Data on owner and land characteristics are used to analyze factors affecting participation decisions in Delaware's agricultural lands preservation program, federal commodity programs, and federal conservation programs. A trivariate probit model estimates a set of random utility models of participation. Participation decisions at the state and federal levels are found to be driven by many of the same observed factors, but uncorrelated in unobserved characteristics. The important exceptions are that owners of small parcels under development pressure and with parcels of relatively low environmental quality tend to enroll in commodity programs rather than preservation. In part, the complex policy environment may therefore limit the effectiveness of programs seeking to preserve parcels with the highest environmental quality or facing the greatest development pressure.

Public preferences for the nonmarket services of permanently preserved agricultural land are measured and compared using conjoint analysis. The results from a survey of 199 Delawareans suggest environmental and nonmarket-agricultural services are the most important preserved-land attributes. Results also suggest that open space associated with wetlands on farms is neither an amenity nor a disamenity. On the margin, preserved parcels with agricultural and environmental attributes provide net benefits, which may exceed $1,000,000 for a 1,000-acre parcel. Preserved forestland provides benefits per acre that are statistically equivalent to cropland, though forestland may be less expensive to preserve.