The role of information sources in watershed management

The current shift towards more community-based resource management and greater public involvement means managers and scientists will be working more closely with the public. A better understanding of which information sources citizens trust and pay attention to seems essential for developing long-term solutions. We surveyed landowners and watershed council members in the South Santiam watershed in Oregon to determine which information sources citizens found useful and trustworthy to provide information about watershed management. Our findings indicate that many landowners had little experience with information providers in the region. Personal experience was by far the most useful source of information. The most trusted information providers were the university Extension Service, university scientists,Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Oregon Department of Forestry. The least useful sources were the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, while the least trusted were the mass media and environmental groups. We also found that watershed council members tended to find most information sources more useful and trustworthy than did other landowners.