Citizen knowledge and opinions about watershed management in the South Santiam Basin in Oregon

• Main Author: Wright, Angela Schaefer
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: 11.02.2000
• Subjects: Watershed management > Oregon > Santiam River Watershed > Citizen participation; Watershed management > Oregon > Santiam River Watershed > Public opinion

Watershed management is widely recognized as an important component of healthyecosystems and its success depends on cultivating the good will, stewardship values, andparticipation of citizens. Because much of the streamside land in Oregon is in privateownership activities on public lands will not be enough to protect salmon and restore waterquality. Improvements will also depend upon conservation activities by private landownersand communities. Since citizens are an integral part of long-term solutions, understandingthe level of knowledge people possess and their opinions about watershed management isessential.This study examines citizen knowledge and opinions about stream management andecology of the Lower South Santiam River, Crabtree Creek, and Thomas Creek watershedsin the South Santiam River basin. It focuses on the usefulness of various sources ofinformation, public trust in specific information providers, citizens' understanding ofwatershed ecology, and the problems, preferences and concerns of private landowners. Amail questionnaire and interviews were used to elicit responses from community residentsand members of the South Santiam Watershed Council.Several conclusions emerge from the findings. First, most respondents claim to beinterested in and concerned about watershed management issues, however, few are wellinformed about the technical or scientific aspects of watershed ecology and management.Second, respondents indicated they currently receive little useful information aboutwatershed issues, but there are relatively high levels of trust in several information providers.This suggests that an increase or refocus of outreach efforts may be successful in raisingcitizen awareness and knowledge of watershed issues. Third, most respondents agree thatgood watershed management is beneficial to both humans and the environment, but are alsostrongly opposed to various forms of government intervention. Fourth, watershed councilmembers are more knowledgeable about watershed issues and more supportive ofconservation and environmental protection. They are also less likely to see governmentagencies and current policies as problems. These data can assist watershed managementagencies and organizations better understand the knowledge, preferences, and concerns ofthe public. They can also provide a basis for developing ecologically sound and sociallyacceptable solutions to watershed problems. Master files scanned at 600 ppi (256 Grayscale) using Capture Perfect 3.0 on a Canon DR-9080C in TIF format. PDF derivative scanned at 300 ppi (256 B+W), using Capture Perfect 3.0, on a Canon DR-9080C. CVista PdfCompressor 4.0 was used for pdf compression and textual OCR.