Types Of Landowners Research Articles

Impact of Water Availability on Land and Water Productivity: A Temporal and Spatial Analysis of the Case Study Region Khorezm, Uzbekistan

Since irrigation water is assumedly the predominant factor determining crop yield, the difference in irrigation water availability across the administrative sub-districts of the Khorezm region, Central Asia, also inflicts an unequal distribution of agricultural revenues. Considering the national aim of a fair distribution and efficient use of resources, here we analyze the relationships between irrigation water access and rural welfare from 2000 to 2007 by descriptive statistics. Analyses revealed not only the general dependency of agricultural revenue on irrigation water availability, but also occurrence of low land productivity during water scarce years and, irrespective of the annual water availability, in some tail end regions each year. Furthermore, apart from irrigation water availability, land productivity was also impacted by soil quality, cropping structure, and type of land ownership. Fair distribution of water and land resources should also take into consideration population density. It is argued that an anticipated equal and efficient water allocation necessitates improved irrigation water conveyance, distribution, and application efficiency via best water management practices. Liberalization of markets, development of a market infrastructure and improvement in yields also contribute to increased land and water productivity.

Modeling Forest Owner Harvesting Behaviour and Future Intentions in Tasmania

Our ability to design public policies that effectively promote the efficient use of privately owned forest resources is underpinned by an understanding of the way in which forest production and investment decisions are made, and of how forest owners respond to changes in social, economic, and institutional conditions. A model of non-industrial private forest owners (NIPF) past harvesting behaviour and future harvesting intentions using a logit approach is presented. A Tobit model, which investigates harvesting intensity, is also developed. The responses to a survey of 386 NIPF owners in Tasmania are used to construct the data set consisting of socio-economic characteristics of NIPF owners, their forest ownership objectives, and property characteristics. The current study is innovative in that the role of NIPF owner objectives and attitudes is assessed in three econometric models exploring past harvesting behaviour, harvesting intensity, and future harvesting intentions. A series of observations can be made from comparing the results of the three models. For example, higher pulp prices are unlikely to affect NIPF owners harvesting intentions but are likely to increase harvesting intensity. The financial characteristics of the NIPF owner contribute most to predicting future harvesting intentions, with financial security being a disincentive to future harvesting. Landowner objectives and attitudes are important in explaining past harvesting activities and future intentions but do not significantly affect harvesting intensity. Furthermore, there are significant differences between different types of landowners in terms of the incentives that are likely to make them change their mind about participating in native forest harvesting.

Recreational Multifunctionality and its implications for agroforestry diffusion

Recreational Multifunctionality refers to those farms providing at least one recreational service to members of the farm household or the public. Based on the types of recreational services offered, two types of landowners have been identified: Productivists and Ruralists. They differ on their extent of Recreational Multifunctionality, farm household attributes and farm representation. Both types of landowners also have different behavior and understanding of agroforestry. This study builds on the Recreational Multifunctionality construct to identify message content, channels and agencies that can better facilitate the diffusion of agroforestry. In 2006, 353 randomly selected landowners from Missouri were interviewed and clustered in two groups: Productivists (38.0%) and Ruralists (62.0%). These groups were examined to identify differences regarding their perceptions of being a good farmer (i.e., message content); their preferred source of information (i.e., communication channel); and their preferred agencies for learning purposes (i.e., communication agencies). Study results show differences between Productivists and Ruralists in all three aspects of diffusion examined (i.e., message content, channels and agencies), suggesting that all landowners should not be approached in the same way when promoting agroforestry. Messages conveyed to Productivists should emphasize the economic benefits of agroforestry, while messages to Ruralists should emphasize the conservation benefits of agroforestry. Touring farms with active tree management is a good way to disseminate agroforestry practices among Productivists while state and federal extension agents appear to be more suitable to approach Ruralists. Both groups can effectively be reached using printed materials, especially through official conservation magazines.

