May - June 2004: Volume 59, Number 3
Table of Contents
Features
Across state lines but one watershed
by Pat Hemminger
Research
Departments
- Home Front
Viewpoint
- Raise Your Voice
- Notebook
- Conservogram
Calculating wetland easement payments using alternative land value data: A case study of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Small Wetland Acquisition Program in the Prairie Pothole Region
(Full text appears in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol.59, No. 3)
S.D. Shultz and S.J. Taff
ABSTRACT: Estimates of average values for land surrounding wetland easements were much higher when published county-level land value data was used in place of comparable sales-based appraisals—by 11% in North Dakota and South Dakota, and by 22% in Minnesota. The differences were smallest for tracts dominated by cropland rather than pastureland in North Dakota but the reverse was true in South Dakota. Using county land value data as a basis for easement payment offers would have increased overall expenditures for the Fish and Wildlife Service Small Wetland Acquisition Program by 9% in North Dakota, 11% in South Dakota, and 22% in Minnesota. These increases would have been at least partially offset by associated reductions in the costs of making site-specific appraisals.
Keywords: Easement payments, land values, wetlands
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Adoption of conservation practices by agricultural landowners in three Oregon watersheds
(Full text appears in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol.59, No. 3)
G.B. Habron
ABSTRACT: A community-based adaptive management framework is applied to the Calapooya Creek, Deer Creek, and Myrtle Creek watersheds within the Umpqua River Basin in Southwestern Oregon. The objectives are to: 1) identify agricultural landowner participation in watershed conservation projects, and 2) determine the characteristics of participating and non-participating landowners. Data is derived from a 1998 landowner mail survey with a 53% response rate. Landowners implement upland conservation practices such as off-stream livestock water developments and rotational grazing more often than riparian fencing, riparian tree planting, and installing fish screens on irrigation diversions. The key factors in adoption of conservation practices include the use of irrigation, shared management decisions with a spouse, a belief in scientific experimentation, and discussion of conservation with others. The key factors predicting adoption of best management practices depended on the kind of best management practice implemented.
Keywords: Adaptive management, adoption-diffusion, best management practices, community, Oregon, ranching, survey, watershed management
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Automated erosion wheel: A new measuring device for field erosion plots
(Full text appears in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol.59, No. 3)
A. Klik, W. Sokol, and F. Steindl
ABSTRACT: For erosion experiments in the field where no electric power is available an automated device for runoff and soil loss measurements was developed. This equipment is designed for continuous runoff measurement from plots up to 60m2. The design is similar to a turning wheel with a horizontal axle. The automated erosion wheel (AEW) consists of four equal sections each one holding five liters (1.32 gal) resulting in a resolution for each tip of 0.08 mm (0.003 in) for 60m2 plots. The automated erosion wheel is capable of measuring a maximum rate of 75L min-1 (19.81 gal min-1). Each tip is monitored automatically in real time by a data acquisition system. Up to three automated erosion wheels can be connected to one data logger. The whole system is powered by one solar panel. Soil-water-suspension is divided by an adapted multi-tube divisor. About 3.4% of the runoff is sampled in a plastic barrel for determination of sediment concentration and soil loss. At this stage no temporal distribution of sediment delivery can be recorded by the automated erosion wheel. After each erosive rain storm, collectors are emptied and samples are taken to the lab for further analyses. With calibration of the tipping buckets volumes an accurate, time distributed runoff measurement is possible. The maximum error in sediment concentration measurement is 1.1%. Therefore, the chosen multitube device is able to collect representative runoff samples containing same sediment concentration as surface runoff. Each automated erosion wheel system is located in a shed. The automated erosion wheel has been used at three locations in Austria since 1997.
Keywords: Flow sampler, runoff, soil loss, tipping bucket
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