Charles Chancellor

Motivations influencing the adoption of conservation easements.

The use of conservation easements as a conservation mechanism for private land has increased greatly in the past decade; conservation easements now protect over 15 million ha across the United States from residential and commercial development. We used a mailed survey and in-depth telephone interviews to determine factors that motivate private landowners in Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin (U.S.A.) to place conservation easements on their properties. The mailed survey asked about characteristics of landowners, their properties, and their opinions on 9 factors related to the decision to place an easement. A follow-up telephone interview was completed with 19 mail-survey participants to gain an in-depth understanding of the action and to triangulate the results with the questionnaire. Place attachment, which is a measure of personal connection to a location or property, was the greatest motivation for implementation of an easement. Results of a principal components analysis suggested contributing to the public good underlaid several of the strong motivational factors for participation. Financial reasons were the lowest ranked motivational factor; however, financial concerns may facilitate placement of an easement that would otherwise not be realized. We believe that our results may be transferable to places where land protected by easements is not dominated by traditional farming (row crops, pastures, and hay), timber harvesting, or nonextractive uses (e.g., habitat for wild animals, recreation, and protection of ecosystem services).

Using Geographic Information System to Visualize Travel Patterns and Market Research Data

Travel pattern data collected from a rural county in western North Carolina, United States, was analyzed using a geographic information system. Travel pattern data are valuable to destination marketers as it highlights potential regional promotions and development partners. Geographic information systems (GIS) can easily display in map form spatially oriented concepts such as travel patterns and provides easy viewing of the data. The generated maps provided a clear indication of regions, counties, and towns that tourism promoters in the rural county may consider as potential marketing and development collaborators. Additionally, by modeling trip distances per travel pattern, potential new markets were identified.

Tourism organizations and land trusts: a sustainable approach to natural resource conservation?

This study explores current and potential collaboration efforts between land trusts (LTs) and tourism entities in the USA. LTs and tourism entities have convergent needs and goals regarding natural resource protection, possibly making them suitable partners. Sustainable tourism development needs natural resource protection; land trusts have proved economically viable and effective methods for protecting natural areas. While some case studies have described collaboration efforts by selected LTs and tourism entities, this mixed methods exploratory study is based upon survey data from 279 local and regional LTs operating across the USA. The study is grounded in both the Primary Environmental Care (PEC) conceptual model and Jafaris Background Tourism Elements concept, providing clarity on current and potential collaboration efforts between LTs and tourism entities. The survey showed that tourism-related characteristics, especially scenic qualities, were acceptable to land trusts, and that tourism was the most mentioned industry within LT areas. Only 39% of LTs currently work with tourism entities; however, only 4% of LTs report opposition from tourism entities to their conservation work. LT managers were strongly in favor of future collaboration with tourism interests. All five of the key components required for the PEC model were found.

Space to Romp and Roam and How It May Promote Land Conservation

ABSTRACT: This study examined the significant life experiences (SLE) of individuals who had placed conservation easements on private property. Specifically, this study explored how early life experiences may impact ones conservation ethic to effect decisions on land protection. The researchers utilized a sequential embedded mixed methods research design, relying on both qualitative and quantitative data in order to develop an understanding of the phenomenon. All participants for this study were individuals who had placed a conservation easement on her or his property in Indiana. The mixed method analysis indicates that individual and informal experiences in and about the outdoors had the greatest perceived impact and were significantly different than more formalized experiences among the studys participants. The discussion focuses on the impact of informal experiences in the outdoors and the impact on the self-perceived development of conservation ethics as significant life experiences pertaining to conservation behavior and the placing of conservation easements. Implications of this exploratory study are discussed as they pertain to practitioners and scholars alike.

Facilitation of the SUS-TAS Application with Parsimony, Predictive Validity, and Global Interpretation Examination

The Sustainable Tourism Attitude Scale (SUS-TAS) has been widely recognized as a promising instrument for evaluating tourism sustainability. Scholars have successfully validated this scale across contexts. This study carries forward the fruitful outcomes of previous SUS-TAS studies by exploring some possible facilitations of the SUS-TAS application efficiency and scope. Using data from 11 Midwestern U.S. counties, this study (1) found a maximally parsimonious 20-item SUS-TAS that facilitates data collection efficiency without compromising the psychometrical properties, (2) verified SUS-TAS’s predictive validity as in predicting residents’ intention to engage in tourism planning at different levels, and (3) suggested that SUS-TAS is best interpreted by seven separate dimensions rather than a global factor. The extended applications and possible further refinements for the scale are also discussed.

To Ease or Not to Ease: Interest in Conservation Easements Among Landowners in Brown County, Indiana

Clearly understanding the connections among land use, demographics, and sensitivity and engagement with natural areas can provide insight into landowner decision making. Pertinent findings from our mailed survey of landowners in Brown County, Indiana, include that (1) individuals already engaged in land conservation or environmental activities are most likely to consider a conservation easement (CE), (2) hunters and anglers are less likely to have interest in CEs, and (3) few differences exist between seasonal and permanent residents. Among other things, this research highlights the significance for landowner willingness to grant a CE of involving landowners in conservation activities and environmental organizations.

Assessing the intention of land trust representatives to collaborate with tourism entities to protect natural areas

Environmental degradation and dwindling natural areas can negatively impact a destinations image. Nonprofit land trusts have become important organizations in the US conservation movement and elsewhere. Their method of negotiating with landowners to protect land, yet leave the land in private ownership and on the tax rolls, is often popular with the public and local governments. This study explains how land trusts operate. It measured the collaboration potential between land trusts and tourism entities in the US, from the land trust representatives’ point of view, by embedding six propositions considered necessary for collaboration into the theory of planned behavior. An email survey of land trusts in the US yielded 279 usable replies. Approximately 71% of the representatives’ intention to collaborate was accounted for, with opinions of peers (subjective norm) providing the most influence; 64% of the representatives’ attitude toward collaboration was identified. Land trusts were found to be able and willing to provide an efficient, economical method of protecting the landscape, while working with tourism entities that could provide financial support, promotion and increased awareness of the importance of natural areas to both local population and tourists.

Networking for conservation: social capital and perceptions of organizational success among land trust boards

As an important component in collaborative natural resource management and nonprofit governance, social capital is expected to be related to variations in the performance of land trusts. Land trusts are charitable organizations that work to conserve private land locally, regionally, or nationally. The purpose of this paper is to identify the level of structural and cognitive social capital among local land trusts, and how these two types of social capital relate to the perceived success of land trusts. The analysis integrates data for land trusts operating in the U.S. south-central Appalachian region, which includes western North Carolina, southwest Virginia, and east Tennessee. We use factor analysis to elicit different dimensions of cognitive social capital, including cooperation among board members, shared values, common norms, and communication effectiveness. Measures of structural social capital include the size and diversity of organizational networks of both land trusts and their board members. Finally, a hierarchical linear regression model is employed to estimate how cognitive and structural social capital measures, along with other organizational and individual-level attributes, relate to perceptions of land trust success, defined here as achievement of the land trusts’ mission, conservation, and financial goals. Results show that the diversity of organizational partnerships, cooperation, and shared values among land trust board members are associated with higher levels of perceived success. Organizational capacity, land trust accreditation, volunteerism, and financial support are also important factors influencing perceptions of success among local, nonprofit land trusts.