Rural land ownership in the United Kingdom: Changing patterns and future possibilities for land use

The broad pattern of rural land ownership exhibits quite modest change over the past 30 years, but this impression is misleading. It understates substantial changes in property rights, evidence of which is not readily available from published statistics. These changes reflect the growing urbanisation of the countryside, which has required owners to pay more attention to consumption interests, sometimes at the expense of traditional agricultural and forestry interests, which in turn have experienced mixed fortunes. Rural land is expected to supply, and is increasingly valued in terms of, multiple goods and services. Major trends in ownership, occupancy and land prices are reviewed, noting that the divisibility and flexibility of the bundle of rights which constitute ownership have allowed holders to respond to urban pressures and farming difficulties with practices including short-term leasing, contracting, supplying life-style residential properties and accommodating increased environmental regulation. But linking land use to land ownership type is difficult, not least because there are many other drivers of land-use change. Moreover, local and individual circumstances are now more significant than in the past, not least the ageing occupational structure of farming. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some of the political, economic and environmental drivers that may affect future land ownership patterns.

Checkerboards and Coase: The Effect of Property Institutions on Efficiency in Housing Markets

Abstract In the late 1800s, Palm Springs, California, was evenly divided into 1‐mile‐square blocks—like a checkerboard—and property rights were assigned in alternating blocks to the Agua Caliente tribe and a non‐Indian landowner by the U.S. federal government. The quasi‐experimental nature of land assignment holds land quality constant across the two types of landowners. Sales, mortgaging, and leasing restrictions on the Agua Caliente Reservation land created large transaction costs to development on those lands; consequently, there was very little housing investment. The non‐Indian blocks, which were extensively developed, provide a benchmark for efficient outcomes for the Agua Caliente lands. Once the restrictions on Agua Caliente lands were relaxed in 1959, the number of homes and real estate values converged to those of non‐Indian‐owned lands as predicted by the Coase theorem.

Differences in forest disturbance among land ownership types in Poland during and after socialism

Forest use can increase substantially during periods of societal change, but it is unclear how harvesting rates differ among different landownership types in such times. Our goal here is to quantify the rates and spatial patterns of forest disturbance in private forests, state forests, and a National Park in the Polish Carpathians before and after the collapse of socialism. We analysed a series of classified Landsat TM images (1988–2000) and a landownership map. Our results showed that disturbance peaked in all ownership types in the immediate transition time. However, disturbance rates in private forests were about five times higher than on public lands. The spatial pattern of disturbances was similar across ownership types, but private forests were more fragmented than state and National Park forests. Our study indicates that institutional strength may determine forest use under different ownership types and highlights the multi-scale, nested control of the drivers of land use change.

Status and habitat changes in the endangered Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti population during 1974–2004: implications for its recovery

AbstractThe distribution and abundance of Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti populations between 1974 and 2004 were determined using information from national censuses. Its breeding area occupies the south-western quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and is composed of 13 nuclei and 5 subpopulations. Since 1974, population levels in all nuclei, except the one in Doñana, have expanded. The non-breeding dispersion area, according to sightings of juvenile and immature individuals in quadrants of 10 x 10 km, coincided with that of the breeding area. Bibliographical information showed that halfway through the 19th century the Spanish Imperial Eagle was considered abundant, at least locally; and most cited breeding areas were in relatively human-occupied plains. Towards the end of the 19th century the population became scarce; remaining so for most of the 20th century, with remote mountain ranges being the most cited breeding habitats. The comparison between the data from the first census, in 1974, that located 38 territorial pairs, and the 2004 census that located 198 pairs, shows that: 1) percentages of pairs in plains have increased, while those in mountains have decreased; 2) the trophic quality of the habitat, based on rabbit abundance, has decreased, and 3) numbers of nests in both protected areas and on private ground have increased significantly. The type of land ownership did not seem to affect breeding performance. Populations have increased more outside protected areas than within, despite the availability of potential habitat. In the past century, legal protection and attitude changes towards this eagle seem to have been influential in preventing its extinction. At present, habitat management seems also to be an important factor in its continuing recovery.

Estimating the effects of adjacency and green-up constraints on landowners of different sizes and spatial arrangements located in the southeastern U.S.

