Land Use Planning and Social Equity in North Carolina’s Compensatory Wetland and Stream Mitigation Programs

The U.S. Clean Water Act requires compensatory mitigation for wetland and stream damage through restoration of damaged aquatic ecosystems. We evaluate the North Carolina’s Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP), a state agency responsible for compensatory mitigation. We compare communities gaining and losing aquatic resources during mitigation, finding new types of socioeconomic disparities that contradict previous studies of mitigation program behavior. We find average distances between impact and mitigation sites for streams (43.53 km) and wetlands (50.3 km) to be larger in North Carolina than in off-site mitigation programs in other regions previously studied. We also find that aquatic resources in the State are lost from urbanized areas that are more affluent, white, and highly educated, and mitigated at sites in rural areas that are less affluent, less well educated, and have a higher percentage of minorities. We also analyze the relationship between urban growth indicators and EEP accumulation of compensation sites. Growth indicators and long-term population projections are uncorrelated with both projected transportation impacts and advance mitigation acquired by the EEP, suggesting that growth considerations can be more effectively incorporated into the EEP’s planning process. We explore the possibility that spatial mismatches could develop between watersheds that are rapidly growing and those that are gaining mitigation. We make recommendations for ways that regulators incorporate growth indicators into the mitigation planning process.     

Compensatory Mitigation for Streams Under the Clean Water Act: Reassessing Science and Redirecting Policy1

Doyle, Martin W. and F. Douglas Shields, 2012. Compensatory Mitigation for Streams Under the Clean Water Act: Reassessing Science and Redirecting Policy. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(3): 494-509. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00631.x Abstract: Current stream restoration science is not adequate to assume high rates of success in recovering ecosystem functional integrity. The physical scale of most stream restoration projects is insufficient because watershed land use controls ambient water quality and hydrology, and land use surrounding many restoration projects at the time of their construction, or in the future, do not provide sufficient conditions for functional integrity recovery. Reach scale channel restoration or modification has limited benefits within the broader landscape context. Physical habitat variables are often the basis for indicating success, but are now increasingly seen as poor surrogates for actual biological function; the assumption “if you build it they will come” lacks support of empirical studies. If stream restoration is to play a continued role in compensatory mitigation under the United States Clean Water Act, then significant policy changes are needed to adapt to the limitations of restoration science and the social environment under which most projects are constructed. When used for compensatory mitigation, stream restoration should be held to effectiveness standards for actual and measurable physical, chemical, or biological functional improvement. To achieve improved mitigation results, greater flexibility may be required for the location and funding of restoration projects, the size of projects, and the restoration process itself.     

Hydrological Connectivity Between Headwater Streams and Downstream Waters: How Science Can Inform Policy1

Abstract: In January 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers exceeded its statutory authority by asserting Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction over non‐navigable, isolated, intrastate waters based solely on their use by migratory birds. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion addressed broader issues of CWA jurisdiction by implying that the CWA intended some “connection” to navigability and that isolated waters need a “significant nexus” to navigable waters to be jurisdictional. Subsequent to this decision (SWANCC), there have been many lawsuits challenging CWA jurisdiction, many of which are focused on headwater, intermittent, and ephemeral streams. To inform the legal and policy debate surrounding this issue, we present information on the geographic distribution of headwater streams and intermittent and ephemeral streams throughout the U.S., summarize major findings from the scientific literature in considering hydrological connectivity between headwater streams and downstream waters, and relate the scientific information presented to policy issues surrounding the scope of waters protected under the CWA. Headwater streams comprise approximately 53% (2,900,000 km) of the total stream length in the U.S., excluding Alaska, and intermittent and ephemeral streams comprise approximately 59% (3,200,000 km) of the total stream length and approximately 50% (1,460,000 km) of the headwater stream length in the U.S., excluding Alaska. Hillslopes, headwater streams, and downstream waters are best described as individual elements of integrated hydrological systems. Hydrological connectivity allows for the exchange of mass, momentum, energy, and organisms longitudinally, laterally, vertically, and temporally between headwater streams and downstream waters. Via hydrological connectivity, headwater, intermittent and ephemeral streams cumulatively contribute to the functional integrity of downstream waters; hydrologically and ecologically, they are a part of the tributary system. As this debate continues, scientific input from multiple fields will be important for policymaking at the federal, state, and local levels and to inform water resource management regardless of the level at which those decisions are being made. Strengthening the interface between science, policy, and public participation is critical if we are going to achieve effective water resource management.     

