Conceptual separation of humans and natural ecosystems is reflected in the thinking of most natural resource management professions, including for­ estry, wildlife management, fisheries, range management, and watershed management (Burch 1971). Such thinking can deny the reality of the human element in local, regional, and global ecosystems (Bonnicksen and Lee 1982, Klausner 1971, Vayda 1977). As complex organisms with highly developed cultural abilities to modify their environment, humans directly or indirectly affect almost all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (Bennett 1976). Conse­ quently, information for managing watershed ecosystems is incomplete without consideration of human institutions and activities. Sociologists have studied the relationships between human societies and the land base or ecosystems on which they depend for over 60 years (Field and Burch 1990). These studies are distinguished by (1) a holistic perspec­ tive that sees people and their environments as interacting systems, (2) flex­ ible approaches that permit either the environment or human society to be treated as the independent variable in analyzing of society-environment re­ lations, and (3) accumulation of a substantial body of knowledge about how the future welfare of a society is influenced by its uses (or misuses) of land and water (Firey 1990).

Inhalt

1. Global and National Perspectives.- 1. New Perspectives for Watershed Management: Balancing Long-Term Sustainability with Cumulative Environmental Change.- 2. Impacts on Ecosystems of Global Environmental Changes in Pacific Northwest Watersheds.- 3. Scientific Basis for New Perspectives in Forests and Streams.- 4. Ecologically Effective Social Organization as a Requirement for Sustaining Watershed Ecosystems.- 5. Management of Aquatic Resources in Large Catchments: Recognizing Interactions Between Ecosystem Connectivity and Environmental Disturbance.- 2. Elements of Integrated Watershed Management.- 6. Fundamental Elements of Ecologically Healthy Watersheds in the Pacific Northwest Coastal Ecoregion.- 7. Best Management Practices, Cumulative Effects, and Long-Term Trends in Fish Abundance in Pacific Northwest River Systems.- 8. Sensitivity of the Regional Water Balance in the Columbia River Basin to Climate Variability: Application of a Spatially Distributed Water Balance Model.- 9. Impacts of Watershed Management on Land-Margin Ecosystems: The Columbia River Estuary.- 10. Some Emerging Issues in Watershed Management: Landscape Patterns, Species Conservation, and Climate Change.- 11. Using Simulation Models and Geographic Information Systems to Integrate Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology.- 12. Consideration of Watersheds in Long-Term Forest Planning Models: The Case of FORPLAN and Its Use on the National Forests.- 13. Integrating Management Tools, Ecological Knowledge, and Silviculture.- 3. Innovative Approaches for Mitigation and Restoration of Watersheds.- 14. The Science and Politics of BMPs in Forestry: California Experiences.- 15. Best Management Practices and Cumulative Effects from Sedimentation in the South Fork Salmon River: An Idaho Case Study.- 16. Management for Water Quality on Rangelands Through Best Management Practices: The Idaho Approach.- 17. Riparian Responses to Grazing Practices.- 18. The Changing Spokane River Watershed: Actions to Improve and Maintain Water Quality.- 19. Unexamined Scholarship: The Land Grant Universities in the Inland West.- 20. Integrating Sustainable Development and Environmental Vitality: A Landscape Ecology Approach.