Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: 2010 outputs included research on collaboration and policy networks among conservation organizations, evaluation of nutrient management educational programs, research and outreach addressing planning and evaluation of water quality programs using social indicators, and evaluation research related to voluntary conservation programs. Multiple survey and interview projects were completed. Teaching modules for social indicators were completed and workshops conducted at national conferences for academics and resource management professionals. Outputs in this area also included coordination of planning and outreach activities addressing watershed planning and water quality issues in partnership with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. PARTICIPANTS: Workshops in human dimensions issues, evaluation, and social indicator research have been delivered to resource management professionals in Wisconsin and at multiple national conferences. TARGET AUDIENCES: Working with professional and academic audiences implementing natural resource management programs and projects. Support includes improving capacities to support voluntary approaches in their resource management activities. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Social indicators research helped inform local watershed planning and implementation programs throughout the Great Lakes States. Within Wisconsin, social indicators projects help focus planning efforts in the Lower Fox, Root-Pike River, and Lake Superior watersheds; additional results from Rock River (Southern Wi) and Willow River (St Croix Basin in NW WI) will support local planning and implementation decisions there. Work on nutrient management evaluation has helped shape Wisconsin efforts to assess statewide progress toward nutrient management goals. Evaluation of programs for woodland management helped shape outreach and education directions for Wisconsin. Researchers and resource managers in multiple states are using these approaches in their projects and research proposals.
Publications
- Prokopy L., A. Gocmen, J. Gao, S. Allred, J. Bonnell, K. Genskow, A. Molloy, R. Power. 2010. Incorporating social context variables into paired watershed designs to test nonpoint source program effectiveness. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1-7. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00508.x
- Genskow, Kenneth and Linda Prokopy. 2010. Lessons Learned in Developing Social Indicators for Regional Water Quality Management. Society and Natural Resources 23(1):83-91.
- Genskow, Kenneth and Danielle Wood. 2009. Measurement, Learning, and Adaptation in Planning and Implementing Voluntary Non-point Source Watershed Programs. Journal of Planning Literature 24(2):137-154.
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: 2009 work in this project area included research on collaboration among conservation agencies, evaluation of nutrient management educational programs, and research and outreach addressing planning and evaluation of water quality programs using social indicators. Outputs for this period include interim reports, surveys designed and conducted in two Wisconsin watersheds, development of communication tools and design of teaching modules for social indicators, and workshops conducted at national conferences for resource management professionals. Work in this area also includes coordination of new planning and outreach project addressing water quality issues in partnership with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. New projects address water quality assessment and planning, community participation, and development of educational materials. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Working with professional audiences implementing natural resource management programs and projects. Support includes improving resource manager capacities to support land owners and property managers in their resource management activities. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Social indicators research helped inform local watershed planning and implementation programs throughout the Great Lakes States. Within Wisconsin, social indicators projects help focus planning efforts in the Lower Fox, Root-Pike River, and Lake Superior watersheds; related work supported Mead Lake watershed in Clark County. Work on nutrient management evaluation has helped shape Wisconsin efforts to assess statewide progress toward nutrient management goals. Workshops human dimension, evaluation, and social indicator research have been delivered to resource management professionals in Wisconsin and at three national conferences.
Publications
- Prokopy, L., K. Genskow, et al. 2009. Designing a regional system of social indicators to evaluate nonpoint source water projects. Journal of Extension 47(2): Feature Article 2FEA1.
- Genskow, K. Catalyzing Collaboration: Wisconsin's Agency-Initiated Basin Partnerships. 2009. Environmental Management. 43:411-424.
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Wisconsin Cooperative Conservation Initiative (WCCI) project is to explore collaboration among resource management partners around the framework of USDA and related conservation programs. The specific program initially considered is the Conservation Security Program (CSP) and its application in Wisconsin watersheds. By documenting partnerships and working relationships developed through cooperation, and comparing that with pre- and post-measures of conservation practice use by land owners (primarily farmers), this project would help assess conservation-focused outcomes and provide "process" and "institutional" insights for resource managers. In 2008, the original WCCI group ceased meeting due to limited resources. Instead, the project has expanded and linked to related work by the PI in developing indicators for human/social dimensions of conservation and water-quality projects (social indicators). During this reporting period, that framework was developed and tested in other areas, leading to development of a draft questionnaire to be used with farmers in the Upper Rock River project area. The actual data collection for the Rock area is scheduled for early 2009. PARTICIPANTS: The project involves partnerships with state and federal agencies active in Wisconsin and throughout the Great Lakes Region. The extended, social indicators development project includes co-leadership between the PI and a team of collaborators based at Land Grant Universities in the region. The Upper Rock portion of the project includes partnerships with local agencies as well as university students and UWEX colleagues. Professional development related to this project was provided to resource managers, conservation professionals, and university faculty and staff at national conferences in Chicago, IL (Lake Management); Tucson, AZ (soil and water conservation society); and Reno, NV (water quality research and outreach professionals). TARGET AUDIENCES: Audiences benefiting from this project include policy-makers and administrators in resource management agencies, university researchers and outreach professionals, local conservation implementation staff, and organizations interested in collaborative efforts related to voluntary adoption of land management practices. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The overall research initiative is expanding to link together several related projects. The WCCI component is shifting away from a CSP-specific focus to addressing the multiple conservation activities supported through local coordination and connections to an evaluative social indicators framework. The WCCI component continues through Sept 2009. The broader Human Dimensions in Natural Resources Management work continues indefinitely.
