Early experience with Pennsylvania's agricultural conservation easement program

Purchase of conservation easements is becoming an increasingly common agricultural land preservation technique. This paper uses a survey of participants in Pennsylvania's agricultural conservation easement program to investigate the characteristics and attitudes of the initial easement sellers during the program's first three years. Demand for the program was found to be sensitive to development pressure. Participants were older on average than nonparticipating farmers. Debt reduction was the largest use of easement sale proceeds, followed by savings and farm capital purchases. Implications for current policy decision making and future evaluation of the program's effectiveness are discussed.