Natural Resources Management on Corps of Engineers Water Resources Development Projects: Practices, Challenges, and Perspectives on the Future

摘要

Natural resources management on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water resources development projects was documented from the responses of management personnel to a detailed questionnaire mailed to a stratified random sample of projects. The survey was sent in January 1996 to 66 Corps projects (19 percent of the sampling frame) selected at random within 10 Corps Divisions located in the contiguous United States. Results were based on 62 completed questionnaires returned through August 1996, an overall response rate of approximately 94 percent. Corps projects reported spending an average of 6.6 percent (0-29 percent) of their project budget on natural resources management activities associated with terrestrial (50 percent of natural resources budget), aquatic (27 percent), and wetland (12 percent) resources and threatened and endangered species (12 percent). Natural resources management programs were highly individualized because of project-specific differences in the type and condition of available resources; the availability of funding, personnel, and management partners; and the local physical and cultural environment surrounding each project. Management efforts were typically directed at a broad range of resource uses including outdoor recreation, fish, wildlife, timber, and agriculture. A large share of the natural resources management effort was usually associated with outdoor recreation, particularly fishing and hunting recreation.