Implicit Prices of Wetlands, Wetland Easments, and Recreational Sales of Farmland in North Dakota

摘要

Farmland price impacts of wetlands, US Fish and Wildlife Service wetland easements, and hunting/recreational sales in North Dakota were estimated by regressing sale prices on selected physical and legal characteristics of sold parcels. The presence of wetlands reduced the average sale price by $0.26 per acre on the entire parcel; or, stated another way; an acre of wetland was worth $192, or 27% less than the average per acre sale price of land of $262. When a US Fish and Wildlife wetland easement was associated with a parcel, the average per acre sale price was reduced by $26, or 10 percent of the average per acre sale price. The reduction in market price of a sale parcels containing wetlands and/or associated with an easement underscores the necessity of compensation to landowners for participation in wetland conservation programs. Hunting sales did not have a statistically significant influence on land prices. However, the small sample size (n = 26) of sales in this category may be responsible for the lack of statistical significance.