Historically, the conservation community has assumed that terrestrial protected area management will result in beneficial improvements to goals of freshwater conservation. However, as demonstrated by declining freshwater systems around the globe, this assumption may in fact be incorrect. This master's project seeks to determine the extent to which the management of terrestrial protected areas contributes to the realization of freshwater conservation in light of external influences. Our hypothesis is that the status of a catchment overrides management effort in the fulfillment of conservation goals. In order to evaluate the contribution of protected area management to freshwater systems, The master's project group analyzed key environmental attributes (hydrologic regime, water quality, energy regime, physical habitat, biotic composition, and connectivity) as components of a comprehensive approach to freshwater management. To characterize the impact of current management efforts, we developed a "KEA-Specific Management Score" for each key environmental Attribute. This was compared with associated catchment stressors and response variables. We compared these relationships for approximately ten PAs in northern Michigan.