Determinants of Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Compensatory Wetland Mitigation

Development projects that impact wetlands commonly require compensatory mitigation, usually through creation or restoration of wetlands on or off the project site. Over the last decade, federal support has increased for third-party off-site mitigation methods. At the same time, regulators have lowered the minimum impact size that triggers the requirement for compensatory mitigation. Few studies have examined the aggregate impact of individual wetland mitigation projects. No previous study has compared the choice of mitigation method by regulatory agency or development size. We analyze 1058 locally and federally permitted wetland mitigation transactions in the Chicago region between 1993 and 2004. We show that decreasing mitigation thresholds have had striking effects on the methods and spatial distribution of wetland mitigation. In particular, the observed increase in mitigation bank use is driven largely by the needs of the smallest impacts. Conversely, throughout the time period studied, large developments have rarely used mitigation banking, and have been relatively unaffected by changing regulatory focus and banking industry growth. We surmise that small developments lack the scale economies necessary for feasible permittee responsible mitigation. Finally, we compare the rates at which compensation required by both county and federal regulators is performed across major watershed boundaries. We show that local regulations prohibiting cross-county mitigation lead to higher levels of cross- watershed mitigation than federal regulations without cross-county prohibitions. Our data suggest that local control over wetland mitigation may prioritize administrative boundaries over hydrologic function in the matter of selecting compensation sites.     

Compliance with Wetland Mitigation Standards in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA

The United States has lost about half its wetland acreage since European settlement, and the effectiveness of current wetland mitigation policies is often questioned. In most states, federal wetland laws are overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but Michigan administers these laws through the state's Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). Our research provides insight into the effectiveness of the state's implementation of these laws. We examined wetland mitigation permit files issued in Michigan's Upper Peninsula between 2003 and 2006 to assess compliance with key MDEQ policies. Forty-six percent of files were out of compliance with monitoring report requirements, and forty-nine percent lacked required conservation easement documents. We also conducted site assessments of select compensatory wetland projects to determine compliance with MDEQ invasive plant species performance standards. Fifty-five percent were out of compliance. We found no relationship between invasive species noncompliance and past site monitoring, age of mitigation site, or proximity to roads. However, we found wetland restoration projects far more likely to be compliant with performance standards than wetland creation projects. We suggest policy changes and agency actions that could increase compliance with wetland restoration and mitigation goals.     

Hydrologic Connectivity and the Contribution of Stream Headwaters to Ecological Integrity at Regional Scales1

Abstract: Cumulatively, headwater streams contribute to maintaining hydrologic connectivity and ecosystem integrity at regional scales. Hydrologic connectivity is the water‐mediated transport of matter, energy and organisms within or between elements of the hydrologic cycle. Headwater streams compose over two‐thirds of total stream length in a typical river drainage and directly connect the upland and riparian landscape to the rest of the stream ecosystem. Altering headwater streams, e.g., by channelization, diversion through pipes, impoundment and burial, modifies fluxes between uplands and downstream river segments and eliminates distinctive habitats. The large‐scale ecological effects of altering headwaters are amplified by land uses that alter runoff and nutrient loads to streams, and by widespread dam construction on larger rivers (which frequently leaves free‐flowing upstream portions of river systems essential to sustaining aquatic biodiversity). We discuss three examples of large‐scale consequences of cumulative headwater alteration. Downstream eutrophication and coastal hypoxia result, in part, from agricultural practices that alter headwaters and wetlands while increasing nutrient runoff. Extensive headwater alteration is also expected to lower secondary productivity of river systems by reducing stream‐system length and trophic subsidies to downstream river segments, affecting aquatic communities and terrestrial wildlife that utilize aquatic resources. Reduced viability of freshwater biota may occur with cumulative headwater alteration, including for species that occupy a range of stream sizes but for which headwater streams diversify the network of interconnected populations or enhance survival for particular life stages. Developing a more predictive understanding of ecological patterns that may emerge on regional scales as a result of headwater alterations will require studies focused on components and pathways that connect headwaters to river, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems. Linkages between headwaters and downstream ecosystems cannot be discounted when addressing large‐scale issues such as hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and global losses of biodiversity.     

