{"id":{"repo_id":"colostate","oai_identifier":"oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/195302"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/colostate/oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/195302","repository":{"repo_id":"colostate","name":"Colorado State University","base_url":"https://api.mountainscholar.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The economic consequences of private lands conservation using conservation easements in Colorado","abstract":"Conservation easements have been used across the United States to preserve natural amenities and compensate landowners for the public goods they provide. From the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program to the Grassland Reserve Program, Colorado conserves 2.4 million acres of land (Colorado Natural Heritage Program and the Geospatial Centroid, 2018) This thesis explores the economic implications of Federal conservation easements through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program in Colorado. Using Input-Output modeling I found that conservation easements contributed $176 million to Colorado's economic activity. Further Multi-Region Input-Output models showed that conservation easements support rural counties between $106 million and $112 million more than two counterfactuals I considered: decreasing federal income tax and a zero counterfactual. Further, using benefit transfer analysis, I estimated that all conservation easements in Colorado provide between $40 and $47 billion in ecosystem service benefits to Coloradoans. Using econometric meta-analysis techniques, I estimated that Coloradoans are willing to pay $4.3 billion for all the conserved lands in Colorado. I propose an alternative payment methodology which incentivizes landowners to enroll environmentally important lands rather than using development opportunity costs to determine payments.","abstract_html":"Conservation easements have been used across the United States to preserve natural amenities and compensate landowners for the public goods they provide. From the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program to the Grassland Reserve Program, Colorado conserves 2.4 million acres of land (Colorado Natural Heritage Program and the Geospatial Centroid, 2018) This thesis explores the economic implications of Federal conservation easements through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program in Colorado. Using Input-Output modeling I found that conservation easements contributed $176 million to Colorado's economic activity. Further Multi-Region Input-Output models showed that conservation easements support rural counties between $106 million and $112 million more than two counterfactuals I considered: decreasing federal income tax and a zero counterfactual. Further, using benefit transfer analysis, I estimated that all conservation easements in Colorado provide between $40 and $47 billion in ecosystem service benefits to Coloradoans. Using econometric meta-analysis techniques, I estimated that Coloradoans are willing to pay $4.3 billion for all the conserved lands in Colorado. I propose an alternative payment methodology which incentivizes landowners to enroll environmentally important lands rather than using development opportunity costs to determine payments.","abstract_has_math":true,"creators":["Swartzentruber, Ryan, author","Seidl, Andrew, advisor","Jablonski, Becca B. R., committee member","Pejchar, Liba, committee member"],"institution":"Colorado State University. Libraries","degree_name":"Master of Science (M.S.)","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Agricultural and Resource Economics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019","date_published":"2019","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:13:20Z","subjects":["conservation easement"],"languages":["eng","English"],"rights":["Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018918"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018918","href":"https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018918","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10217/195302","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Swartzentruber, Ryan, author","Seidl, Andrew, advisor","Jablonski, Becca B. R., committee member","Pejchar, Liba, committee member"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2019-06-14T17:05:53Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-06-14T17:05:53Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2019"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Colorado State University. Libraries"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Agricultural and Resource Economics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (M.S.)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Colorado State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["conservation easement"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["Swartzentruber_colostate_0053N_15339.pdf"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10217/195302","https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018918"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Conservation easements have been used across the United States to preserve natural amenities and compensate landowners for the public goods they provide. From the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program to the Grassland Reserve Program, Colorado conserves 2.4 million acres of land (Colorado Natural Heritage Program and the Geospatial Centroid, 2018) This thesis explores the economic implications of Federal conservation easements through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program in Colorado. Using Input-Output modeling I found that conservation easements contributed $176 million to Colorado's economic activity. Further Multi-Region Input-Output models showed that conservation easements support rural counties between $106 million and $112 million more than two counterfactuals I considered: decreasing federal income tax and a zero counterfactual. Further, using benefit transfer analysis, I estimated that all conservation easements in Colorado provide between $40 and $47 billion in ecosystem service benefits to Coloradoans. Using econometric meta-analysis techniques, I estimated that Coloradoans are willing to pay $4.3 billion for all the conserved lands in Colorado. I propose an alternative payment methodology which incentivizes landowners to enroll environmentally important lands rather than using development opportunity costs to determine payments."]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["born digital","masters theses"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The economic consequences of private lands conservation using conservation easements in Colorado"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Swartzentruber, Ryan, author","Seidl, Andrew, advisor","Jablonski, Becca B. R., committee member","Pejchar, Liba, committee member"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2019-06-14T17:05:53Z"],"dc:date.available":["2019-06-14T17:05:53Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019"],"dc:description.abstract":["Conservation easements have been used across the United States to preserve natural amenities and compensate landowners for the public goods they provide. From the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program to the Grassland Reserve Program, Colorado conserves 2.4 million acres of land (Colorado Natural Heritage Program and the Geospatial Centroid, 2018) This thesis explores the economic implications of Federal conservation easements through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program in Colorado. Using Input-Output modeling I found that conservation easements contributed $176 million to Colorado's economic activity. Further Multi-Region Input-Output models showed that conservation easements support rural counties between $106 million and $112 million more than two counterfactuals I considered: decreasing federal income tax and a zero counterfactual. Further, using benefit transfer analysis, I estimated that all conservation easements in Colorado provide between $40 and $47 billion in ecosystem service benefits to Coloradoans. Using econometric meta-analysis techniques, I estimated that Coloradoans are willing to pay $4.3 billion for all the conserved lands in Colorado. I propose an alternative payment methodology which incentivizes landowners to enroll environmentally important lands rather than using development opportunity costs to determine payments."],"dc:format.medium":["born digital","masters theses"],"dc:identifier":["Swartzentruber_colostate_0053N_15339.pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10217/195302","https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018918"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Colorado State University. Libraries"],"dc:rights":["Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright."],"dc:subject":["conservation easement"],"dc:title":["The economic consequences of private lands conservation using conservation easements in Colorado"],"dc:type":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Agricultural and Resource Economics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (M.S.)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Colorado State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:13:20Z"}