Governance of federally protected rivers: an institutional analysis of the partnership approach to Wild and Scenic River management in the White Clay Creek

Kauffman, Gerald J.For nearly five decades, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act has fortified protection of the nation’s rivers. The National Park Service’s Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers program represents an innovative attempt by the federal government to share management tasks, administrative duties, and financial responsibilities with all levels of government, local organizations, and neighboring communities. Thirteen officially designated rivers comprise the Partnership Wild and Scenic River cluster, which employs a novel, and increasingly regarded approach to pooling the resources of public and private entities. The Institutional Analysis and Development framework is applied in this research to investigate this partnership arrangement and institutional performance using the White Clay Creek watershed as a case study. The ultimate objective of this study is to understand the partnership’s institutional structure, processes, outcomes, and factors that promote success. Descriptive information about the partnership and significant factors that contribute to process and success were gathered from document analysis, key informant interview, and committee member survey. Results of the synthesized data and analysis found that the White Clay Creek Wild and Scenic Program can be characterized by a bi-state, interagency, hybrid governance framework, which binds diverse interests together under a common purpose and within a permanent, democratic, and representative body. The program generates various forms of local environmental and social outputs in the watershed. Factors identified as facilitating program success include human resources, available funding, and communication between partners.M.S.University of Delaware, Water Science and Policy Progra