Northeast Bakersfield Open Space Project Land Acquisition: Cost/Benefit Approach

This paper provides a description of the methodologies and processes used for the creation of a decision/support model for land acquisition decisions on a cooperative open space project between the City of Bakersfield and other local agencies. The model uses a cost/benefit approach using components of habitat ranking, developed through an independently prepared evaluation, and estimated per acre land costs based on percentage slope and proximity. The primary goal was to derive a system for quantifying the best cost/benefit for any given area of the project and use the resultant data to target specific areas for later acquisition.