The ambiguity of federalism in climate policy-making: how the political system in Austria hinders mitigation and facilitates adaptation

Although the impacts of federalism on environmental policy-making are still contested, many policy analysts emphasise its advantages in climate policy-making. This applies to the mitigation of climate change, in particular when federal governments (as in the U.S.) are inactive. More recently, federalism is also expected to empower sub-national actors in adapting to local impacts of climate change. The present paper analyses the role federalism in Austria played in greening the decentralised building sector (relevant for mitigation) on the one hand, and in improving regional flood risk management (relevant for adaptation) on the other. In line with the so-called matching school of the environmental federalism research strand we conclude that Austrian federalism proved to be more appropriate for regional flood protection than for mitigating climate change. We highlight that it is not federalism per se but federalism embedded in various contextual factors that shape environmental policy-making. Among these factors are the spatial scale of an environmental problem, the nitty-gritty of polity systems, and national politics (such as federal positions on climate change mitigation).     

Protecting River Corridors in Vermont1

Kline, Michael and Barry Cahoon, 2010. Protecting River Corridors in Vermont. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(2):227-236. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00417.x Abstract: The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources’ current strategy for restoring aquatic habitat, water quality, and riparian ecosystem services is the protection of fluvial geomorphic-based river corridors and associated wetland and floodplain attributes and functions. Vermont has assessed over 1,350 miles of stream channels to determine how natural processes have been modified by channel management activities, corridor encroachments, and land use/land cover changes. Nearly three quarters of Vermont field-assessed reaches are incised limiting access to floodplains and thus reducing important ecosystem services such as flood and erosion hazard mitigation, sediment storage, and nutrient uptake. River corridor planning is conducted with geomorphic data to identify opportunities and constraints to mitigating the effects of physical stressors. Corridors are sized based on the meander belt width and assigned a sensitivity rating based on the likelihood of channel adjustment due to stressors. The approach adopted by Vermont is fundamentally based on restoring fluvial processes associated with dynamic equilibrium, and associated habitat features. Managing toward fluvial equilibrium is taking hold across Vermont through adoption of municipal fluvial erosion hazard zoning and purchase of river corridor easements, or local channel and floodplain management rights. These tools signify a shift away from primarily active management approaches of varying success that largely worked against natural river form and process, to a current community-based, primarily passive approach to accommodate floodplain reestablishment through fluvial processes.     

The Effect of Wetland Mitigation Banking on the Achievement of No-Net-Loss

/ This study determines whether the 68 wetland mitigation banks in existence in the United States through 1 January 1996 are achieving no-net-loss of wetland acreage nationally and regionally. Although 74% of the individual banks achieve no-net-loss by acreage, overall, wetland mitigation banks are projected to result in a net loss of 21,328 acres of wetlands nationally, 52% of the acreage in banks, as already credited wetland acreages are converted to otheruses. While most wetland mitigation banks are using appropriate compensation methods and ratios, several of the largest banks use preservation or enhancement, instead of restoration or creation. Most of these preservation/enhancement banks use minimum mitigation ratios of 1:1, which is much lower than ratios given in current guidelines. Assuming that mitigation occurs in these banks as preservation at the minimum allowable ratio, ten of these banks, concentrated in the western Gulf Coast region, will account for over 99% of projected net wetland acreage loss associated with banks. We conclude that wetland mitigation banking is a conceptually sound environmental policy and planning tool, but only if applied according to recently issued guidelines that ensure no-net-loss of wetland functions and values. Wetland mitigation banking inevitably leads to geographic relocation of wetlands, and therefore changes, either positively or negatively, the functions they perform and ecosystem services they provide. KEY WORDS: Mitigation banking; Wetlands; Army Corps of Engineers; No-net-loss     

Can Warmwater Streams Be Rehabilitated Using Watershed-Scale Standard Erosion Control Measures Alone?

