In 1972, with great fanfare, a plan to purchase farmland development rights was initiated which paid landowners over 80 percent of the value of their land for development rights alone.

A three year pilot scheme to be launched early this year, will pay farmers and landowners to manage the countryside instead of producing food.

The last of the series, a bill to pay landowners when their property values are reduced because development is blocked to preserve wetlands or endangered species, passed by a vote of 277 to 148.

The country uses a gasoline tax to pay landowners for "environmental services" provided by forests on their land, like watershed protection, greenhouse gas mitigation, biodiversity and scenic beauty.

After he had paid landowners $20,000, pressure from both the Mexican and American governments forced Opothleyahola to abandon the idea.

These sentiments were reinforced by a report in August that concluded that energy companies had paid private Navajo landowners living near the reservation far less than others for the right to build pipelines across their land.

At that time, advocates of property rights sought legislation that would require the Government to pay landowners for any loss of property values attributed to Federal regulations.

The Costa Rican government is paying landowners for ecosystem services from tropical forests, including carbon offsets, hydropower production, biodiversity conservation and scenic beauty.

In the first political races of the Republic, virtually every candidate paid his own way - from handbills and newspaper ads to wining and dining other landowners.

The city paid landowners, though many found the payment inadequate, and renters were displaced without compensation.