Do Private Land Owners Support Species Conservation? Results of a Local Survey (Oregon)

Engaging private landowners in habitat restoration and conservation is crucial for protecting species with geographic ranges fragmented by multiple ownership types. Like many grasslands that have declined in the United States, Oregon's Willamette Valley has lost an estimated 99% of historic prairie in the past 150 years due to agricultural and residential development, and many rare prairie remnants are privately owned. In the Willamette Valley, several prairie species are conservation targets, including Fender's blue butterfly (Plebejus icarioides fenderi), federally listed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) as endangered; Kincaid's lupine (Lupinus oreganus, threatened), Willamette daisy (Erigeron decumbens, endangered), Nelson's checker-mallow (Sidalcea nelsoniana, threatened), Bradshaw's desert-parsley (Lomatium bradshawii, threatened), Taylor's checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori, candidate for listing), and peacock larkspur (Delphinium × pavonaceum, listed by the state of Oregon as endangered) (USFWS 2010). In Benton County (population 81,859 and area 1,751 km²), midvalley, these species occur on isolated remnant wet and upland prairies across a variety of ownerships, and their long-term conservation may depend on coordination among many parties (Benton County, Oregon 2010).

In 2006, Benton County began a countywide process to develop a USFWS Habitat Conservation Plan, the first of its scope in Oregon. This plan is required to apply for an incidental take permit. This type of USFWS permit is required in advance for nonfederal activities that may harm threatened and endangered species to ensure that any harm is balanced with protections and enhancements. The 50-year Habitat Conservation Plan, expected to be completed in 2011, outlines steps to avoid or minimize impacts to these species, obtain permits and mitigate for impacts where they are forecasted, and promote habitat conservation on public and private lands. The plan also contains a Prairie Conservation Strategy, which guides voluntary conservation actions for these and other at-risk species.

Because public support for this plan will be important for its long-term success, the County held several public meetings as well as consultations with stakeholder and technical groups (Benton County, Oregon 2010). Stakeholders included federal, state, county, city, and university representatives as well as private landowners, watershed councils, and natural resource groups; technical advisors included university professors and natural resource professionals with expertise in the relevant habitats and species. In addition, as contractors developing the plan, we conducted an online survey of local residents, land owners, and land managers that allowed us to quickly and inexpensively solicit input from diverse stakeholders who might not otherwise have engaged in the process. While personal interviews can provide greater understanding of the motivations of landowners to conserve species (Fischer and Bliss 2008), online surveys provide convenience and anonymity to respondents, while allowing researchers to survey large groups at a low cost (Wright 2005). The goals of our survey were to gauge public receptivity to conservation on public and private lands, identify obstacles to private landowner engagement, and identify and develop tools for effective conservation of species in the region.

The survey was sent via email on June 3, 2009, to 230 recipients through a local watershed council's membership list (primarily private landowners); 150 land management professionals through a Cooperative Weed Management Area; and 74 private landowners in an area with high-quality remnant prairies and federally protected prairie species through a local community group. Some recipients may have been contacted twice because they were in more than one of these groups. This allowed us to reach a large but local group of private landowners and land managers. Also, the survey format allowed us to ask specific questions and solicit rankings of ideas from a large group in a manner not easily accomplished in the setting of a public meeting. The survey concluded on July 1, 2009 after about four weeks.

We used SurveyMonkey (www.surveymonkey.com), an online survey administration tool. The survey was designed to take ten minutes or less to complete and consisted of ten questions divided into five sections: 1) background information about the planning process; 2) survey respondent information; 3) respondent interest in...