Policy Options for the Conservation Reserve Program in a Low-Carbon Economy

Author(s): Justin S. Baker and Christopher S. Galik

Published: June 2009

download: working paper (.pdf) >

Emerging markets and a rapidly evolving agricultural industry will strongly impact the implementation of conservation programs in the United States. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the nation’s largest and most successful land conservation program, making it a good test case to evaluate current drivers of landowner behavior and future policy options. Furthermore, the lessons learned in the case of the CRP can be applied to other land‐based incentive programs that could emerge through policies aimed at creating a low‐carbon economy.