Class: an Essential Aspect of Watershed Planning

Abstract

A study of a watershed planning process in the Cache River Watershed in southern Illinois revealed that class divisions, based on property ownership, underlay key conflicts over land use and decision-making relevant to resource use. A class analysis of the region indicates that the planning process served to endorse and solidify the locally-dominant theory that landownership confers the right to govern. This obscured the class differences between large full-time farmers and small-holders whose livelihood depends on non-farm labor. These two groups generally opposed one another regarding wetland drainage. Their common identity as ''property owner'' consolidated the power wielded locally by large farmers. It also provided an instrument -the planning document -for state and federal government agencies to enhance their power and to bring resources to the region. The planning process simultaneously ameliorated conflicts between government agencies and the large farmers, while enhancing the agencies' capacity to reclaim wetlands. In this contradictory manner, the plan promoted the environmental aims of many smallholders, and simultaneously disempowered them as actors in the region's political economy.

Neighbors Yet Strangers: Local People's Awareness of Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Southern Illinois, USA

“…This finding underscores a real need for CCNWR and its partners to find better venues for communicating social and biophysical values and implications of wetlands restoration to the broader community, beyond what Adams (2002) refers to as the ''propertied elite'' (p. 6). A new focus on redressing distributive and procedural inequities will be necessary to bring environmental parity to all local residents.…”

“…The CCNWR conservation plan specifies goals of resource protection, biodiversity maintenance, and environmental education opportunities for local residents. Although great strides in wetland restoration efforts have occurred since 1990, Adams (2002) has called into question the degree to which local residents have been informed and engaged in watershed-wide planning processes. As is often the case in rural settings, decision-making authority in Cache River Watershed planning issues has rested in the hands of government agencies, environmental NGOs, and narrowly defined stakeholder groups .…”

“…If we similarly consider the remote, rural, and largely undeveloped Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge (CCNWR) natural area in southernmost Illinois, what levels of awareness and participation can be expected from its diverse local population? An observed lack of participation in refuge programs by the neighboring African American community may stem from a management strategy initially optimized for resource protection rather than social inclusiveness (Adams 2002), and therefore can be framed from an environmental justice perspective (Floyd and Johnson 2002, 60). Although awareness and participation are not synonymous with environmental justice, assessing these characteristics among minority and lowincome residents can be a critical first step in developing resource protection programs that are responsive to and inclusive of all local people (Brown and Mitchell 2000), ultimately ensuring environmental equity in federal land-use decisions.…”