Government agencies in urbanizing areas are increasingly utilizing purchase and transfer of development rights programs to preserve farmland and protect local farm economies. This article tests the effect of development restrictions imposed by permanent easement sales on farmland sales prices,...

Following the failure of legislative proposals for a multi-sector greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade policy, the shift in focus to energy sector policies ignores the perhaps substantial potential for GHG mitigation from agriculture/forestry. We review estimates of the current U.S. agriculture...

We investigate the effects of forest conservation requirements and zoning on the value of land undergoing subdivision. Land prices are increasing in the percentage of subdivision acreage developers are required to keep in forest, suggesting that forest conservation regulations increase the...

The problem in estimating a social accounting matrix (SAM) for a recent year is to find an efficient and cost-effective way to incorporate and reconcile information from a variety of sources, including data from prior years. Based on information theory, the paper presents a flexible 'cross...

The paper examines the current relevance of the set of variables reported in the literature as driving deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The analysis uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE)model adapted to capture regional economic structures and the environmental processes specific to...

This article analyzes why the USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) experiences contract withdrawals. Among approved contracts, 17% withdrew one or more conservation practices. After presenting a model of producers' behavior, a logit model is used to examine the withdrawal...

The Environmental Protection Agency requires concentrated animal feeding operations to develop and implement a comprehensive nutrient management plan. Changes in manure management to meet nutrient application standards will increase production costs. Some of these costs can be offset by savings...