LandTrust Blog

About the author: John Hansen is a Nebraska Landowner bringing his ideas and perspective to the forefront of our mission; to partner with landowners who value adaptive management and are seeking alternative sources of revenue. With an education in Animal and Range Sciences from Montana State University, several years managing small to medium sized ranches, and 26 years with Ted Turner managing some of the largest land holdings in the U.S., John brings a depth of knowledge and experience to LandTrust and its landowner partners. His strong background in agriculture and natural resource management provides a unique opportunity to share what he has learned through this extensive experience base with landowners to help them achieve a more profitable Land Business.

About the author: John Hansen is a Nebraska Landowner bringing his ideas and perspective to the forefront of our mission; to partner with landowners who value adaptive management and are seeking alternative sources of revenue. With an education in Animal and Range Sciences from Montana State University, several years managing small to medium sized ranches, and 26 years with Ted Turner managing some of the largest land holdings in the U.S., John brings a depth of knowledge and experience to LandTrust and its landowner partners. His strong background in agriculture and natural resource management provides a unique opportunity to share what he has learned through this extensive experience base with landowners to help them achieve a more profitable Land Business.

About the author: John Hansen is a Nebraska Landowner bringing his ideas and perspective to the forefront of our mission; to partner with landowners who value adaptive management and are seeking alternative sources of revenue. With an education in Animal and Range Sciences from Montana State University, several years managing small to medium sized ranches, and 26 years with Ted Turner managing some of the largest land holdings in the U.S., John brings a depth of knowledge and experience to LandTrust and its landowner partners. His strong background in agriculture and natural resource management provides a unique opportunity to share what he has learned through this extensive experience base with landowners to help them achieve a more profitable Land Business.

About the author: John Hansen is a Nebraska Landowner bringing his ideas and perspective to the forefront of our mission; to partner with landowners who value adaptive management and are seeking alternative sources of revenue. With an education in Animal and Range Sciences from Montana State University, several years managing small to medium sized ranches, and 26 years with Ted Turner managing some of the largest land holdings in the U.S., John brings a depth of knowledge and experience to LandTrust and its landowner partners. His strong background in agriculture and natural resource management provides a unique opportunity to share what he has learned through this extensive experience base with landowners to help them achieve a more profitable Land Business.

In my previous LandTrust Blog, Land Ownership - View It as a Business, I encouraged landowners to view their land as a business and to begin to analyze their asset for the various attributes, products, and values that can be monetized to contribute to the land revenue. If you have worked on that process, you have probably come up with the standard consumptive/extractive type products such as: livestock production, crop production, timber production, and mineral extraction (mining, oil, coal, etc.). You may have also listed “experience based” products such as: hunting, fishing, bird watching, nature/ecology tours, camping, hiking, agricultural experience visits, agricultural educational tours, and rural wedding packages. The “additive/ecosystem services” products you have identified may be: carbon sequestration, water retention, soil retention, wildlife habitat improvements, or pollinator habitat enhancements.

By John Hansen

Land ownership has been important to humankind as far back as we can we can determine from archeological, oral, and written histories. Starting with hunter/gatherer territories, through fiefdoms and kingdoms, to ultimately, private land ownership. This progression of, and desire for, land ownership has been driven by the desire for establishment and maintenance of food sources, security, and attainment of relative wealth. Individual land ownership, a historically recent development, has also yielded the aspect of diversification of wealth, privacy, and quiet enjoyment (read recreation) of the property.