Entering The Watershed A New Approach To Save America S River Ecosystems

As the vast expanses of natural forests and the great populations of salmonids are harvested to support a rapidly expanding human population, the need to understand streams as ecological systems and to manage them effectively becomes increasingly urgent. The unfortunate legacy of such natural resource exploitation is well documented. For several decades the Pacific coastal ecoregion of North America has served as a natural laboratory for scientific and managerial advancements in stream ecology, and much has been learned about how to better integrate ecological processes and characteristics with a human-dominated environment. These in sightful but hard-learned ecological and social lessons are the subject of this book. Integrating land and rivers as interactive components of ecosystems and watersheds has provided the ecological sciences with impor tant theoretical foundations. Even though scientific disciplines have begun to integrate land-based processes with streams and rivers, the institutions and processes charged with managing these systems have not done so successfully. As a result, many of the watersheds of the Pacific coastal ecoregion no longer support natural settings for environmental processes or the valuable natural resources those processes create. An important role for scientists, educators, and decision makers is to make the integration between ecology and con sumptive uses more widely understood, as well as useful for effective management.

Emergence of a toxic organism like pfisteria in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay has focused public attention on potential hazards in our water. More importantly, it has reminded us of the importance of the entire watershed to the health of any body of water and how political boundaries complicate watershed management. New Strategies for America's Watersheds provides a timely and comprehensive look at the rise of "watershed thinking" among scientists and policymakers and recommends ways to steer the nation toward improved watershed management. The volume defines important terms, identifies fundamental issues, and explores reasons why now is the time to bring watersheds to the forefront of ecosystem management. In a discussion of scale and scope, the committee examines how to expand the watershed from a topographic unit to a framework for integrating natural, social, and economic perspectives as they share the same geographic space. The volume discusses: Regional variations in climate, topography, demographics, institutions, land use, culture, and law. Roles and interaction of federal, state, and local agencies. Availability or lack of pertinent data. Options for financing. The committee identifies critical points in watershed planning to ensure appropriate stakeholder involvement and integration of science, policy, and environmental ethics.

Voices for the Watershed is a unique look at the singular and ecologically inter-connected region of the Great Lakes-St Lawrence watershed, including the headwater and upland regions. With contributions from experts from the United States, Quebec, and Ontario, this book offers an accessible introduction to the issues affecting the quality of our most essential and precious of natural resources - clean, fresh water - from headwater regions downstream to the Great lakes, the St Lawrence river, and ultimately the watershed's outflow to the sea. With thoughtful words and evocative photography, Voices for the Watershed promotes understanding and examines ecological problems, describing positive environmental actions and projects as well as ongoing concerns over the effects of pollution on wildlife and human health. The underlying themes throughout are that the drainage basins and ecosystems are under siege - from reckless land use decisions, soil erosion, acid rain, and massive habitat destruction - but that the situation is not hopeless. The authors feel strongly that education about the environmental threats - in the classroom and public forums - is essential to effecting positive change, and that conservation actions by citizen groups and individuals can be a driving force in effecting substantial reforms regarding environmental legislation and practices. Voices for the Watershed is an eye-opening look at not only the problems but possible solutions to help protect and preserve this resilient natural resource on which so many depend. Contributors include Gregor Beck, Anne Bell (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society), J. Douglas Blakey (Upper Canada College), Serge Bourdon (Chateauguay Watershed Management Agency), Robert Brander (retired U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service), Dominique Brief (Alliance for Environmental Management), Louise Champoux (Environment Canada), Bruce Conn (Berry College), Kevin Coyle (National Environmental Education and Training Foundation), Brad Cundiff (Wildlands League), Jerry DeMarco (Sierra Legal Defence Fund), Jean-Luc DesGranges (Canadian Wildlife Service), Thomas A. Edsall (Western Basin Ecosystem), Peter Ewins (World Wildlife Fund), Louis-Gilles Francoeur (Le Devoir), Stephen Gates (Grey Owl Nature Trust), Elliott Gimble (Jewish Community Relations Council), Hallett J. Harris (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay), John Hull (Quebec-Labrador Foundation), Gail Jackson (independent consultant), John Jackson (Great Lakes United), Val Klump (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Louise Knox (Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan), Gail Krantzberg (Ontario=s Environment Ministry), Peter Lavigne (Watershed Consultants), Michel Letendre (Quebec Ministry of the Environment and Fauna), Bruce Litteljohn, Nadia Ménard (Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park), Jeff Miller (artist), Phil Norton (Montreal Gazette), Jean Rodrigue (Environment Canada), Alec Ross (writer and journalist), Scot Stewart (naturalist), Rae Tyson (USA Today), Fred Whoriskey (Atlantic Salmon Federation), with a major personal narrative by Michael Keating (environmental writer and consultant).

The symposium "Pacific Salmon and Their Ecosystems: Status and Future Options',' and this book resulted from initial efforts in 1992 by Robert J. Naiman and Deanna J. Stouder to examine the problem of declining Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). Our primary goal was to determine informational gaps. As we explored different scientific sources, state, provincial, and federal agencies, as well as non-profit and fishing organizations, we found that the information existed but was not being communicated across institutional and organizational boundaries. At this juncture, we decided to create a steering committee and plan a symposium to bring together researchers, managers, and resource users. The steering committee consisted of members from state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and private industry (see Acknowledgments for names and affiliations). In February 1993, we met at the University of Washington in Seattle to begin planning the symposium. The steering committee spent the next four months developing the conceptual framework for the symposium and the subsequent book. Our objectives were to accomplish the following: (1) assess changes in anadromous Pacific Northwest salmonid populations, (2) examine factors responsible for those changes, and (3) identify options available to society to restore Pacific salmon in the Northwest. The symposium on Pacific Salmon was held in Seattle, Washington, January 10-12, 1994. Four hundred and thirty-five people listened to oral presentations and examined more than forty posters over two and a half days. We made a deliberate attempt to draw in speakers and attendees from outside the Pacific Northwest.

What if environmentally damaged landscapes could not only be remediated from an ecological standpoint, but also designed to replenish an entire community as well as the nature surrounding it? The Handbook of Regenerative Landscape Design incorporates ecology, engineering, sociology, and design elements into a new paradigm for environmental r

As Americans try to better manage and protect the natural resources of our watersheds, is politics getting in the way? Why does watershed management end up being so political? In Embracing Watershed Politics, political scientists Edella Schlager and William Blomquist provide timely illustrations and thought-provoking explanations of why political considerations are essential, unavoidable, and in some ways even desirable elements of decision making about water and watersheds. With decades of combined study of water management in the United States, they focus on the many contending interests and communities found in America's watersheds, the fundamental dimensions of decision making, and the impacts of science, complexity, and uncertainty on watershed management. Enriched by case studies of the organizations and decision making processes in several major U.S. watersheds (the Delaware River Basin, San Gabriel River, Platte River, and the Columbia River Basin), Embracing Watershed Politics presents a reasoned explanation of why there are so few watershed-scale integrated management agencies and how the more diverse multi-organizational arrangements found in the vast majorities of watersheds work. Although the presence of multiple organizations representing a multitude of communities of interest complicates watershed management, these institutional arrangements can-under certain conditions-suit the complexity and uncertainty associated with watershed management in the twenty-first century.