Analyzing conservation-siting decisions and spillover effects in North Carolina

Land conservation is used to protect a variety of vulnerable ecosystem services and land uses in the United States and around the world. As of 2019, 12% of the total land in the US was protected for conservation by private actors and public agencies. Strategies to select land for conservation consider a host of factors – the benefits protected by conserving land, the cost of implementing conservation, and the risk of future development if land remains unprotected. The two primary tools for conserving land, fee-simple acquisitions and conservation easements, differ in the level of protection they afford, their implementation costs, and their impact on development risk. Using data from Durham County in North Carolina, I explore how the two tools may be used to protect different types of land and how their use may have spillover effects on surrounding land values. A better understanding of the kinds of land being conserved and their spillover effects can inform future land conservation strategies for improved conservation benefits.