 20.7 m 2/ha (40 – 90 ft2/ac) during contract implementation. Our conclusions are critical to updating our knowledge for Cerulean Warbler best management practices and informing future regional conservation implementation.

Framework features enabling faster establishment and better management of privately protected areas in New South Wales, Australia

In response to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Australia has committed to protecting 30 per cent of lands and oceans for nature conservation by 2030. Privately protected areas are vital to meeting this target and establishing an ecologically representative and well-connected National Reserve System on land in Australia. As a federated nation, most public and privately protected areas (especially conservation covenants) are established under state or territory (i.e. subnational) legislation, as opposed to national legislation. This paper conducts a review of changes in policy and practice for private land conservation in the state of New South Wales (NSW) that has led to a marked acceleration in the establishment of privately protected areas since 2017. The historical average rate at which privately protected areas were being established in NSW under various schemes prior to the changes in 2017 was about 50 agreements and 12,000 hectares per annum. The new Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, the Biodiversity Conservation Trust of NSW (BCT), and increased NSW Government funding commenced in August 2017. Since then, the rate of establishment of privately protected areas has accelerated to more than 100 agreements and 45,000 hectares per annum. Not only has the rate of establishment more than tripled (by area) but many more privately protected areas are being established in higher priority bioregions, and the BCT is now able to provide better financial and technical support to privately protected areas, leading to better conservation outcomes overall. Key changes that have strengthened the framework for establishing and managing privately protected areas in NSW include a guide for strategic investment; institutional arrangements that foster effective governance, trust and transparency; substantive NSW Government funding; an accumulating endowment fund model; in-perpetuity payments; and faster and more targeted delivery mechanisms. The paper highlights features that could be adopted in other jurisdictions in Australia to support the vital role that privately protected areas must play in achieving commitments to nature conservation.

Evaluating the impact of private land conservation with synthetic control design.

Programs to protect biodiversity on private land are increasingly being used worldwide. To understand the efficacy of such programs, it is important to determine their impact: the difference between the program's outcome and what would have happened without the program. Typically, these programs are evaluated by estimating the average program-level impact, which readily allows comparisons between programs or regions, but masks important heterogeneity in impact across the individual conservation interventions. We used synthetic control design, statistical matching, and time-series data to estimate the impact of individual protected areas over time and combined individual-level impacts to estimate program-level impact with a meta-analytic approach. We applied the method to private protected areas governed by conservation covenants (legally binding on-title agreements to protect biodiversity) in the Goldfields region of Victoria, Australia using woody vegetation cover as our outcome variable. We compared our results with traditional approaches to estimating program-level impact based on a subset of covenants that were the same age. Our results showed an overall program-level impact of a 0.3-0.8% increase in woody vegetation cover per year. However, there was significant heterogeneity in the temporal pattern of impact for individual covenants, ranging from -4 to +7% change in woody vegetation cover per year. Results of our approach were consistent with results based on traditional approaches to estimating program-level impact. Our study provides a transparent and robust workflow to estimate individual and program-level impacts of private protected areas.

Citizen Scientist Participation in Research on Private Lands Positively Impacts Multiple Conservation Behaviors

Conservation research programs working on private lands provide invaluable data to support biodiversity conservation efforts and may also engender broader conservation outcomes by influencing the conservation behaviors of individuals that participate within the program. However, little is known about how conservation behavior outcomes may differ across varying levels of participation in a program and what factors may influence this conservation behavior change. We sought to elucidate the conservation behavior outcomes associated with citizen scientists and non–citizen scientists involved with a conservation research program, as well as the factors that are associated with a program’s perceived impact on participants’ conservation behaviors. We conducted an online survey of individuals (n = 193) associated with Virginia Working Landscapes (VWL), a Smithsonian conservation research program that studies and promotes native biodiversity on private lands. Forty-nine percent of respondents had actively participated as citizen scientists whereas fifty-one percent had not. VWL citizen scientists had significantly higher perceived impacts of the program on their engagement in conservation behaviors compared with non–citizen scientists. Significant predictors of respondents’ perceptions of VWL’s impact on their conservation behaviors include participating as a citizen scientist and attending program events, while characteristics of the participants were not predictive of perceptions of impact. Our findings illustrate the added value, beyond data collection, of incorporating citizen science into conservation research programs. Results from this study may provide guidance on how these programs can increase their impact on participants’ conservation behaviors and broaden their influence on private lands conservation.