The maximum clearcut size and green-up period is important for land managers adhering to voluntary and regulatory guidelines. Therefore the impact of actual and hypothetical clearcut size restrictions is a concern for forest landowners who manage land and intend to practice forestry for profit. In this research, the effect of a 97.1 ha (240 ac) clearcut size constraint with a green-up period of 2-yrs is assessed for forest landowners with different forest land sizes, ownership patterns, and age class distributions. A meta heuristic which consists of threshold accepting, 1-opt tabu search, and 2-opt tabu search is used to develop spatially-constrained forest plans for 27 hypothetical forest landowners. These results are compared to a relaxed solution produced with linear programming, and statistical analyses are used to determine significant differences. The analysis provided enough evidence to suggest that two factors (size of ownership pattern and initial age class distribution), and one interaction factor (ownership size × initial age class distribution) are significant in explaining the differences in the percent reduction in forest plan value among the forests managed by the hypothetical forest landowners. From an absolute value reduction perspective, small-sized older forests were most affected. From a percent value point of view, one can conclude from this analysis that landowners with small-sized forests and young initial age class distributions will be significantly more affected by potential adjacency and green-up restrictions in the southeastern U.S. than other types of landowners.

Different interest group views of fuels treatments: survey results from fire and fire surrogate treatments in a Sierran mixed conifer forest, California, USA

The present paper discusses results from a survey about the acceptance of and preferences for fuels treatments of participants following a field tour of the University of California Blodgett Forest Fire and Fire Surrogate Study Site. Although original expectations were that tours would be composed of general members of the public, individual tour groups ultimately were much more specialised, with tours made up of individuals from five distinct groups including foresters, environmentalists, entomologists, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, teachers, and high school or undergraduate students. This proved fortuitous as most studies of ‘public’ perceptions to date have been of general members of the public and little work has been done assessing the views of groups who may have more specific knowledge or interest in fuels treatments. Such assessment is perhaps long overdue given the importance of understanding characteristics of different audience segments in developing effective outreach programs. Analysis showed that group membership was in fact the key element in differences in survey responses with significant differences found between groups on overall acceptability of treatments, treatment preferences based on different land ownership and management types, and which variables were most important in determining treatment preferences.

A Typology of Family Forest Owners in North Central Indiana

Abstract Patterns of forest cover across the United States partly reflect the diverse and dynamic ownership motivations and management behaviors of family forest owners. The objectives of this study were to (i) identify distinct types of landowners with regard to ownership motivations and other ownership characteristics and (ii) compare these types of landowners in terms of (a) use of specific forest management practices, (b) information seeking, (c) familiarity with and participation in private forest conservation programs, and (d) ownership and sociodemographic characteristics. A two-step cluster analysis of responses to a mail questionnaire distributed to family forest owners in north central Indiana revealed three distinct types of landowners. Forest managers attributed importance to diverse values with regard to owning their forest. New forest owners owned their properties for the least amount of time and attributed importance to all ownership motivations with the exception of producing timber. Passive forest owners owned the smallest forested acreages and attributed importance to none of the ownership motivations operationalized in this research with the exception of enjoying scenery. Results are discussed in terms of typologies previously described in the literature and the implications of the relationships among landowner types with regard to management.

Examining private forest policy preferences

Policy tools are employed to effect changes in the behaviors of citizens. Policy tools, such as incentives and regulation, act as the medium through which the target population may comply with policy objectives; however, policymakers must choose carefully which policy tools to adopt. Given the predominance of privately-owned forestland in Indiana and the United States, this research explores forest policy tool preferences of family forest owners in southern Indiana. The research is based on data from 309 respondents to a mail survey of landowners in 32 southern Indiana counties. The research objectives were 1) to determine what factors influence policy preferences among family forest owners and 2) to make recommendations to policymakers regarding what policy approaches are best suited to differing landowner types. Regression analyses identify landowner attitudes as significant predictors of policy preferences and also identified both absentee and riparian forest owners as more supportive of private forest policies. Based upon the results, recommendations to private forest policymakers are made.