Degradation of warmwater streams in agricultural landscapes is a pervasive problem, and reports of restoration effectiveness based on monitoring data are rare. Described is the outcome of rehabilitation of two deeply incised, unstable sand-and-gravel-bed streams. Channel networks of both watersheds were treated using standard erosion control measures, and aquatic habitats within 1-km-long reaches of each stream were further treated by addition of instream structures and planting woody vegetation on banks (“habitat rehabilitation”). Fish and their habitats were sampled semiannually during 1–2 years before rehabilitation, 3–4 years after rehabilitation, and 10–11 years after rehabilitation. Reaches with only erosion control measures located upstream from the habitat measure reaches and in similar streams in adjacent watersheds were sampled concurrently. Sediment concentrations declined steeply throughout both watersheds, with means ≥40% lower during the post-rehabilitation period than before. Physical effects of habitat rehabilitation were persistent through time, with pool habitat availability much higher in rehabilitated reaches than elsewhere. Fish community structure responded with major shifts in relative species abundance: as pool habitats increased after rehabilitation, small-bodied generalists and opportunists declined as certain piscivores and larger-bodied species such as centrarchids and catostomids increased. Reaches without habitat rehabilitation were significantly shallower, and fish populations there were similar to the rehabilitated reaches prior to treatment. These findings are applicable to incised, warmwater streams draining agricultural watersheds similar to those we studied. Rehabilitation of warmwater stream ecosystems is possible with current knowledge, but a major shift in stream corridor management strategies will be needed to reverse ongoing degradation trends. Apparently, conventional channel erosion controls without instream habitat measures are ineffective tools for ecosystem restoration in incised, warmwater streams of the Southeastern U.S., even if applied at the watershed scale and accompanied by significant reductions in suspended sediment concentration.     

Southwestern Intermittent and Ephemeral Stream Connectivity

Ephemeral and intermittent streams are abundant in the arid and semiarid landscapes of the Western and Southwestern United States (U.S.). Connectivity of ephemeral and intermittent streams to the relatively few perennial reaches through runoff is a major driver of the ecohydrology of the region. These streams supply water, sediment, nutrients, and biota to downstream reaches and rivers. In addition, they provide runoff to recharge alluvial and regional groundwater aquifers that support baseflow in perennial mainstem stream reaches over extended periods when little or no precipitation occurs. Episodic runoff, as well as groundwater inflow to surface water in streams support limited naturally occurring riparian communities. This paper provides an overview and comprehensive examination of factors affecting the hydrologic, chemical, and ecological connectivity of ephemeral and intermittent streams on perennial or intermittent rivers in the arid and semiarid Southwestern U.S. Connectivity as influenced and moderated through the physical landscape, climate, and human impacts to downstream waters or rivers is presented first at the broader Southwestern scale, and secondly drawing on a specific and more detailed example of the San Pedro Basin due to its history of extensive observations and research in the basin. A wide array of evidence clearly illustrates hydrologic, chemical, and ecological connectivity of ephemeral and intermittent streams throughout stream networks.     

LIVESTOCK GRAZING MANAGEMENT IMPACTS ON STREAM WATER QUALITY: A REVIEW1

ABSTRACT: Controlling agricultural nonpoint source pollution from livestock grazing is a necessary step to improving the water quality of the nation's streams. The goal of enhanced stream water quality will most likely result from the implementation of an integrated system of best management practices (BMPs) linked with stream hydraulic and geomorphic characteristics. However, a grazing BMP system is often developed with the concept that BMPs will function independently from interactions among controls, climatic regions, and the multifaceted functions exhibited by streams. This paper examines the peer reviewed literature pertaining to grazing BMPs commonly implemented in the southern humid region of the United States to ascertain effects of BMPs on stream water quality. Results indicate that the most extensive BMP research efforts occurred in the western and midwestern U.S. While numerous studies documented the negative impacts of grazing on stream health, few actually examined the success of BMPs for mitigating these effects. Even fewer studies provided the necessary information to enable the reader to determine the efficacy of a comprehensive systems approach integrating multiple BMPs with pre‐BMP and post‐BMP geomorphic conditions. Perhaps grazing BMP research should begin incorporating geomorphic information about the streams with the goal of achieving sustainable stream water quality.     

