Conservation policy for the future: What lessons have we learned from watershed planning and research

In the last ten years, watershed planning has become a focal point of soil and water conservation policy in the United States (Naiman 1992; Euphrat an d Warkentin 1994; Adler 1995). To proponents, the watershed and the movemen t of water across and through its landscape and into its streams and ground water captures processes that results in soil loss, sedimentation of waterw ays, and deterioration of water quality. Consequently, conservationists arg ue that by changing management structures and practices across the landscap e of a watershed, it is possible to advance a range of environmental goals. As a consequence of this position, there are watershed planning efforts ac ross the country that are typically based on a partnership that is led by l ocal citizens who rely on federal and state agency personnel for technical support. While much is currently written about such watershed based plannin g efforts, the development of a set of strategies for facilitating the plan ning process rests on lessons derived from ongoing planning efforts (U.S. E nvironmental Protection Agency 1997).