Conservation Contracting in Heterogeneous Landscapes: An Application to Watershed Protection and Threshold Constraints

A key issue in the design of land use policy is how to integrate information about spatially variable biophysical and economic conditions into a cost-effective conservation plan. Using common biophysical scoring methods, in combination with economic data and simple optimization methods, an illustration is provided for how to identify a set of priority land parcels for conservation investment. This study also demonstrates a way in which conservation agencies can incorporate concerns about biophysical thresholds in the identification of their priority land parcels. These methods are applied using Geographic Information System data from a New York conservation easement acquisition initiative for water quality protection