A Rapid Method to Score Stream Reaches Based on the Overall Performance of Their Main Ecological Functions

A method was developed to score the ecological condition of first- to third-order stream reaches in the Auckland region of New Zealand based on the performance of their key ecological functions. Such a method is required by consultants and resource managers to quantify the reduction in ecological condition of a modified stream reach relative to its unmodified state. This is a fundamental precursor for the determination of fair environmental compensation for achieving no-net-loss in overall stream ecological value. Field testing and subsequent use of the method indicated that it provides a useful measure of ecological condition related to the performance of stream ecological functions. It is relatively simple to apply compared to a full ecological study, is quick to use, and allows identification of the degree of impairment of each of the key ecological functions. The scoring system was designed so that future improvements in the measurement of stream functions can be incorporated into it. Although the methodology was specifically designed for Auckland streams, the principles can be readily adapted to other regions and stream types.     

The Potential Role for Management of U.S. Public Lands in Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Climate Policy

Management of forests, rangelands, and wetlands on public lands, including the restoration of degraded lands, has the potential to increase carbon sequestration or reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beyond what is occurring today. In this paper we discuss several policy options for increasing GHG mitigation on public lands. These range from an extension of current policy by generating supplemental mitigation on public lands in an effort to meet national emissions reduction goals, to full participation in an offsets market by allowing GHG mitigation on public lands to be sold as offsets either by the overseeing agency or by private contractors. To help place these policy options in context, we briefly review the literature on GHG mitigation and public lands to examine the potential for enhanced mitigation on federal and state public lands in the United States. This potential will be tempered by consideration of the tradeoffs with other uses of public lands, the needs for climate change adaptation, and the effects on other ecosystem services.     

Featured Collection Introduction: Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters

Connectivity is a fundamental but highly dynamic property of watersheds. Variability in the types and degrees of aquatic ecosystem connectivity presents challenges for researchers and managers seeking to accurately quantify its effects on critical hydrologic, biogeochemical, and biological processes. However, protecting natural gradients of connectivity is key to protecting the range of ecosystem services that aquatic ecosystems provide. In this featured collection, we review the available evidence on connections and functions by which streams and wetlands affect the integrity of downstream waters such as large rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries. The reviews in this collection focus on the types of waters whose protections under the U.S. Clean Water Act have been called into question by U.S. Supreme Court cases. We synthesize 40+ years of research on longitudinal, lateral, and vertical fluxes of energy, material, and biota between aquatic ecosystems included within the Act's frame of reference. Many questions about the roles of streams and wetlands in sustaining downstream water integrity can be answered from currently available literature, and emerging research is rapidly closing data gaps with exciting new insights into aquatic connectivity and function at local, watershed, and regional scales. Synthesis of foundational and emerging research is needed to support science‐based efforts to provide safe, reliable sources of fresh water for present and future generations.     

Optimal Advanced Credit Releases in Ecosystem Service Markets

Ecosystem service markets are popular policy tools for ecosystem protection. Advanced credit releases are an important factor affecting the supply side of ecosystem markets. Under an advanced credit release policy, regulators give ecosystem suppliers a fraction of the total ecosystem credits generated by a restoration project before it is verified that the project actually achieves the required ecological thresholds. In spite of their prominent role in ecosystem markets, there is virtually no regulatory or research literature on the proper design of advanced credit release policies. Using U.S. aquatic ecosystem markets as an example, we develop a principal–agent model of the behavior of regulators and wetland/stream mitigation bankers to determine and explore the optimal degree of advance credit release. The model highlights the tension between regulators’ desire to induce market participation, while at the same time ensuring that bankers successfully complete ecological restoration. Our findings suggest several simple guidelines for strengthening advanced credit release policy.     

Refining the Use of Habitat Equivalency Analysis

When natural resources are injured or destroyed in violation of certain U.S. federal or state statutes, government agencies have the responsibility to ensure the public is compensated through ecological restoration for the loss of the natural resources and services they provide. Habitat equivalency analysis is a service-to-service approach to scaling restoration commonly used in natural resource damage assessments. Calculation of the present value of resource services lost due to injury and gained from compensatory restoration projects is complicated by assumptions concerning the within-time period crediting of losses and gains. Conventional beginning-of-period accounting leads to an underestimate of the loss due to injury and an overestimate of the gains from compensatory projects in cases with linear recovery projections. The resulting compensatory requirement is often insufficient to offset the true loss suffered by the public. Two algebraic equations are offered to correct for these estimation inaccuracies, and a numerical example is used to illustrate the magnitude of error for a typical, though hypothetical, injury scenario.     

