Albert H' Todd

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Protecting the Source through Conservation and
Stewardship Prettyboy Reservoir Watershed
Stewardship Pilot
Albert H. Todd Watershed Program Leader USDA
Forest Service
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linking forests and water

• In 1753, a Pennsylvania settler wrote,
• ... our runs dry up apace, several which
  formerly would turn a fulling mill are now scarce
  sufficient for the farm. The reason is this,
  when the country was covered with woods and the
  swamp with brush, rain that fell was detained by
  these interuptions and so had time to insinuate
  into the earth and contribute to our springs and
  runs. But now the country is cleard and the
  rain as fast as it falls is hurried into our
  creeks and washes away the soil...and makes
  shoals and sandbanks in them, and hence several
  creeks mentioned by Mr. Penn to be navigable are
  no longer so

From Pennsylvania Agriculture and County Life,
1640-1840.
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Stress on Forests Watersheds

• Memory of past land use
• Growth land conversion
• Storm water runoff
• Loss of riparian forests and
  wetlands degraded streams
• Insects, disease and wildfire
• New Management actions roads, high grading,
  etc.
• Increased demands for open space and recreation
• Air Pollution/ Climate change

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Do people seem to care about forests and
watersheds?

• Over 200 stories per month posted on internet
  news service of major media outlets.
• Increase in non-profit watershed groups from 400
  in 1980 to over 3000 in 2000.

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What are they interested in?

• Top 5 issues identified by Citizen and
• Watershed Organizations
• Protect drinking water supplies
• Conserving/restoring rivers and streams
• Reducing the impacts of urban sprawl
• Preventing the effects of floods
• Protecting/restoring wildlife and habitat
• Increasing recreation open space
• Maintaining/restoring recreational fisheries

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• The water we drink is our most direct and
  immediate connection to their forests and
  watersheds.

• The challenge is to ensure that people understand
  that the faucet is connected to the forest.

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Managing for our liquid assets

• If youve bought bottled water lately, you know
  the value of the liquid assets from our
  watershed and forests.

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Growth of Environmental Regulation
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Why are we here?

• We share some beliefs
• Land conservation is a core strategy for broader
  source water protection
• These tools are cost effective
• Protection, restoration, and stewardship of
  watershed forests is also a key strategy, whether
  on protected lands or not.
• We need to act strategically to be most effective.

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Source Water Stewardship

• Sponsored by EPA
• Work with water providers
• Threatened sources
• Demonstrate new approach
• Show results
• Partners
• Trust for Public Lands
• Umass WET Center
• US Forest Service SPF
• Pilot Watersheds.

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What is a Pilot Watershed?

• Candidates
• Nationwide search , recommended by State and EPA
• Selection Criteria
• Watershed 50-100K acres, Pop gt 10,000, H-M
  susceptible, state priority watershed
• Site Selection
• Interest of local partners, policy framework for
  land protection, potential funding sources,
  implementation
• Regionally representative
• TPL office

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Why Prettyboy/Gunpowder?

• Met basic criteria
• Foundation of cooperation in place
• Local desire to move to action
• Opportunity to bring local conservation groups
  and people who care
• Interest in Forest Stewardship demonstrated
• Build on existing momentum demo project

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Purpose of the Meeting

• Overview of the Project
• Where are we starting?
• Where are we going?
• Common Understanding of objectives/outcomes
• Work Plan Development
• What, How, Who, When?

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What should be discussed?

• Challenges and Opportunities for source water
  protection
• Environmental
• Jurisdictional
• Managerial
• Financial
• Goals and Objectives
• Describe success
• Desired outcomes

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Together, we hope we can

• Expand the capabilities of local organizations
  through common goals and coordination
• Bring technical skills
• Prioritize actions and areas of conservation
  focus
• Build greater public awareness
• Build momentum for action and investment in
  watershed lands.
• Provide a focal point for communication/education

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"A town is saved, not more by the righteous
citizens within it than by the woods and swamps
that surround it..."   -Henry David Thoreau,
1862