Impacts
In 2008, the related social indicators work helped inform local watershed planning and implementation programs were developed and applied, notably the Lower Fox River watershed. The use of social indicators in Wisconsin's Lower Fox (similar to that planned for Upper Rock) has been featured in USEPA guidance and presented at several national conferences, including the USDA-CSREES National Water Conference and the Annual conference of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. Data to be collected in early 2009 from the Upper Rock River basin will inform watershed planning and the "TMDL" development process and will serve as a baseline for evaluating future conservation efforts in the area.
Publications
- Genskow, Ken and Linda Prokopy (eds.). 2008. The Social Indicator Planning and Evaluation System (SIPES) for Nonpoint Source Management: A Handbook for Projects in USEPA Region 5. Great Lakes Regional Water Program. Publication Number: GLRWP-08-SI01 (169 pages).
- Genskow, K., L. Prokopy, and R. Power. 2008. A system for using social data in nonpoint source management. Lakeline 28(3):19-22
- Genskow, K. and R. Smail. 2008. Views on Lower Fox and Green Bay Water Resources: Responses from Dairy Farmers: Summary Report. UW-Extension Environmental Resources Center. (51 pp.)
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project is intended to evaluate the effectiveness of a collaborative, multi-agency initiative to promote conservation programs to rural landowners in the headwaters of the Rock River Watershed in central Wisconsin. The project area includes the Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge which is the focus of several habitat protection and restoration initiatives, and is a high priority for agricultural conservation and water quality improvement efforts. This project will document the activities supported through the initiative, especially related to the NRCS Conservation Security Program (CSP), and assess their impacts on agricultural landowners in the project area. To date, the project has conducted interviews with partners in the initiative, summarized the partnership activities, conducted and presented spatial analysis to help focus partnership efforts, and drafted a survey to be used with agricultural landowners. Reductions in federal funding have delayed implementation
of new CSP watersheds. As a result, baseline measures farmer activities have been delayed. Anticipating potential new funding, the baseline survey of agricultural and conservation practices in the project area will be conducted in early 2008.
PARTICIPANTS: The partnership includes members of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), US Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension (UW), and local resource management partners. UW participants include graduate students, faculty, and academic staff in UW-Madison and UW-Extension.
TARGET AUDIENCES: Natural Resources management agencies at federal, state, and local levels. Individuals and organizations interested in water quality and conservation policy.
Impacts
The partnership that this project is assessing has produced several outcomes. 1) The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation committed more than $215,000 in funds to restore and evaluate projects in the watershed. These funds were matched by more than $340,000 in non-federal dollars. An additional special allocation of $500,000 in federal EQIP funds amounted to more than $1,000,000 invested in the watershed as a result of this partnership. 2)USFWS private lands biologists are working with NRCS to identify Conservation Security Program (CSP) contract holders with potential wildlife habitat restoration projects that benefit designated CSP species. WCCI members compiled, and provided to NRCS, a list of landowners whose operations affected priority landscapes, species of concern, and priority water quality resources, for special outreach and education efforts. 3)USFWS convened a work group that created a document for local landholders which identified methods to control
invasive reed canary grass, a barrier to CSP participation as identified by NRCS. 4)Supplemental EQIP funding and related efforts complement WDNR's Glacial Habitat Restoration Area (GHRA) project's goal of restoring 11,000 acres of wetland and 38,600 acres of grassland within a four county area around Horicon Marsh. To date the GHRA has restored 4,718 acres of habitat in the Upper Rock watershed. 5) WDNR and the Dodge County Land Conservation Department are conducting a Manure Management Pilot Project in the Kummel Creek subwatershed, specifically intended to evaluate water quality impacts of manure management practices in a concentrated, high-priority area. 6) In August 2006, the USFWS funded an individual to speak with producers about their current practices, identify ways to improve agricultural efficiency, and maximize environmental improvements in the Horicon Marsh. The anticipated outcome of this work is an inventory of producer farm practices, increased farm enrollment in
conservation programs, and implementation of conservation practices. 7) UW has developed a baseline assessment protocol to evaluate conservation practices among the partners in the field. UW has collected information on partner activities to date, generated maps of priority areas, and in cooperation with local partners, will soon be launching a survey of agricultural producers in the priority WCCI areas.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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