Ecoregional Planning: Retreat or Reinvention?

Ecoregional planning-broadly defined here as planning for regions delineated by natural boundaries-seemed poised to prosper in the early 1970s. Faced with immense political and economic challenges, however, it subsequently transformed itself, taking a more collaborative, less regulatory tack. Ecoregional planning capacity has expanded, though highly unevenly, at multiple spatial scales. Today's multiple initiatives receive financial, technical, and logistical support from federal and state funding programs, land trusts, watershed organizations, and ballot questions-and they may be further bolstered by climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. As they continue to develop, ecoregional programs must contend with issues of equity, efficiency, affordability, and intense opposition.