Abstract:
Oregon's watershed councils are local, non-regulatory, collaborative forums charged
with the recovery of endangered salmon and improving water quality under The Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds. Private forest landowners, given their prominence is owning riparian areas, are central to success of these efforts. Using a statewide survey of watershed councils and in-depth qualitative data collection in three study areas (Central Oregon, North Coast, and South Coast), a case study of landowner involvement is developed and explored. Using a manuscript format, three manuscripts form the basis of the thesis. Manuscript 1 describes the status of Oregon's watershed councils and postulates the concept of spatial participation. This term describes a spatially-explicit aspect of social capital in people and institutions with control over resources of interest (e.g., land, authority, water rights, etc.) are able to effect change on the landscape. Manuscript 2 applies the concepts of world view and human values to woodland owners' interactions with watershed councils. Landowners apply four salient values -- stewardship ethic, perception of others, need for control, and action-orientation -- in deciding their relationship to watershed councils. Through this lens, watershed councils are seen as one of many opportunities for landowner involvement.
Manuscript 3 takes the results of the first two and suggests policy and education tools
to further the work of watershed councils. These tools include programs that target
landowners and watershed councils, stress the role of capacity building, and realize that councils compete for scarce time. Opportunities for future research are also
discussed.
