Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminated

California budget cuts have resulted in dramatic reductions in state funding for the Williamson Act, a land protection program that reduces property taxes for the owners of 15 million acres of California farms and rangeland. With state reimbursements to counties eliminated, the decision to continue...

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Main Authors: William C. Wetzel, Iara L. Lacher, Daniel S. Swezey, Sarah E. Moffitt, Dale T. Manning
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources 2012-10-01
Series:California Agriculture
Subjects:
Online Access:http://calag.ucanr.edu/archive/?article=ca.v066n04p131
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spelling doaj-0679a5e172a24c029044cbe05da416142020-11-25T00:02:58ZengUniversity of California Agriculture and Natural ResourcesCalifornia Agriculture0008-08452160-80912012-10-0166413113610.3733/ca.v066n04p13110.3733/cav066n04_6Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminatedWilliam C. Wetzel0Iara L. Lacher1Daniel S. Swezey2Sarah E. Moffitt3Dale T. Manning4W.C. Wetzel is Doctoral Candidate, Department of Evolution and Ecology, UC DavisI.L. Lacher is Doctoral Candidate, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, UC DavisD.S. Swezey is Doctoral Candidate, Department of Evolution and Ecology, UC DavisS.E. Moffitt is Doctoral Candidate, UC Bodega Marine Laboratory, Bodega BayD.T. Manning is Doctoral Candidate, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis.California budget cuts have resulted in dramatic reductions in state funding for the Williamson Act, a land protection program that reduces property taxes for the owners of 15 million acres of California farms and rangeland. With state reimbursements to counties eliminated, the decision to continue Williamson Act contracts lies with individual counties. We investigated the consequences of eliminating the Williamson Act, using a geospatial analysis and a mail questionnaire asking ranchers for plans under a hypothetical elimination scenario. The geospatial analysis revealed that 72% of rangeland parcels enrolled in Williamson Act contracts contained habitat important for statewide conservation goals. Presented with the elimination scenario, survey respondents reported an intention to sell 20% of their total 496,889 acres. The tendency of survey participants to respond that they would sell land was highest among full-time ranchers with low household incomes and without off-ranch employment. A majority (76%) of the ranchers who reported that they would sell land predicted that the buyers would develop it for nonagricultural uses, suggesting substantial changes to California's landscape in a future without the Williamson Act.http://calag.ucanr.edu/archive/?article=ca.v066n04p131agricultural land
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author William C. Wetzel
Iara L. Lacher
Daniel S. Swezey
Sarah E. Moffitt
Dale T. Manning
spellingShingle William C. Wetzel
Iara L. Lacher
Daniel S. Swezey
Sarah E. Moffitt
Dale T. Manning
Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminated
California Agriculture
agricultural land
author_facet William C. Wetzel
Iara L. Lacher
Daniel S. Swezey
Sarah E. Moffitt
Dale T. Manning
author_sort William C. Wetzel
title Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminated
title_short Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminated
title_full Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminated
title_fullStr Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminated
title_full_unstemmed Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminated
title_sort analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if williamson act eliminated
publisher University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
series California Agriculture
issn 0008-0845
2160-8091
publishDate 2012-10-01
description California budget cuts have resulted in dramatic reductions in state funding for the Williamson Act, a land protection program that reduces property taxes for the owners of 15 million acres of California farms and rangeland. With state reimbursements to counties eliminated, the decision to continue Williamson Act contracts lies with individual counties. We investigated the consequences of eliminating the Williamson Act, using a geospatial analysis and a mail questionnaire asking ranchers for plans under a hypothetical elimination scenario. The geospatial analysis revealed that 72% of rangeland parcels enrolled in Williamson Act contracts contained habitat important for statewide conservation goals. Presented with the elimination scenario, survey respondents reported an intention to sell 20% of their total 496,889 acres. The tendency of survey participants to respond that they would sell land was highest among full-time ranchers with low household incomes and without off-ranch employment. A majority (76%) of the ranchers who reported that they would sell land predicted that the buyers would develop it for nonagricultural uses, suggesting substantial changes to California's landscape in a future without the Williamson Act.
topic agricultural land
url http://calag.ucanr.edu/archive/?article=ca.v066n04p131
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