Editor's note: An exciting new organization is forming that will be of special interest to those concerned with integrated watershed management. Two watershed/fisheries luminaries, Terry Roelofs and Bill Trush, both Professors in the Fisheries Department at Humboldt State University, have been giving vision and shape to a first-of-its-kind Institute that will focus on integrated watershed management. The Institute for River Ecosystems (IRE) is incubating nicely. Intrepid fish bio Mike McCain and I interviewed Terry and Bill (IRE) recently. The following is an edited transcript of the conversation, prepared by Mike McCain.

WMC: What is the Humboldt State University Institute for River Ecosystems?
IRE: We're interested in anything that may affect river systems, with the scope going all the way to the watershed divide. So our focus is watershed management, essentially. We look at the Institute as an opportunity to pull in a number of people from both within and outside the University under one umbrella to address major issues, providing a forum for exploring issues that have not received adequate attention from specific disciplines. We feel that doing this through the University would facilitate a broad interdisciplinary forum, and also make it possible to utilize state and federal funding. Our purpose as read from the draft charter is: "To further preservation and improve management of river ecosystems through research and education by: a) conducting research with HSU faculty, graduate students, and Institute committee members; b) disseminating information through workshops and publications; and c) providing a focused pool of experts to address current management/preservation issues related to river basins locally, nationally, and internationally."

WMC: Who is targeted as far as students and other people?
IRE: With the principal investigators (i.e. committee members) being involved, we will be able to provide good educational experiences. But, we are not going to be catering specifically to students. Our workshops and symposia will be more technical than curriculum, but students will benefit from them.

WMC: So it is more of a research and outreach foundation, rather than a curriculum-based one.
IRE: Yes, definitely.

WMC: What is your relationship to HSU?
IRE: We exist under the umbrella of the non-profit HSU Foundation. The University commitment at this point is to provide us with office space.

WMC: Who has expressed interest in being involved with the Institute and who do you have in mind that could help?
IRE: Andre Lehre (HSU professor), along with Gordon Reeves and Jim Sedell of the US Forest Service. Tom Paine, a private fisheries consultant, has expressed interest, especially in focusing on revamping IFIM. We are hoping that the Office of Graduate Studies and Creative Research Activities at HSU will become involved. To start with, we would like to target 5 to 10 people who would be asked to dedicate some serious time and energy into getting things started, such as reviewing proposals and setting direction.

WMC: It sounds like the Institute at present is focused on northern California. Do you have any `tendrils' reaching out to other areas?
IRE: Yes, but we are initially focusing on this geographic area. Anything more would put us "out of our britches" at the present.

WMC: Many university resource programs and curricula are thought of as being overly focused and non-interdisciplinary. What can the Institute do to change this?
IRE: We'll be taking a look at river issues with a large basin perspective. Within the University itself we have the opportunity to bring together forestry, geology, fisheries, environmental engineering, and soil science. Questions in river ecosystem management are not just fish questions, but often silvicultural questions or geomorphology questions. We want to bring together and look at all of the various river-related studies for a given basin when looking at issues. Another need is that, with an independent scientific advisory team, we could act as an impartial reviewer. Since we do not carry any specific agency or academic agenda, we could also become involved in policy and conflict resolution, and essentially serve as facilitators in resolving issues.

WMC: Pulling university departments and various groups together would have real bearing on problems.
IRE: Yes, and what advocacy role we will play, we don't know. This is something we may try to avoid. We can see the Institute working to come up with an objective consensus of, for example, why we feel there has been a decline in salmon abundance over the last three years in the Smith River. We could look at all of the detailed watershed studies, fish studies, catch records, and monitoring data to synthesize a report accurately describing conditions and trends, and target it to the legislature, responsible agencies, and the public.

WMC: What about the educational mission of the Institute?
IRE: With graduate and undergraduate seasonal employment, we will provide training for scientists. The support of graduate students is one of the primary purposes. We hope that the Institute will attract funds that can support graduate students through contract research.

You can reach Terry or Bill at (707) 826-3344