Laura Johnston: “Land Tenure and Conservation in Adirondack State Park”

The United States is a nexus of watersheds. Five levels of complicated, webbed outlines divide and subdivide land on nested scales, the smallest of which is the Hydrological Unit Code (HUC) – the watershed. From 50 states we arrive at 2,264 watersheds, which presents an incongruous approach to mapping from our dominant one. This presents a problem. As a fluid resource, water transcends national, state, and county lines; watershed management calls for a reorganization of community networks as well as technological development. The West Brook Conservation Initiative exemplifies a watershed management model that uses institutional diversity/collaboration, ensures future economic prosperity, and offers a multi-use space that benefits the community and environment. How? They bought land. Is property ownership a reputable model for managing watersheds?