Watershed Condition Framework

Book excerpt: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Strategic Plan for FY 2010–2015 targets the restoration of watershed and forest health as a core management objective of the national forests and grasslands. To achieve this goal, the Forest Service, an agency of USDA, is directed to restore degraded watersheds by strategically focusing investments in watershed improvement projects and conservation practices at the landscape and watershed scales. The Watershed Condition Framework (WCF) is a comprehensive approach for classifying watershed condition, proactively implementing integrated restoration in priority watersheds on national forests and grasslands, and tracking and monitoring outcome-based program accomplishments for performance accountability. In a 2006 review of the Forest Service Watershed Program, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concluded that the agency lacked a nationally consistent approach to prioritizing watersheds for improvement (OMB 2006). The OMB also noted that current Forest Service direction for tracking watershed condition class (FSM 2521) was vague, open to varied interpretation, and insufficient to consistently evaluate watershed condition or track how the condition changes over time. To address these issues, the Forest Service formed a National Watershed Condition Team and tasked it with developing a consistent, science-based approach to classify the condition of all National Forest System (NFS) watersheds and to develop outcome-based performance measures for watershed restoration. The watershed condition policy goal of the Forest Service is “to protect National Forest System watersheds by implementing practices designed to maintain or improve watershed condition, which is the foundation for sustaining ecosystems and the production of renewable natural resources, values, and benefits” (FSM 2520). Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack reemphasized this policy in his “Vision for the Forest Service,” when he stated that restoring watershed and forest health would be the primary management objective of the Forest Service (USDA 2010). To help implement this new policy emphasis, the Forest Service developed the WCF. The WCF provides a consistent way to evaluate watershed condition at both the national and forest levels. Watershed condition assessments by individual national forests are critical because local national forest staffs are the closest to the ground and best understand existing conditions. The WCF consists of reconnaissance-level assessments by individual national forests, implementation of integrated improvement activities within priority watersheds, validation and monitoring of watershed condition class changes, and aggregation of program performance data for national reporting.