Watershed Conservation Strategies Upper Etowah Watershed

Watershed Conservation Strategies 

Upper Etowah Watershed

Prepared by Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director, Partnerships Office, National Park Service, National Capital Region, Washington, D.C. July 2001

Conservation Programs, Tools, Techniques and Resources

I. Overview 

 Conservation Programs--Describe orchestrated and sustainable 

activities to achieve long-term watershed conservation goals.  

 Service providers---Identify governments or non-government 

organizations who are using one or more techniques.

II. General Framework for Cataloging Programs 

 Government & Non-Profit Conservation Organizations can help.

 Form Follows Function! Principle of architecture as well as 

conservation program use and design.

 Many, many lists of programs, actions, tools and techniques,

Public and private

Process and tool

Concept and specific detail

Local and global

Environmental and social and economic

 Selecting a program or action requires a formula to find the 

proper fit.

 Money is never a problem once people, governments and groups

agree that they want to do something.

III. Case Study: Institutional Arrangements

Metropolitan Rivers, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN.  

Questions:  

1. What do you want to do?  

2. Who do you want to do it? 

3. How should they do it? 

4. How will they do it?

5. Area: Define geographic context

6. Authority: Ownership; Local government authorities; State or federal legislation, etc.

7. Membership: Identify the stakeholders (full partners)

8. Existing Powers: What can you do now?

Administration & Operations

Decision-making:

Planning:

Coordination:

Cooperation/ Collaboration:

Regulation:

Resource management:

Land Acquisition:

Technical/ Informational assistance:

Funding:

Acquisition

Operation & Maintenance

Planning

Other

9. Institutional Arrangement: How do you want to partner?

10. Advantages:  What do you like?

11. Disadvantages:  What do you dislike?

12. Desired Powers: What do you need?

IV. Framework: An Outline for Describing Programs

 Catalog of who is doing what: No central data base/ Scattered 

   information, everywhere..................

 Best Examples of Source Information:

A.  AUTHORITIES:  What authorities do governments, groups/ organizations have?

 Poor's Almanac: David Poor, Unpublished database

 Resource Guide to State Environmental Management, The Council of State Governments, Lexington, KY 

B.  PERFORMANCE: Where is information on how well programs perform?

 National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Program Analysis: USFWS/ National Marine Fisheries 

 Congressional Research Service: Varies/ Scenic Lands Protection/ Wild & Scenic Rivers/ Ecosystem Management/ Conservation Reserve

• Ecosystem Management in the US, University of Michigan/ Wilderness Society 
• Top Ten Watershed Lessons Learned, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC 1997

C.  ACTIVITIES: Where is information on various organization/ agency activities?

 USEPA:  Watershed Protection; Regional Geographic Initiative; Smart Growth; State and Local Wetlands grants; Chesapeake Bay Program; Great Lakes Program; etc.

 US Forest Service: Urban Resource Partnership Program; State and Private Forestry Programs

 US Natural Resource Conservation Service: Conservation Reserve Program

 US Department of Transportation: Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act

 US National Park Service: Greenways, Byways, Rails to Trails, and River Conservation Assistance; Historic Preservation

 States: Heritage Area Programs; Program Open Space; Tourism

 Non-Government Organizations: Bayscapes; Greenway Grants; Sacred Places; Community Forums/ Summits; Watershed Development Standards; Smart Growth Assistance; Community Capacity Building

 Land Trust Alliance: Local land trust information 

 The Nature Conservancy: Sustainable Compatible Economies

 Local Governments: Watershed Protection Plans; land acquisition; heritage tourism; cultural resource protection; zoning; economic development

 Private Landowner Wetlands Assistance Guide: Voluntary Options for Wetlands Stewardship in Maryland, EPA, Washington, D.C. 

D: CASE STUDIES: What information describes what is being done at the community/ local level?

• International Countryside Stewardship Exchange Reports 
• The Landscape of Conservation Stewardship, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Conservation Study Institute, Woodstock, VT. 2000
• The Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places
• EPA's Regional Geographic Initiative's
• National Park Service's State & Local River Conservation Assistance Projects

 Inventory of Current EPA Efforts to Protect Ecosystems, USEPA, Office of Water, Washington, D.C. 

 Chesapeake Bay Communities: A Catalog of Local Initiatives to Protect & Restore the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, USEPA, Annapolis, MD. 