Biophysical‐Regulatory Classification and Profiling of Streams Across Management Units and Ecoregions1

Caruso, Brian S. and Joshua Haynes, 2011. Biophysical‐Regulatory Classification and Profiling of Streams Across Management Units and Ecoregions. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 00(0):1‐22. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00522.x Abstract: Aquatic resources management in the United States (U.S.) under Clean Water Act Section 404 has become more complex after recent Supreme Court decisions and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) guidance. Many intermittent/ephemeral and headwater streams may not be jurisdictional if they lack a significant nexus with navigable waters. Streams in semiarid USEPA Region 8 were classified based on hydrologic permanence and stream order using National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) Plus and GIS to provide information across broad spatial scales to aid with jurisdictional determinations (JDs). Four classes were developed for profiling across management units and ecoregions. Based on medium‐resolution NHDPlus data, intermittent streams comprise >¾, and first order streams constitute >½ of the total stream length in Region 8. Mountain states and ecoregions have the largest percentage of perennial first order streams, whereas the Dakotas, plains, and desert ecoregions have the greatest percentages of intermittent first order and intermittent higher order streams. In the Upper Colorado River Basin, >50% of reaches are intermittent first order, and 9% are perennial first order. NHDPlus data can significantly underestimate the length of headwater and intermittent streams, but can still be a valuable tool to help develop stream classes and for regional JD planning and analysis. Refinement of the stream classes using high resolution NHD data and other key catchment parameters can improve their utility for JDs.     

Identification of Putative Geographically Isolated Wetlands of the Conterminous United States

Geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs) are wetlands completely surrounded by uplands. While common throughout the United States (U.S.), there have heretofore been no nationally available, spatially explicit estimates of GIW extent, complicating efforts to understand the myriad biogeochemical, hydrological, and habitat functions of GIWs and hampering conservation and management efforts at local, state, and national scales. We used a 10‐m geospatial buffer as a proxy for hydrological or ecological connectivity of National Wetlands Inventory palustrine and lacustrine wetland systems to nationally mapped and available stream, river, and lake data. We identified over 8.3 million putative GIWs across the conterminous U.S., encompassing nearly 6.5 million hectares of wetland resources (average size 0.79 ± 4.81 ha, median size 0.19 ha). Putative GIWs thus represent approximately 16% of the freshwater wetlands of the conterminous U.S. The water regime for the majority of the putative GIWs was temporarily or seasonally flooded, suggesting a vulnerability to ditching or hydrologic abstraction, sedimentation, or alterations in precipitation patterns. Additional analytical applications of this readily available geospatially explicit mapping product (e.g., hydrological modeling, amphibian metapopulation, or landscape ecological analyses) will improve our understanding of the abundance and extent, effect, connectivity, and relative importance of GIWs to other aquatic systems of the conterminous U.S.     

Expert Perceptions of Approaches to Protecting Isolated Wetlands in the Northeastern United States

In this article, we describe how protecting vernal pools was discussed by experts in the northeastern United States (U.S) within the context of a theoretical policy framework. We offer insight about characteristics of feasible vernal pool policy solutions, and identify gaps in our understanding, particularly regarding conditions in states currently lacking specific vernal pool protections. Vernal pools are geographically isolated, intermittent wetlands that provide important habitat for a variety of plants and animals. Many may not be federally protected as a result of judicial decisions over the past two decades, and the rule intended to clarify what qualifies for federal protection is currently being reviewed by the courts. Thus, state or local policy approaches may be alternatives to conserving vernal pools. We interviewed vernal pool experts in the northeastern U.S. regarding approaches to vernal pool protection and analyzed their perceptions through the lens of Kingdon's ( 2011 ) multiple streams policy development framework. The framework denotes 13 characteristics of three processes associated with policy development: problem identification, policy solution development, and the impacts of politics. While analyzed for all 13 components, we found participants most often discussed feasibility of policy formulation and implementation, particularly with regard to protecting vernal pools of high value while also remaining within the bounds of what public opinion supports.