Many of the Nation's conservation programs seek to achieve multiple environmental objectives. Implementing a multi-objective program efficiently requires program managers to balance different environmental and cost objectives. A number of conservation programs use an index approach to prioritize...

We investigate what farmland preservation programs reveal about the importance of protecting different rural amenities. An extensive content analysis of the enabling legislation of various farmland protection programs suggests wide variation exists in the protection of amenities. An analysis of...

The use of tax policy to encourage conservation of agricultural and environmental resources is not a new idea but gained increased attention in the recently concluded farm bill debate. A new tax deduction is established for taxpayers who take voluntary measures to aid in the recovery of species...

Public amenities provided by a rural agricultural landscape, arising from open space and farm activity, are important to many citizens and policymakers. Widespread development of farmland in some parts of the country has spawned an expanding array of farmland protection programs by county,...

Where cities are expanding and urban-edge farmland receding, government farmland protection programs are becoming increasingly popular. At the root of support for these programs is the recognition that farmland produces more for society than food and fiber. This study provides a number of...

The Federal Government, all 50 States, many local jurisdictions, and over 1,200 land trusts and nonprofit conservation programs seek to maintain more land in farming uses than would otherwise be the case. ERS analysts found various objectives mentioned in the authorizing legislation for State...

Many of the Nation’s conservation programs help to offset the negative environmental impacts of agricultural production. One tool many conservation program managers use to balance multiple objectives is a selection index. Using data from USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the...

On average, 2.2 million acres of farmland per year were converted to urban uses between 1992 and 2001. Every State has enacted measures that help protect farmland, but most measures do not preserve farmland permanently. Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) programs, is increasingly popular....