The role of environmental legislation in the preservation and restoration of rivers

We use the U.S. Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA) of 1968 to illustrate why existing laws can be ineffective for dealing with environmental issues.  Despite being one of the most protective pieces of river legislation, the WSRA does not require or foster river restoration efforts.  Legislative language equates river restoration with water resources projects involving major construction, such as building bridges or marinas.  As a result, the required agency oversight for river restoration delays the removal of non-functioning dams and the addition of instream habitat enhancements.  For example, a proposed large wood addition to restore brook trout habitat in the Namekagon River (WI) was delayed 18 years due to a lack of explicit guidance by the WSRA, rather than agency inaction.  The WSRA is indicative of a broader problem with environmental legislation: the absence of a holistic approach (i.e., reach-scale instead of watershed management) and an emphasis on static instead of active approaches (i.e., preservation instead of restoration).  In the last two decades, the science of ecological restoration has improved substantially, but Congress has not adapted the WSRA to reflect this increased knowledge.  We suggest the WSRA might benefit from modifications to encourage watershed restoration to benefit fish populations.