Putting a Price on the Benefits of Grassland Conservation
Putting a Price on the Benefits of Grassland Conservation
Depending on where you look, there are a variety of programs to choose from when it comes to working on improving or conserving grasslands in Saskatchewan. One of those groups working on these programs is the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation (SSGF) which was formed to work with Saskatchewan ranchers and landowners to increase long-term sustainable programs that complement our historic and unique ranching landscape. Short term programs that may only span 1-5 years at most typically cannot account for the huge environmental role grasslands play. This why the SSGF pursues longer terms such as 10-15 year agreements or 25+ year Term Conservation Easements, to ensure long-term ranching viability in an already unpredictable industry.
The SSGF’s Term Conservation Easement (Term CE’s) program is the first of its kind with all other existing conservation easement programs being perpetually tied to the land and affecting landowners for generations not just for a set term length. Term CE length is recommended at a minimum of 25 years but will explore longer lengths depending on landowner operational needs and are tied to land title while following current legislation that applies to all conservation easements in the province. They have 3 restrictions and still allow grazing and ranching to resume for not only the current but future generations to step in a continue the tradition in their own way.
This structure of using a term length instead of perpetual easements brings a flexibility that our ranchers and landowners expressed a need for when they were surveyed about past and current programs. In recent studies completed, perpetual Conservation Easement payments actually equal out to a Term Conservation Easement in 55-65 years and this truly showcases that the value of a term easement is not straight forward like a linear relationship to time as previously thought.
With the current use of fair market value for determining landowner compensation, the SSGF maintains that evidence from recent studies brought forward from accomplished agricultural economists, that this structure simply isn’t providing enough compensation to the landowners. Landowners know the value of their land and the environmental goods they provide but have yet to see appropriate compensation through perpetual easements programs in relation to length and restrictions placed on the land title.
The SSGF has been exploring additional methods of conservation easement valuation such as an income-based approach. A study[1] put forth by Dr. Jared Carlsberg for the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association and the SSGF found that after 50 years annual cropping systems can make over $500/acre more than a cow-calf production system. Exploring this type of valuation system can minimize the current discrepancies of income between the two industries. Agriculture, although widely based on tradition and a way of life, is still a business and differences like that show us why so many landowners are looking to cultivate existing grasslands. When we can account for the differences or part of those differences, it will incentivize more landowners to keep grasslands intact and conserve these disappearing ecosystems.
The current structure of perpetual easement payments only financially benefits the initial landowner and are able to be recognized by the federal Eco-Gifts program for tax receipts, even though all eventual landowners will be bound by the restrictions placed on it since they are tied to land title and will transfer with ownership. Currently, Term Conservation Easements in Canada do not qualify in the Eco-Gifts programs, which the SSGF is working to change and provide the landowners with more options to diversify income while rewarding conservation minded individuals for their commitment to conservation.
In the United States, they have multiple programs in place for Term Conservation Easements depending on what state you live in and they have successfully implemented them for many years now with successful overall uptake[2]. These programs are able to offer payments to landowners that ranges between 55-75% of what they could get for a perpetual easement for a term length of 30-35 years. Similar to the SSGF’s Term Conservation Easements, the landowner has flexibility to re-new the easement once the term length is up or to walk away. All while still maintaining control of their land and continuing to manage it responsibly as they have been with access to technical assistance if needed.
The SSGF’s goal is long-term grassland conservation that protects our ranching communities. By designing our programs that incentivise keeping grasslands intact by offering not only increased flexibility to next generation but keeping ranchers on their land and in control of it we can hope that our research and work goes noticed to increase payments for collaborating ranchers. Landowners may be hesitant to put land under easement if they have no way out of it but with a term length it can let them ease into conservation programs with the flexibility for changes in the future. The need to conserve and protect grasslands is an increasingly pressing issue not just in our local communities but on a national level and the SSGF will continue to work with landowners to find programs that fit their growing needs, one step at a time.
Author: Mindy Hockley-Anderson