Donald M. McLeod

Environmental amenities and agricultural land values: a hedonic model using geographic information systems data

Abstract Remote agricultural lands, which include wildlife habitat, angling opportunities and scenic vistas, command higher prices per hectare in Wyoming than those whose landscape is dominated by agricultural production. Geographic information systems (GIS) data are used to measure recreational and scenic amenities associated with rural land. A hedonic price model is specified with GIS measures. It is used to estimate the impact of amenity and agricultural production land characteristics on price per acre for a sample of Wyoming agricultural parcels. Results indicate that the specification performed well across several functional forms. The sampled land prices are explained by the level of both environmental amenities as well as production attributes. Statistically significant amenity variables included scenic view, elk habitat, sport fishery productivity and distance to town. This analysis permits a better estimation of environmental amenity values from hedonic techniques. Improved estimation of amenity values is vital for policies aimed at open space preservation, using agricultural conservation easements and land use conflict resolution.

Estimating visual properties of Rocky Mountain landscapes using GIS

Abstract View quality rating is an important component of land management that is still undergoing parameter definition and technical development. Methods enabling the efficient and accurate quantification of viewshed properties over large viewsheds using readily available data are particularly needed. This paper describes a procedure for measuring a suite of visual properties known to influence viewer preferences for hundreds of observation points in extensive Wyoming landscapes. Planimetric and panoramic simulations were used for quantifying appropriate viewshed parameters. These simulations were created in ArcInfo using USGS digital elevation data and satellite-derived landcover. The planimetric simulation was ideal for quantifying the dimensions of views (areal extent, depth, relief), but not adequate for quantifying the composition of views (landcover, diversity, and edge of landcover). Instead, a high correlation existed between panoramic estimates of landcover and equivalent images captured in the field ( r 2 =0.97). The viewsheds examined in this study had large areal extents, large relief, extended depth, and naturalness, and may extend beyond the spatial scales for which view-quality concepts and preference relationships were developed.

Factors Impacting Agricultural Landowners' Willingness to Enter into Conservation Easements: A Case Study

Agricultural lands offer an abundance of environmental goods and services, yet face residential development pressures. Conservation easements are frequently used to protect both productive land and environmental amenities. The landowner retains ownership, and may donate development rights or receive compensation for permanently limiting development on the property. Focus groups were conducted with agricultural landowners in Wyoming and Colorado to explore factors affecting their preferences for conservation easements. Results from the focus groups reveal that landowners have concerns about providing easements in perpetuity. They also considered public access to and loss of managerial control of their property as obstacles. Focus-group results indicated that landowners valued the provision of public goods, such as wildlife habitat and open space, to neighboring communities, and generally felt something important would be lost to their communities if their lands were developed. Addressing landowner concerns could potentially increase the volume of easement transactions.

Factors Influencing Support for Rural Land Use Control: A Case Study

Agricultural land is being converted into rural residences at an unprecedented rate in the Inter-mountain West. Survey data have been collected for Sublette County, Wyoming concerning preferences for private land use and land use control. Selected land use controls include zoning, purchase of development rights and cluster development. Local in-migration appears to be driven by the pursuit of open space and environment amenities. Logit models are estimated for public and private choice co-variates. Private concerns about land use are the chief determinants of land use control approval.

Property Rights and Public Interests: A Wyoming Agricultural Lands Study

Rocky Mountain states have experienced unprecedented growth as agricultural land is converted to residences. Preservation efforts meet with protest from private landholders claiming public efforts undermine private property rights. This paper explores the degree to which respondents think management of agricultural lands is a public versus a private matter. Data are from a Sublette County, Wyoming, mail survey. Results are relevant to many western counties having public lands and high growth rates. They suggest that landowners, wage earners, college graduates, and those who value the countys rural community lifestyle support public management strategies. Well-established residents and those with economic reasons for living in the county support private management strategies. Copyright 2002 Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky.

Private Open Space and Public Concerns

Agricultural lands provide open space, which is valuable as wildlife habitat, as a visual resource, and as access to public lands. Sublette County, WY, is the basis for a case study relevant to rural land use planning. A mail survey provided responses from landowners and other residents. Agricultural land uses and public involvement in land use planning were approved. Land use controls including zoning were accepted. Differences existed between residents and nonresidents regarding personal income, local employment, the future importance of extractive industries, and the reasons for living in the county.

The Effects of Environmental Amenities on Agricultural Land Values

Ascribing agricultural land values solely to productive capacity does not accurately capture the impact of environmental amenities on western land prices. We analyze rural land prices in Wyoming using a hedonic price model. Geographic information systems data includes on-parcel wildlife and fish habitat, scenic view attributes, and distance to protected federal lands. Feasible generalized least squares is used to address spatial autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity. Results indicate that environmental amenities contribute to land values. Examination of the marginal effects of amenities on parcel price furthers these conclusions. Environmental amenities contributions to land prices may guide resource allocation decisions across diverse demands. (JEL Q24)

Rural land use and sale preferences in a Wyoming County.

This paper explores preferences for use and sale of three types of agricultural land in Sublette County, Wyoming. Most respondents agreed that productive (irrigated) landscapes should remain in agriculture. Well-established residents, large landowners, and those pursuing low taxes preferred agricultural and recreation/ wildlife uses of more remote landscapes. Wealthier and part-time respondents were more likely to prefer residential use. Respondents expecting improved quality of life with population growth supported land sales. Those who would leave the county if population increased were not likely to sell. Results are applicable to other growing Western counties and are important for land use planning. (JEL Q24)

Determining the Relationship between Urban Form and the Costs of Public Services

Dispersed development is often associated with negative externalities and ensuing external costs. As a consequence, there is a global need for informed decision making on issues of land-use change and conversion that includes the influences of differing urban forms on the costs of public services. In this paper we quantify a relationship between cost of services and urban form through the development of an econometric model for the provision of public safety for a county in the Mountain West of the USA. The research extends previous modeling of public services to include a spatial index representing urban form, the pattern of the built environment disaggregated by land use, as an explanatory variable for input cost. The use of an index allows quantifying and tracking changes in urban form over time. The index is based on the Morans I measure of spatial autocorrelation. It is calculated using the dollar values of buildings aggregated spatially within grid cells. By leveraging Morans I, the index captures local and global statistics representing the intensity of the built environment by land-use category. Local Morans I statistics quantify the contribution of individual cells to overall clustering. Global Morans I statistics are suitable for inclusion as a spatial index in time series regression analysis. Results suggest residential development is a statistically significant driver of local government expenditures on inputs to policing services. This paper contributes to the literature on fiscal impact analysis by incorporating a measure of urban form as a determinant of local government expenditures on services and, ultimately, on the level of service provision. This provides a direct link between urban form and the cost of public services.

Planning Support Systems for Fiscally Sustainable Planning

Local government’s need for accurate assessments and projections of the fiscal consequences of development is well established and persistent. This analysis demonstrates the use of a geographic information science-based planning support system to project residential growth and the fiscal consequences of development. The cornerstone of the analysis is a spatial index of urban form which captures clustering and dispersion of the built environment. A regression model indicates the spatial index to be a statistically significant determinant of expenditures on policing services in the study area. Modelled future growth was spatially and temporally disaggregated to indicate future residential growth at different planning horizons. Spatial indices were calculated for these planning horizons and incorporated into the econometric model for ceteris paribus evaluation of the effect of change in urban form on public service expenditures. Results demonstrate planning informed by PSS modelling has the potential to realize savings on public service expenditures.