Relationships among land ownership, land use, and landowner behavior changes in Gillespie and Washington Counties, Texas

Abstract

The recent trend of land parcelization and habitat fragmentation has prompted concern among scientists. This concern has led to studies exploring the causes and effects of both events, but has not targeted the owners of land as participants in all kinds of fragmentation. This study focused on Gillespie and Washington Counties of Texas to attempt to discover landowner attitudes and behaviors related to parcelization and habitat fragmentation. A mail survey was used to assess landowner characteristics and compare size of ownership and length of tenure to reasons for owning land and land use behaviors. These data indicated that while not as dramatic as expected, there is a change in kinds of land ownership and reasons for owning land. The main influence on varying land uses and reasons to own land was when land was purchased. Measuring length of tenure showed that those who have owned land longer were typically older owners,who owned larger properties, and were more interested in agricultural uses of land. Newer owners tended to own smaller properties, and utilize land for recreation or non-income generating activities. The measure of parcelization indicated that owners from the 1980s acquired the smallest properties, while owners prior to 1980 had lower income and education levels. This was an initial attempt to explore parcelization/habitat fragmentation as it related to landowners. Consequently, it was subject to limitations of time, finances, and existing models for design.