Landowners are willing to create riparian areas on their properties, as long as they have a say in the design, says a researcher in Penn State's School of Forest Resources. They feel responsible for taking care of streams, but they want to be able to choose a design that suits their needs.
Riparian forests are strips of forest along streams that serve as natural filters.
Among other benefits, they prevent sediments, fertilizers and other pollutants from farms and lawns from washing into streams. The trees also help to shade the water, keeping it cool and oxygenated for trout and other aquatic life. The landowners were concerned about aesthetics foremost. They also were concerned that falling branches might damage farm equipment and that wooded areas might attract snakes. First-order streams, high in the watershed, often just look like trickles coming out of the ground.