The (political) science of watershed management in the ecosystem age

Ecosystem management has become an important unifying theme for environment al policy in the past decade. Whereas the science of ecosystem dynamics sug gests that it will remain difficult to define ecosystem borders and all of the natural and anthropogenic effects that influence them, the politics of ecosystem management require that a national ecosystem delineation standard be adopted. Moreover, a political framework for ecosystem management decis ion making must be designed in such a way as to complement the hierarchical , interrelated nature of ecosystems generally. This paper advocates that a watershed-based ecosystem delineation standard is the most politically suit able because it will be easily understood by the public and watersheds have a long history as a medium of environmental policy. The paper then propose s that the political framework for watershed-based ecosystem management mus t depend heavily on state and local autonomy, subject to federally prescrib ed standards and goals. The Coastal Zone Management Act provides a model fo r how a national ecosystem management policy can work within state and loca l watershed cultures and economies.