Research ArticlesProperty Rights Orientations and Rangeland Management Objectives: Texas, Utah, and Colorado
Section snippets
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, ranchers in the United States have experienced substantial economic and social dislocations due to low livestock prices, declining rangeland productivity, and more stringent environmental regulations (Knight et al. 2002). Further, many ranchers are living within or near rapidly growing communities where land is being increasingly subdivided (McGranahan 1999). In response to such pressures, many ranchers are making changes in their land management practices, business
Mail Survey
A survey questionnaire was mailed to 1 694 rangeland owners in Texas, Utah, and Colorado. In each state, 1 county with population growth above the state average (high growth) and 1 with growth below the state average (low growth) between 1990 and 2000 were selected along a transect line centered on a major urban area. The selected high and low growth counties included (10-year change in parentheses): Llano (46.5%) and Sutton (-1.4%) in Texas (22.8%), Summit (91.6%) and Uintah (13.6%) in Utah
Response patterns
The response rates were determined based on the actual number of landowners who were qualified survey participants, i.e., those who reported having at least 40 ha and who earned at least some income from ranching activities on their land. Based on the adjustment for nonqualified respondents, the response rates were 62% in Texas, 46% in Utah, and 51% in Colorado.
The overall mean response values for implementing each of the 6 listed land management objectives without compensation, and the
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The objective of our study was to explore landowner attitudes regarding the uncompensated adoption of socially desirable rangeland management objectives that enhance the delivery of ecosystem services. We were specifically interested in determining how landowners' property rights orientations might influence these attitudes. In conducting the study, we assumed that rangeland management practices that enhance the delivery of ecosystem services are ecologically sound. The factor analysis revealed
MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
Rangelands around the world provide ecosystem services that are critical for the survival and welfare of human beings. Because many rangelands in the western United States occur on privately owned land, management decisions that affect vegetation composition on private rangelands have a direct bearing on the delivery of ecosystem services that are important to human societies. For example, quality water supplies, properly functioning wetlands/riparian areas, and suitable habitat for endangered
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2023, Land Use PolicyCitation Excerpt :However, we argue that such assumption fails to acknowledge that awareness can be endogenous to the adoption decision of the respondents (Daberkow and McBride (2003). A review of the range social science literature suggests that several studies have focused on the adoption of innovative methods in range management (Cook and Ma, 2014; Kreuter et al., 2006; Lubell et al., 2013; Ma and Coppock, 2012; Peterson and Coppock, 2001). One common assumption in the existing adoption literature is that rangeland owners while revealing their opinions through survey responses, are fully aware of the characteristics of innovation.
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This project was supported by the National Research Initiative of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA, Grant 00-35401-9255.
The manuscript is based on research results included in the PhD Dissertation of M.V.N.