Exploring motives for participation in a perpetual easement program: Going beyond financial incentives

Private land conservation has become an important element of the global conservation portfolio. Often, landowners are encouraged to participate in private land conservation with financial incentives. However, there is a concern that financial incentives may be limited given the ephemeral nature of funding. Financial incentives also have the potential to crowd-out participation from landowners motivated by altruistic factors rather than financial ones. These concerns underscore the importance of understanding drivers of participation in conservation programs. While there is a plethora of studies examining motivations for participation in term-limited conservation programs, there are far fewer that look at landowners' reasons for participating in perpetual programs. We examined landowners' non-financial motivations for participation in a United States Fish and Wildlife perpetual easement program using several analytical approaches. We first looked at correlations between the likelihood of participation in the easement program and survey respondent's beliefs, values, norms, and perceived behavioral control using a Bayesian regression analysis. Next, using a cluster analysis we segmented our landowner sample into two groups, tested for differences between the group theoretical constructs, and looked for patterns in geographic distributions of the clusters. Our results suggested that individuals who accepted responsibility for habitat protection and recognized habitat threats were more likely to have participated in the easement program. We did not find significant demographic patterns in our cluster analysis but did see differences across the tested theoretical constructs of theory of planned behavior and value-belief norm theory. Further exploration of variation revealed potential for conservation opportunities and allowed us to make recommendations for future policy actions.

The paradoxical need for human intervention in the conservation of natural environments in Venice lagoon

The Venice lagoon—the largest Mediterranean coastal lagoon—is characterized by the presence at its edges of 31 “valli da pesca”, types of artificial ecosystems that mime the ecological processes of a transitional aquatic ecosystem. Constituted by a series of regulated lakes bounded by artificial embankments, the valli da pesca were established centuries ago to maximize provisioning Ecosystem Services (ESs), such as fishing and hunting. As time passed, the valli da pesca underwent an intentional isolation process leading to private management. Nonetheless, the valli da pesca are still exchanging energy and matter with the “open’ lagoon and today represent an essential element within the context of lagoon conservation. This study aimed to analyze the possible effects of artificial management on both ESs supply and landscape arrangements by assessing 9 ESs (climate regulation, water purification, lifecycle support, aquaculture, waterfowl hunting, wild food, tourism, information for cognitive development, and birdwatching), along with eight landscape indicators. Obtained results suggested that the valli da pesca are today ruled under five different management strategies, according to the maximized ES. Management conditions influence the landscape pattern and achieve a series of “side effects” on the other ESs. The comparison between the managed and abandoned valli da pesca highlights the importance of anthropogenic interventions for conserving these ecosystems, as the abandoned valli da pesca show a loss of ecological gradients, landscape heterogeneity, and provisioning ESs. Nevertheless, the persistence of intrinsic geographical and morphological characteristics still prevails regardless of intentional landscape molding. The result is that the provisioning ESs capacity per unit area is higher in the abandoned valli da pesca than in the open lagoon, emphasizing the importance of these confined areas of the lagoon ecosystem. Considering the spatial distribution of multiple ESs, the provisioning ESs flow that does not occur in the abandoned valli da pesca seems to be replaced by the flow of cultural ESs. Thus, the ESs spatial pattern highlights a balancing effect between different ESs categories. The results are discussed considering the trade-offs generated by private land conservation, anthropogenic interventions, and their relevance for the ecosystem-based management of Venice lagoon.

Assessing prioritization measures for a private land conservation program in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region

AbstractPrivate land conservation has become an important tool for protecting biodiversity and habitat, but methods for prioritizing and scheduling conservation on private land are still being developed. While return on investment methods have been suggested as a potential path forward, the different processes linking private landscapes to the socioeconomic systems in which they are embedded create unique challenges for scheduling conservation with this approach. We investigated a range of scheduling approaches within a return on investment framework for breeding waterfowl and broods in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. Current conservation targeting for waterfowl in the region focuses mostly on the distribution and abundance of breeding waterfowl. We tested whether MaxGain approaches for waterfowl conservation differed from MinLoss approaches in terms of return on investment and which approach performed best in avoiding loss of waterfowl and broods separately. We also examined variation in results based upon the temporal scale of the abundance layers used for input and compared the region's current scheduling approach with results from our simulations. Our results suggested that MinLoss was the most efficient scheduling approach for both breeding waterfowl and broods and that using just breeding waterfowl to target areas for conservation programs might cause organizations to overlook important areas for broods, particularly over shorter timespans. The higher efficiency of MinLoss approaches in our simulations also indicated that incorporating probability of wetland drainage into decision‐making improved the overall return on investment. We recommend that future conservation scheduling for easements in the region and for private land conservation in general include some form of return on investment or cost‐effective analysis to make conservation more transparent.

A legal assessment of private land conservation in South America.

Privately protected areas (PPAs) are a potentially innovative conservation tool. Legal recognition is necessary for their success, especially where there are institutional challenges to nature conservation, such as in South America. Although PPAs have increased in South America since the early 2000s, there is a critical information gap pertaining to their legal frameworks. We analyzed the level of landowner commitment to and governmental support for PPAs across countries in South America that officially recognize PPAs. We analyzed the legal framework governing PPAs and reviewed literature on them. This process was done in English and Spanish. The information we gathered was validated by 16 conservation experts from 10 South American countries. Because Peru is 1 of only 2 South American countries where local communities create and manage PPAs, we studied Peruvian PPAs in more detail by examining official creation documents and interviewing 13 local conservation professionals. We found inadequate minimum duration of PPAs and vague guidelines for conducting economic activities within them and a lack of governmental support (e.g., financial and technical support) for PPAs. Support was limited to the exemption from rural property taxes, which are relatively low compared with countries outside South America. In Peru, PPAs run by individuals and communities needed different legal frameworks because they were created with different objectives and had different sizes and duration of commitments. The prompt improvement of legal frameworks across South America is necessary for PPAs to achieve their aim of being places for enduring nature conservation in the region.

