Abstracts of Selected Papers

Abstract

s of Selected Papers NAREA Annual Meetings, Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 13-16, 2010 SESSION: Land Preservation. Moderator: Jacqueline Geoghegan (Clark University) "Development of a Best Practices Framework for Agricultural Land Preservation Programs in Maryland: Future for Optimization." Yu Chen and Kent Messer (University of Delaware) and William Allen (The Conservation Fund). Research shows that the use of optimization can improve the effectiveness of existing Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) programs. Survey results from MALPF administrators identify benefits and costs, as well as barriers to implementing optimization. Results will shape a best practices framework for MALPF by customizing optimization for each county. "Assessing the Effectiveness of Conservation Easements for Wildlife Conservation in West Virginia." Sudiksha Joshi and Michael Strager (West Virginia University). This study analyzes the effectiveness of the conservation easements in West Virginia in terms of their size, proximity to protected areas and other conservation easements, species richness, and land value. Spatial statistical analysis is used to characterize the established conservation easements and assess their complementary role in wildlife conservation. "An Empirical Analysis of a 'Smart Subsidy'." Nathaniel Higgins (Economic Research Service, USDA), Shawn Bucholtz (Farm Service Agency), and Lori Lynch (University of Maryland). This paper analyzes a policy meant to increase the benefits of conservation programs by encouraging the clustering of enrolled land. Landowners enrolling in Oregon's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) received a cash bonus when specific agglomeration targets were met. We use geo-located data to determine whether this incentive was successful in encouraging agglomeration. "A Spatial Analysis of Local Preservation Referenda Appearance and Adoption." Martin Heintzelman and Dustin Grzeskowiak (Clarkson University). This paper analyzes the appearance and passage of local preservation referenda in a dynamic context using spatial econometrics. We focus on the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act as our case study and look to understand the dynamics of passage as well as the impacts of the actions of neighboring towns. SESSION: Food Production and Access. Moderator: Carolyn Dimitri (Economic Research Ser-