Public land policy and the market value of New Mexico ranches, 1979-94

Abstract

Proposals outlined in Rangeland Reform '94 have been perceived to greatly alter grazing use on public lands. In addition to new rules and regulations, the grazing fee would double under this reform proposal. The debate about these controversial policies would be expected to affect the market value of public kind grazing permits. Regression models were developed using over 700 ranch sales to determine recent trends in market value for New Mexico ranches, including public land ranches. After 1988, nominal deeded ranch values were found to have increased by 3% per annum, but remained unchanged in 1992 constant dollars. This follows a 50% decline in real value from 1982-88. Ranches heavily dependent on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land for grazing capacity decreased in real value by about 1.8% per annum over the 1988-94 study period. The United States Forest Service (USFS) has recently had the most controversial land use polices and the highest average total grazing costs. This has been reflected in the market value of USFS ranches, with a continued decrease in permit value; USFS ranches in New Mexico have lost 75% of their real value since 1982. Doubling grazing fees on New Mexico state trust lands contributed to a downward trend in leasehold value. Somewhat surprising, given the higher grazing fee on state trust lands, these permits increased in market value in both real (1.7% per year) and nominal (5% per year) terms after controversy about state lands subsided and federal land policies became more controversial.