• Forest and Riparian Buffer Conservation: Local Case Studies from the Chesapeake Bay Program, US EPA, Forestry Workgroup and Nutrient Subcommittee, Annapolis, MD 1996
• Floods, Floodplains and Folks,, National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA, 1996

E. TOOLS & TECHNIQUES: What information is available on how things work?  

 Citizen's Guide to River Conservation, Rolf Diamant, Glenn Eugster, Chris Duerksen, The Conservation Foundation, Washington, DC, 1984

 Rural By Design: Randall Arendt/ Natural Lands Trust

 Landowner Master Planning: Philadelphia Conservationist/ Natural Lands Trust, Media, PA

 Performance Zoning: Lane Kendig/ Carter Van Dyke/ Bucks County Planning Commission, PA.

 Smart Growth: State of MD/ EPA Urban Economic Design Division

 Watershed Protection Approach: EPA Office of Water

 Integrating Build-out Analysis and Water Quality Modeling to Predict the Environmental Impacts of Alternative Development Scenarios: US EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office, Annapolis, MD 1997

 Greenways: Daniel Smith, The Conservation Fund

• Planning & Growth Management in the States, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA. 
• Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities, Tim Beatly, Island Press, Washington, DC 2000
• Green Development: Literature Summary & Benefits Associated with Alternative Development Approaches, USEPA, Office of Water, Washington, D.C. 
• Habitat Conservation Planning: Endangered Species and Urban Growth, Tim Beatley, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 1996

 Site Planning for Urban Stream Protection, Center for Watershed Protection, Ellicott City, MD 

• Consensus Agreement on Model Development Principles to Protect Our Streams, Lakes and Wetlands, Site Planning Roundtable, Center for Watershed Protection, Ellicott City, MD. 
• Model Development Principles To Protect Our Streams, Lakes and Wetlands, Center for Watershed Protection, Ellicott City, MD 1998
• An Inventory of EPA Headquarters Ecosystem Tools, USEPA, Office of Policy, Planning & Evaluation, Washington, D.C. 

 Watershed Tools Directory: A Collection of Watershed Tools, USEPA, Office of Water, Washington, D.C. 

• Building Healthy Communities: Resources for Compatible Development, Corporation for Enterprise Development, Washington, D.C. 
• Principles of Lowcountry Vernacular Design, I'On Development, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, 1997
• Environmental Partnerships: A Field Guide for Nonprofit Organizations and Community Interests, Management Institute for Environment and Business, New York, NY 1995

F.  INTEGRATED APPROACHES: What information is available on how activities/ actions are packaged together?

 Program Integration and Integration of Multiple Objectives: Linking and Coordinating Public and Private Actions (i.e. CBEP, river corridor management; coastal zone management; landowner master planning; Main Street)

 State of Florida Program Integration--Ecosystem Management

• Greenline Parks/ Protected Areas
• Heritage Areas (e.g. SC Heritage Area, Augusta Canal, GA., St. Johns American Heritage River, FL., etc.)
• Sustainable Communities: Task Force Report, President's Council on Sustainable Development, Washington, D.C.
• Institutional Framework for Watershed Management Programs: Profiles and Analysis of Selected Programs, US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Policy, Washington, D.C. 1994

G.  RESOURCES: Where is information about technical, financial and information assistance?

 Sources of Funding Guides

 Annual Reports: People, Places and Partnerships: A Progress Report on Community-Based Environmental Protection, USEPA, Washington, D.C.

 Case Studies/ Project Reports

 Financing Alternatives: Innovative Financing Ideas for Restoring the Chesapeake Bay, Environmental Finance Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

• The Power of Environmental Partnerships: Management Institute for Environment & Business, New York, NY 

H. SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION: Where do you get leads? 

 Bookstores--especially Borders, University Bookstores, International efforts (e.g. Countryside Stewardship, Protected Landscapes, Sustainability, Human Ecology)

 Magazine Racks

 Conferences & Meetings

• Government and private sector work accessed through networking
• Websites
• Hotlines

V. For Further Information: Contact Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director, National Park Service, National Capital Regional, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW, Room 350, Washington, D.C. 20242.  Telephone (202) 619-7492.  By E-mail: glenn_eugster@nps.gov