Abstract
Using mail survey data and telephone interviews, we report on landowner satisfaction with permanent easements held by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) throughout Texas. This study found that landowners were dissatisfied with the NRCS Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), conflicting with results of previous studies. The objective of this study was to explore specific reasons for frustration expressed by landowners with the program. We found three predominant themes underpinning program dissatisfaction: (1) upfront restoration failures, (2) overly restrictive easement constraints, and (3) bureaucratic hurdles limiting landowners’ ability to conduct adaptive management on their easement property. The implications of this study suggest that attitudes of landowners participating in the WRP may limit the long-term effectiveness of this program. Suggestions for improving the program include implementing timely, ecologically sound restoration procedures and streamlining and simplifying the approval process for management activity requests. In addition, the NRCS should consider revising WRP restriction guidelines in order to provide more balance between protection goals and landowner autonomy.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank The Nature Conservancy of Texas for providing funding for the mail surveys. We would also like to thank all of the land trusts and public agencies that assisted us by providing contact information for our survey participants. Finally, we thank all of the landowners who gave us their time for this research.
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Stroman, D., Kreuter, U.P. Landowner Satisfaction with the Wetland Reserve Program in Texas: A Mixed-Methods Analysis. Environmental Management 57, 97–108 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0596-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0596-8