Municipal capacity to implement an ecosystem approach in coastal zone management, St. Lawrence River Basin, New York State.

This MA thesis is a contemporary look at rural municipal planning and management in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties, Upper New York State. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin, since 1972, has been subject to binational agreements and federal and state legislation for the protection and development of its coastal resources. Many were enacted because state and local institutional arrangements for planning and regulating land and water uses for coastal areas were judged inadequate. A number of elements contribute to institutional complexity and affect municipal planning and management capacity. The International Joint Commission (IJC) proposes an ecosystem approach as part of the decision-making process both lake-wide and locally to address many of these concerns. The IJC is mandated by both federal governments, through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, to investigate binational concerns throughout the basin. The present research uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to assess definitional clarity of the ecosystem approach and the capacity of local governments to facilitate usage of this approach in the planning and management of its coastal resources. (Abstract shortened by UMI.