As the average age of agricultural producers continues to rise, farm succession planning and the large number of anticipated land transfers are expected to transform rural American agricultural production and landscapes. Policy tools like conservation easements (CEs) can facilitate agricultural land preservation through “dead hand control” by restricting the development through binding legal contracts that can be transferred across generations. We examine whether agricultural landowners seek CE agreements to keep the land in agriculture for intergenerational bequest, rather than selling the land for financial gains that could be enjoyed immediately or passed to heirs. We assess whether this may be influenced by landowner conservation ethic or perceived threat to sense of place. We analyze the survey data collected from 2,270 agricultural landowners in Colorado and Wyoming utilizing a random utility model estimation. We find that landowners are less likely to reject a CE agreement when there is a desire to bequest agricultural land to the next generation or a perceived threat to sense of place; however, conservation ethic mitigates intergenerational bequest effects. This indicates that conservation ethic encompasses a desire to pass land to the next generation. Our findings contribute to the conservation literature by advocating for the regenerative approach to land conservation rather than the theory of planned behavior.

中文翻译：

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保护伦理是否包括代际遗赠？保护地役权和农业土地所有者的随机效用模型分析*

随着农业生产者的平均年龄不断上升，农场继任计划和大量预期的土地转让预计将改变美国农村的农业生产和景观。保护地役权 (CEs) 等政策工具可以通过“死手控制”促进农业用地保护，方法是通过可以跨代转让的具有约束力的法律合同限制开发。我们研究了农业土地所有者是否寻求 CE 协议以将土地保留在农业中用于代际遗产，而不是出售土地以获得可以立即享受或传递给继承人的经济收益。我们评估这是否可能受到土地所有者保护伦理或对地方感的感知威胁的影响。我们分析从 2 收集的调查数据，科罗拉多州和怀俄明州的 270 名农业土地所有者使用随机效用模型估计。我们发现，当希望将农业用地留给下一代或感知到对地方感的威胁时，土地所有者不太可能拒绝 CE 协议；然而，保护伦理减轻了代际遗产的影响。这表明保护伦理包含将土地传给下一代的愿望。我们的发现通过倡导土地保护的再生方法而不是计划行为理论，为保护文献做出了贡献。我们发现，当希望将农业用地留给下一代或感知到对地方感的威胁时，土地所有者不太可能拒绝 CE 协议；然而，保护伦理减轻了代际遗产的影响。这表明保护伦理包含将土地传给下一代的愿望。我们的发现通过倡导土地保护的再生方法而不是计划行为理论，为保护文献做出了贡献。我们发现，当希望将农业用地留给下一代或感知到对地方感的威胁时，土地所有者不太可能拒绝 CE 协议；然而，保护伦理减轻了代际遗产的影响。这表明保护伦理包含将土地传给下一代的愿望。我们的发现通过倡导土地保护的再生方法而不是计划行为理论，为保护文献做出了贡献。