Jacob C. Brenner

Pasture Conversion, Private Ranchers, and the Invasive Exotic Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) in Mexico's Sonoran Desert

This research examines the role of private ranchers in Sonora, Mexico, in regional-scale landscape change involving an invasive species. The arid rangelands of Sonora are a center of modern commercial cattle ranching, where the exotic buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) is the favored species for the extensive conversion of native range vegetation to pasture. The land management decisions of private ranchers, the primary agents of pasture conversion, are examined amid peculiar challenges and opportunities presented by buffelgrass in the context of the modernization of Sonoran ranching. An environmental history of buffelgrass in the region is coupled with qualitative and quantitative interview data, which are subjected to binary logistic regression modeling. Statistical results show rotational grazing as the strongest driver of pasture conversion, followed by native forage scarcity. Land entitlement, government support, hobbyism, and belief in buffelgrass as long-term drought mitigation are insignificant. Interview data reveal diverse expressions of agency among Sonoran private ranchers, and historical research illustrates the structural context that conditions land-use decisions. Ultimately, pasture conversion arises not from state sponsorship but from complex interactions among desert ecosystems, ranchers, and the institutions that mediate their engagements with the state and an international political economy. This research confirms the utility of analyzing changing landscapes as coupled human–environment systems and questions the utility of an agency–structure dichotomy in land-use change explanations.

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa or C. indica) agriculture and the environment: a systematic, spatially-explicit survey and potential impacts

Cannabis agriculture is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States that is changing rapidly with policy liberalization. Anecdotal observations fuel speculation about associated environmental impacts, and there is an urgent need for systematic empirical research. An example from Humboldt County California, a principal cannabis-producing region, involved digitizing 4428 grow sites in 60 watersheds with Google Earth imagery. Grows were clustered, suggesting disproportionate impacts in ecologically important locales. Sixty-eight percent of grows were >500 m from developed roads, suggesting risk of landscape fragmentation. Twenty-two percent were on steep slopes, suggesting risk of erosion, sedimentation, and landslides. Five percent were <100 m from threatened fish habitat, and the estimated 297 954 plants would consume an estimated 700 000 m3 of water, suggesting risk of stream impacts. The extent and magnitude of cannabis agriculture documented in our study demands that it be regulated and researched on par with conventional agriculture.

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.

The practice and promise of private land conservation

In many countries around the globe, private freehold lands cover large areas. Conservation on these private lands, next to statutory protected areas, promises to play a critical role in efforts for reaching internationally agreed environmental protection targets. Lying at the heart of an emerging land system science, in which ecology, economics, geography, psychology, and other social sciences interact, private land conservation is reflecting the intertwined and multiscalar processes of our rapidly transforming world. Situated at this disciplinary meeting point, private land conservation invites a great breadth of approaches and cross-disciplinary work that offer deep insights into social and environmental change, often from surprising angles. Although many questions remain in private land conservation, we can now build on a large body of recent high-quality studies as we push this field forward in both research and practice. The Special Feature “Private Land Conservation Landowner Motives, Policies, and Outcomes of Conservation Measures in Unprotected Landscapes” brings together contributions that explore the diversity of recent advances in private land conservation science. As an introduction to this Special Feature, first we are reviewing recent dynamics in important social-ecological drivers with bearing on private land conservation science. We go on to introduce the individual contributions to this Special Feature and then examine common themes as they are emerging from these papers, including the need for flexibility in conservation approaches, pursuit of community cobenefits of conservation, increasing consideration of environmental justice questions, and acknowledgment of the importance of social psychology in shaping private land conservation. We conclude with identification of knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research, as we advance from diagnostics to normative work in private land conservation science.

Living on the Edge: Emerging Environmental Hazards on the Peri-Urban Fringe

In this current era of global-scale social and environmental change, many researchers, policymakers, and practitioners anticipate increasing danger. In a warmer global climate system, for example, ...

Perpetual private land conservation: the case for outdoor recreation and functional leisure

As natural areas, agricultural lands, and open spaces continue to be developed at unprecedented rates, it is important for land conservation professionals to understand the individuals who might play a role in permanently protecting these lands and their ecological services. Many factors have been shown to influence land protection decisions among private owners, including land-use activities, demographic characteristics, and environmental intention and behavior. With the hypothesis that individuals already involved in land conservation programs would be candidates for permanent protection, we set out to model conservation easement decisions within a group of participants in southern Indianas Classified Forest and Wildlands Program (ICFWP). We used a mailed questionnaire to survey 500 landowners, garnering 308 responses, about their interest in conservation easements. Our results indicated significant positive relationships between interest in conservation easements with variables representing perception of landscape change, outdoor recreation behavior as an adult, and environmental organization membership. By better understanding the ways these factors promote permanent land-use decisions, land conservation professionals can better allocate limited resources through strategic investments in targeting and outreach.