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approach based upon scientific principles will substantively address the goals of 

 watershed and fish population health. This integration of disciplines is inherent in an 

 ecosystem perspective. 



The scale of the degradation of the region's watersheds and fish habitat, exceeds the 

 ability of our public institutions to respond. Unfortunately, site specific or system 

 component-level management (e.g., fish, wildlife, timber production) supercedes 

 integrated watershed needs. Naiman (1992) proposes the following essential conditions 

 for implementing new approaches to watershed management: 



1 . Cooperation between industry, governmental agencies, private institutions, and 

 academic organizations. 



2. Technical solutions (e.g. hatcheries, silviculture) must be augmented with 

 increased habitat protection and preservation of fundamental components of long- 

 term watershed vitality (e.g., riparian forests). 



3. Information management and scope of experimental manipulations needed 

 should involve multiple institutions, demonstration and reference sites, and 

 continuity over many years. 



4. Conceptual solutions to resource management(e.g., perceptions, tradition) at the 

 expense of empirically grounded, data-driven decisions must be reversed. 



5. Integration of human activities as a key element of ecosystem vitality. Human 

 needs must be integrated with environmental considerations before long-term 

 sustainability of our watersheds can be achieved. 



Additional statutory and administrative barriers that must be overcome to change existing 

 river management regimes include: 



1. The lack of inter-agency infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest necessary for 

 watershed management. 



2. Failure to implement existing wetland and forest practice regulations. This is a 

 result of poor staffing and inadequate training of personnel. Furthermore, quality 

 control reviews of regulatory program effectiveness do not exist. Analyses of 

 specific land use management regimes (e.g., riparian forest practices) should be 

 conducted to assess whether they are working as intended. Also, we must first 

 consistently enforce existing regulations (e.g. forest practices within wetland 

 riparian forests) before new watershed regulatory structures are implemented. 



3. Lack of technically trained staff in local, state and federal agencies in the Pacific 

 Northwest able to implement a watershed level management plan. 



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