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Abstract

Legitimacy in natural resource management refers to the degree to which citizens accept and comply with stated plans and policies . Lack of legitimacy can threaten collaboration-based watershed groups that rely on voluntary compliance of major stakeholders to achieve their water quality goals . One of the most cited requirements for legitimacy in natural resource collaborations is inclusive representation . A study of several watershed groups in Wisconsin and Illinois was undertaken in order to find out if lack of inclusiveness is a threat to legitimacy within watershed groups that could impede the success of such organizations in meeting their water quality goals . This study uncovered a worrisome exclusion of key stakeholders, a possible threat to inclusiveness and thus legitimacy for natural resource collaborations . Underrepresented stakeholders included farmers, federal government officials, and national environmental groups . The absence of farmer participation is especially troubling considering the large amount of agricultural land contained within two of the basins studied . Citizen representation of watershed groups can be obtained via the involvement of elected officials, but unfortunately such participation was lacking in two of the three watershed groups studied here, further threatening the legitimacy of these watershed collaborations . Lack of inclusive stakeholder representation, seen in this study for farmers, national groups, and elected representatives; is a major threat to collaboration efforts to improve water quality in the nation’s lakes and streams . Alternative strategies to the collaborative approach, such as those that rely on regulations and other “sticks” should seriously be considered to supplement watershed organization activities, which are now based mostly on voluntary compliance .

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