OCR Text |
Show valuable local, state and world- wide resource. The GSL plan will provide a framework and help guide this activity. However, initiating more comprehensive planning efforts for the lake and its watershed will require legislation and financial backing. Multi- agency collaborative efforts are essential to accomplish and support plan research and ecosystem monitoring objectives and to continue ongoing efforts. This planning process in itself has improved coordination among the divisions of DNR. GSL management requires a coordinated front to address lake management issues. However, many issues transcend the state and private land boundaries and post- plan watershed coordination will also help protect long- term sustainability. Sustainability and Development " In order to achieve sustainable development, policies must be based on the precautionary principle. Environmental measures must anticipate, attack and prevent causes of environmental degradation where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation" ( Bergen Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Development in the ECE Region, 1990). There is often industry and political opposition to the precautionary approach since it interferes with traditional ways of conducting business and the scientific process utilized to provide decision- making rationales ( Buckingham- Hatfield and Evans, 1996). Traditional ways to conduct business may lead to over exploitation while waiting for better scientific data to be compiled. The planning team believes that the proposed salinity management preferred alternative is an example of a precautionary approach. Jurisdictional boundaries of GSL systems for planning are limited by different land- based resource agencies which limits the effectiveness of government to plan for sustainable development. Other constraints include scientific/ technical, economic factors, political and ideology and the lack of industry volunteerism. Managing for sustainability often requires a regulatory framework to protect public trust resources and to identify appropriate tradeoffs in balancing multiple- use and sustainability objectives. Sustainability is defined by societal and political values rather than a scientific based concept. The long- term viability of the resource is determined by the outcome of social values. However impacts on GSL systems cut across economic, social and political boundaries. Sustainability is achieved by " knowing the state of the environment." This is the resource inventory and provides the baseline to evaluate monitoring and identify trends that are useful for formulating effective management policies. Managing for sustainability assumes that resource managers understand management actions and their consequences ( impacts) on dynamic systems. Precise cause- and- effect observations are often vague and problematic since scientific information 109 |