Assessing Social Issues

Because most of the natural resources problems that we try to address in watershed planning can be traced back to the way humans are using and changing the natural environment, finding solutions to watershed-based concerns will depend on the voluntary cooperation of landowners in your watershed. There are many social or motivating factors that influence how a landowner views natural resource problems, forms land management goals, and acts upon his or her goals and concerns. These factors may include knowledge, experiences, cultural background, peer pressure, production goals, taxes, and government programs. If landowners are expected to voluntarily implement a watershed management plan, the plan must not only address ecological functioning in the watershed, but also consider all management issues that directly impact the individual.

When developing a watershed management plan, it can appear overwhelming to uncover the needs and concerns of many individually operating landowners. And once these issues are revealed, they often are difficult to condense and incorporate with biological and production goals into a land management plan. Government agencies and academic institutions have been quick to supply an array of resources to assess the condition of water, soil, and habitat resources in watersheds, but few tools have been available to assess landowner attitudes and the condition of the social, economic, and political structures of the community that influence our decisions about the way we use the land. The tools that do exist are not widely used because we don't always know about them or we don't know how to use them.