The destination of arable land in a marginal agricultural landscape in South Portugal: an exploration of land use change determinants

This research attempts to investigate what drives three conversions of arable land during the period 1985–2000 in a marginal agricultural landscape in Southern Portugal: afforestation of arable land, abandonment of arable land and regeneration of the agro-silvo-pastoral system. This was done by exploring the associations between these changes and a selection of both biophysical and socio-economic variables in a study area of 44 square km. For each conversion of arable land into one of the three other land use types the descriptive power of the various independent variables were evaluated using logistic regression. By comparing different statistical models (one containing only the biophysical attributes, another model containing only the socio-economic variables and finally a model containing both types of variables) the relative importance of socio-economic and biophysical variables was evaluated. The results show that both the biophysical and socio-economic variables were significantly associated with the occurrences of the land use changes. However, the models containing only the socio-economic variables were stronger related to occurrences of afforestation and regeneration of the montado, whereas the biophysical variables were more related to land abandonment. The landowner type was a significant descriptive variable across all land use change models. The results suggest that local socio-economic factors are significant in explaining the pattern of the conversion of arable land in the study area and for this reason the variety of landowners’ response to the physical conditions deserves more attention in land use change modelling.

A wildfire hazard assessment and map for La Plata County, Colorado, USA

In response to the needs of local fire managers, we developed a map of wildfire hazard for La Plata County in southwestern Colorado, USA. Our measure of fire hazard had two components: (i) the probability, should fire occur under dry weather conditions, that fire behavior will be extreme, and (ii) the human values that may be lost or damaged if extreme fire behavior occurs. Using a classification approach in a GIS environment, we developed quantitative indices of potential heat release, flame length, and rate of spread for each vegetation type in the County. This is based on output of the Behave fire behavior system and adjusted for effects of slope and aspect. We then overlaid a map of residential developments to identify locations where homes are most vulnerable to wildfire damage. Results revealed a zone in the central part of the county where extensive exurban development is occurring within pine, juniper, and oak vegetation, leading to a high potential for extreme fire behavior. This assessment is notable in that (1) it treats a wide range of land ownership types including public lands, private lands, and American Indian reservations; (2) it encompasses substantial variability in vegetation/fuel types, from low-elevation semi-arid grasslands and woodlands to alpine forests and meadows to cultivated and residential lands; and (3) it maps wildfire hazard at relatively fine resolution (1 ha) for a large area (ca 4,500 km2) based on quantitative indices of wildfire behavior. Formal validation of this kind of map is nearly impossible, but we tested the final product by asking local experts to evaluate our interpretations for specific locations with which they were familiar. Feedback from the experts led us to revise some of our initial fire behavior indices, by developing custom fuel models. The same experts concluded that the final product was very accurate. By developing a relatively simple mapping algorithm, and drawing upon spatial data sources readily available to local land managers, our wildfire hazard map for La Plata County provides a template for more extensive fire hazard mapping throughout southwestern Colorado and portions of adjacent states, for use in prioritization of fire mitigation treatments and public education.

Typology of non-industrial private forest owners in Tasmania

The heterogeneous nature of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners and the challenge this heterogeneity presents for effective policy and program design and delivery is widely recognised. Understanding the socio-economic and motivational differences between various types of landowners will better equip policymakers and forest extension professionals to design policies and programs that efficiently promote private sector timber production and forest conservation outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop a survey-based empirical typology of Tasmanian NIPF owners based on their stated objectives of forest ownership and to relate owner type to a range of observable property and owner characteristics as well as to timber harvesting and forest management behaviour. Using principal component analysis (PCA) followed by means cluster analysis, four distinct groups are identified: income and investment owners, non-timber output owners, agriculturalists, and multi-objective owners. Members of these groups are found to differ significantly in terms of their personal and property characteristics, as well as their timber harvesting and management behaviour. For example, members of the non-timber output owners, who are motivated solely by objectives related to the production and protection of the non-timber outputs of forests, have similar proportions of timber on their property, but are less likely to have harvested timber from their property, than all other groups.

Supply of Hunting Leases from Non-Industrial Private Forest Lands in Alabama

We used a two-step approach to jointly analyze participation of non-industrial private forest landowners in hunting leases and the determinants of hunting lease fees. Data for this study were obtained from a survey of landowners in Alabama (n = 227). The results show that land ownership type, tract size, and landowners’ place of residence, employment status, and concern for personal safety are determinants of participation in hunting leases. Factors influencing hunting lease fees include site-specific characteristics such as share of agricultural land relative to forest land, tract size, year-round water availability, type of access, and enhanced features such as streamside management zone, habitat improvement desirable to wildlife, and provision of services. The study has implications for landowners’ land use decisions and economic returns. This research is partially funded by Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Alabama Forestry Commission. We are thankful to Amy Griliot and two anonymous reviewers and the editor of this journal for comments that have led to a significant improvement to this article. All remaining errors belong to the authors.

