Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series
Welcome! You are here because you’ve learned that a new, Congressionally designated Wild and Scenic River is in your park, unit, forest, or refuge or that a designated Partnership Wild and Scenic River flows near or through your hometown.
It is now up to you to learn what Wild and Scenic designation means for you as one of its river managers. Your federally protected river has been recognized for one or more unique, rare, and exemplary attributes and needs to be protected through specific management protocols. What are your responsibilities for your river’s management and stewardship so that it will maintain its special character for generations to come?
This series of short videos has been developed for river professionals like you to answer these questions and establish your ‘wild and scenic’ grounding through an easily digestible, three-to-five-minute format. Whether you start from the introductory Video #1 and run through the others in sequence or pick and choose until you’ve watched them all, completing the series will give you a solid sense of what is ahead for you and your river planning team.
In this first of nine videos, learn what it means for your river to have been recently designated into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, including your role in managing its special status. (Video 1 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
To effectively manage a wild and scenic river, it is vital to understand the internal resources and team structures needed and how to build capacity within your staff. (Video 2 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
Understand the initial steps in preparing for a Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP), to effectively set the stage for long-term stewardship of your designated wild and scenic river. (Video 3 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
Explore strategies for managing user impacts and balancing public access with the need to protect your wild and scenic river’s unique river values. (Video 4 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
Dive into the Outstandingly Remarkable Values (ORVs) that make your wild and scenic river special, and how these values shape management priorities and decisions.(Video 5 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
Gain insight into the CRMP process, a critical tool in planning and implementing the protection of your wild and scenic river’s resources over time. (Video 6 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
Learn the importance of conducting environmental analyses for proposed projects and activities on wild and scenic rivers to ensure they align with wild and scenic river management requirements. (Video 7 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
Include links to NPS and BLM NEPA guidance websites. This FS SharePoint site is internal to FS, but has many resources for further information on all things NEPA: NEPA & EADM
Learn about Section 7 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and how it applies to federal water projects, ensuring your river remains free-flowing and river values are protected. (Video 8 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
This final video in the training series will explore how climate change impacts wild and scenic rivers and what management strategies can be employed to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure long-term resilience. (Video 9 of 9 in the ‘Recently Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers: A Training Series’)
These videos have been developed through a much-appreciated partnership between the Interagency Wild and Scenic Rivers Coordinating Council members hailing from the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Special thanks go to Nancy Taylor (USDAFS) for inspiring us with the original concept, the series host and moderator Lisa Machnik (USDAFS), and the production team at MostVis for their creativity, expertise, and production flexibility.
