Impact of forest-related conservation easements on contiguous and surrounding property values

We apply the hedonic pricing method to analyze the effects of conservation easements (CEs) on surrounding vacant land parcel prices within the Metropolitan Atlanta Statistical Area (MASA). First, we collected data on forest related CEs in 30 counties in MASA and randomly sampled 312 land parcels from these same counties for information related to land parcels. The distance between each property and the nearest CE, and between each pair of properties, are calculated and used to find spatial dependence. Results show that the total number of CEs in properties' surrounding areas enhances property values. In addition, the proximity to CE-protected open space after the CEs are established have positive price effects on the surrounding properties, and this effect diminishes with distance.