Evaluating forest management intensity: A comparison among major forest landowner types

As the global demand for timber expands and timber inventory in the western United States continuously declines, southern U.S. forests are becoming an increasingly important source of timber. Timberlands in the U.S. South are owned by a diverse group of landowners with varying objectives: industrial, timber investment management organizations (TIMOs), nonindustrial, and state forest landowners. Forest management intensity of these landowner groups was evaluated by looking at the forest management activities and expenditures of Mississippi forestland owners. Industrial landowners and TIMOs had similar management characteristics and managed their lands more intensively than the state and NIPF landowners. Industrial landowners and TIMOs invested more in intensive forestry activities and treated a significantly greater proportion of their timberlands. In contrast, the majority of NIPF expenditures consisted of fixed costs like property taxes. State ownerships reported minimal investment in intensive forestry activities. Intensive forest management was influenced by ownership size, ownership type, and proportion of timberland area in pine.

Non-Resident Land Ownership and Land Value in Two Eastern Townships of Quebec : A preliminary investigation

The papers probes the indirect relationship between land value and various types of landowners: resident landowners, and 'local', 'provincial', 'national' and 'foreign' non-resident landowners. Data on the number of landowners, the acreage held and the assessed value of buildings and land in two rural Québec municipalities are examined using plotted "surfaces" of land value and several non-parametric statistical approaches. The levels of non-resident ownership are found to be relatively high with 'local' and 'provincial' non-residents holding the bulk of the non-resident acreage. A significant association is found to exist between the total assessed value of land and buildings and the type of landowner in both municipalities.

Efficient habitat protection with diverse landowners and fragmented landscapes

Abstract Much economic analysis has focused on the limitations of regulatory approaches in favor of market-based incentive policies to preserve habitat on private land. Incentive policies include landowner subsidies, tradable development rights, fee-simple (full interest) land purchases, and conservation easement (partial interest) purchases. This paper evaluates these proposals on economic efficiency and other criteria and argues that the literature usually overestimates the opportunity costs of preservation and fails to consider the importance of landowner mobility to economic efficiency. Two-step conservation easements are proposed as an effective alternative when there are many different landowner types, and it is important to protect certain unique properties or ensure large, contiguous reserves.

New woodlands in Denmark: The role of private landowners

Voluntary schemes that offer payments to farmers who agree to desist from certain damaging operations or carrying out environmentally sensitive activities have become an integral part of current European agricultural policy. These schemes tend to operate from the presumption of an economically rational behaviour of the landowner obtaining the grant. Analysis of landowners using the Danish subsidy scheme for field afforestation (EU regulation 2080/92) has shown that there is a need to reconsider the perception of the implementation process of the scheme on the individual farm as based only on economic rationality. By using two continua (production-nature orientation and attachment to agriculture), five different types of landowners are identified: agricultural producers, non-agricultural producers, soft farmers, countryside residents, and amenity residents. By using the typology, it is found that when nature orientation is of increasing importance, planting independently of the subsidy gradually tends to become more likely. This means that not all applicants for the afforestation scheme fit into the pattern of economically rational actors. Instead, the applicants' activities reflect a wide range of practices and values concerning afforestation which we need to acknowledge if we are to fully achieve agri-environmental policies.

Procesos urbanos y "ruralidad" en la periferia de la Zona metropolitana de la Ciudad de México

El trabajo tiene como objetivo abordar la relación entre la urbanización y el sector agrícola en la periferia de la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México. Para el análisis se consideran las características de la expansión urbana, las diversas interpretaciones de la relación entre el campo y la ciudad, y las modalidades de la urbanización periférica. La relación de tales elementos lleva a identificar el importante papel que corresponde a los diferentes tipos de propiedad de la tierra y a reconocer las peculiaridades de la población rural en la definición de los nuevos rasgos de la urbanización periférica, lo que obliga a reflexionar sobre la complejidad de la interrelación entre lo urbano y lo rural en la periferia metropolitana.