Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2005ND78B

The Impact of Wetlands and Wetland Easements on North Dakota Land Values

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2005 Start Date: 2005-03-01 End Date: 2007-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $18,520 Total Non-Federal Funds: $36,426

Principal Investigators: Jay Leitch

Project Summary: This research will quantify the impact of both wet and dry wetlands and wetland easements on land values across all of North Dakota during the 2000-2004 time period. All arms-length agricultural land sales across North Dakota Counties with significant quantities of wetlands between 2000 and 2004 will be collected and digitized. Land uses (cropping patterns), wetland acreage and wetland characteristics, soil productivity indices and the existence of USFWS and/or WRP wetland easements within all sale boundaries will be quantified. Multiple regression analysis will be used to quantify the impact of wet/dry wetlands and easements on land values for both agricultural and hunting and related sales.