ABSTRACT
Forest policy and governance dynamics are often inextricable from issues of wildlife and water. Wildlife and water are both complicated objects for governance given their propensity to move freely across property and jurisdictional boundaries. This chapter reviews the policy frameworks for wildlife and water, examining the roles and tensions related to federal and state authority and the changing suite of policies for wildlife and water conservation. Many of the recent policy innovations emphasize voluntary and incentive-based mechanisms, as illustrated by the examples of red cockaded woodpecker recovery in the South and water source protection programs nationwide. These programs imply potentially significant tools for forest conservation and raise questions regarding the balance of power among private, governmental, and non-governmental participants in forest governance.