Leveraging private lands to meet 2030 biodiversity targets in the United States

AbstractCoincident with international movements to protect 30% of land and sea over the next decade (“30×30”), the United States has committed to more than doubling its current protected land area by 2030. While publicly owned and managed protected areas have been the cornerstone of area‐based conservation over the past century, such lands are costly to establish and have limited capacity to protect areas of the highest value for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. Here we examine the current and potential contributions of private land for reaching 30×30 conservation targets at both federal and state scales in the United States. We find that compared to publicly owned and managed protected lands, protected private lands (conservation easements) are more often in areas designated as high conservation priority, hold significantly higher mean species richness, and sequester more vulnerable land‐based carbon per unit area. These and related findings highlight the necessity of mechanisms that engage private landholders in enduring conservation partnerships.

Sustaining land and people over time: Relationships with successor landowners on conservation easements

AbstractConservation is increasingly recognized and funded on private lands. Making conservation last despite turnover in people requires maintaining social relationships. For example, conservation easements (CEs), also called conservation covenants, are legal agreements for private land conservation typically expected to last in perpetuity, yet their public benefits depend on successor landowners.We focus on the social relations in stewarding lands held by successor landowners who purchased or inherited a property after the conservation agreement was in place. We conducted 38 semi‐structured interviews with key informants, conservation organization staff and successors who own conserved properties in Wisconsin, USA.These interviews revealed the importance of the relationship between conservation organization staff and landowners and the roles of trust, shared goals, meaning‐making and power. These social relationships can influence the land management choices of landowners and compliance enforcement approaches of conservation organizations.In light of these findings, policymakers and professionals should consider rapid outreach to new owners of conserved properties and greater investments in landowner relationships to build multiple dimensions of trust, connect on shared goals and help landowners find positive meaning in conservation agreements. We recommend documenting these personal dimensions of conservation for future staff, whose effectiveness in the field depends on their ability to make conservation policy salient for particular people and places.Read the freePlain Language Summaryfor this article on the Journal blog.

Restoring oak woodlands through trust: Social capital and its role in successful private land conservation

Formal private land conservation programs can be essential for achieving conservation goals, especially in ecosystems with substantial private ownership. Most deciduous oak woodlands in Humboldt County, California, and throughout the Pacific Northwest are located on private lands. The loss of these woodlands to conifer encroachment is a critical conservation concern, with implications for wildlife habitat, range management, cultural resources, biodiversity, and fire management. Private land programs depend on both incentives and voluntary cooperation. Through interviews and participant observation, we explored how and why landowners participate in oak woodland restoration. We are particularly interested in the role of social capital, which consists of trust and expectations of reciprocity. We found that oak woodland restoration depends on building social capital in order to leverage different skill sets and gain access to resources and technical expertise. Rather than a side effect of successful private land conservation, we assert that social capital is a necessary part of it, and that building and maintaining social capital can itself constitute a conservation goal.

Rice producer enrollment and retention in a USDA regional conservation partnership program in the southern United States

Private lands conservation is critical to maintain available and quality natural resources in agriculture-dominated landscapes. Financial capital and technical assistance incentives are a primary tool to recruit and retain voluntary participation in private lands conservation programs and, subsequently, to induce persistence of innovative conservation practices. Fundamental to program success is to evaluate how, why, and to what extent incentives and program characteristics motivate participation and persistence. This study draws on diffusion of innovations’ attributes of innovation as our conceptual and interpretive framework to qualitatively explore and describe program participation and persistence of on-farm water, nutrient, and wildlife habitat management practices among a cohort of rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) producers enrolled in the Rice Stewardship Program (RSP) in the southern United States. A total of 50 interviews were conducted between January of 2019 and July of 2019 in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Findings suggest the program’s lack of complexity (practices were simple to enact) and relative advantage (practices were viewed as better than previous practices) were primary motivations that influenced initial and continued participation, as well as the persistence of specific practices. Compatibility with current on-farm practices and the observability of outcomes or benefits to program participation and its practices were reported consistently but as secondary motivations. Nutrient management practices were observed as having the highest potential persistence as these practices were perceived to be compatible, observable, and relatively advantageous, particularly in relation to the region’s existing nutrient stewardship framework. As few evaluations of private lands conservation programs specific to rice agriculture exist, our findings offer practical insights for managers to consider program evaluation or design that is based on the established innovation attributes framework common to other agricultural contexts.