First Advisor
Pronoy Rai
Term of Graduation
January 2026
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Language
English
Subjects
Conservation, Easement, Oregon, Private Open Spaces
Physical Description
1 online resource ( pages)
Abstract
Much of the private land in the US west is open rangeland and undeveloped. However, as exurban migration to rural areas increases, private open spaces are increasingly at risk of being developed. Conservation easements are a private property conservation tool that limits development on private land. This thesis explores the relationship ranchers in eight counties of Eastern Oregon have with different land tenures and the effectiveness of conservation easements toward broader landscape conservation goals. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 13 ranchers, six with easements and seven without, I investigated ranchers’ motivations for pursuing or abstaining from conservation easements. I found that ranchers’ land ethic, financial situation, succession planning, and trust in community greatly influenced their willingness to participate in an easement. To analyze the effectiveness of conservation easements for ecological conservation, I used a Geographic Information System to explore their impacts on land cover change and role in habitat contiguity in the study area. While easements did not have significant effects on land cover change compared to private land not under an easement, they did connect and provide a buffer to other protected lands. Conservation easements can therefore be an effective tool to maintain landscape contiguity, but proponents need to understand how to attract landowners to the program and target lands of ecological value. This research can inform how land trusts can purpose conservation easements for landscape scale goals, targeting landowners with property of conservation value and who may already be predisposed to an easement to facilitate efficient and effective conservation easement placement.
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Recommended Citation
Cartier, Martine, "Rangeland Conservation Easements: A Social-Ecological Case Study from Eastern Oregon" (2026). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 7148.