This GIS map gives you a good idea of the land use practices in the watershed of the East Fork I fish most often. Some people don't understand what a watershed is or that they actually live in one. No matter where you're standing you're in a watershed. Here's a good definition:
A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is:
"that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community."
Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. In the continental US, there are 2,110 watersheds; including Hawaii Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are 2,267 watersheds.
I think it's important everyone realizes land use activities in their watershed has an affect, negative or positive, on water quality. We are called to be good stewards, which to me means wise use. Don't confuse "wise use" with environmental extremism. I believe you can honestly be an "environmentalist" without being a tree-hugger.
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