Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 736 - PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT › Division 18 - STATE PARK MASTER PLANNING › Section 736-018-0020 - State Park Master Planning Criteria

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
The state park master planning criteria described in section
				(2) of this rule shall be the basis for decisions on new and amended state park
				master plans, including decisions on the uses that are appropriate for each
				state park, the sizes, intensities and locations of uses, and other matters
				involving park design and resource management. The Department shall address
				these criteria, using the best available information, in formulating and
				adopting state park master plans. These criteria shall also be the basis for
				raising and resolving disputes between the Department and affected local
				governments regarding proposed state park master plans. The Department shall
				consult with the appropriate expert agencies, groups and individuals, including
				but not limited to those listed for each criterion.
(1) The following definitions apply to this
			 rule:
(a) "Natural resources": Wetlands,
			 riparian areas, water features, geological features, plant communities,
			 wildlife habitats and protected and candidate plant and animal
			 species.
(b) "Important natural
			 resource": A natural resource which has one or more of the following
			 characteristics: high quality including generally undisturbed by historic or
			 current human activities, of good vigor or condition, having a native species
			 composition, protected under state or federal Endangered Species law, or
			 constitutes a flooding or soil stability hazard which cannot easily be overcome
			 through site engineering.
(c)
			 "Composite Suitability Assessment": The Department's process of assessing the
			 suitability of areas of the park for development and use and designating areas
			 for 1 of 4 levels of suitability and related development intensity.
(d) "Level 1 or 2 development intensity":
			 Refers to two of the four Composite Suitability Assessment designations.
			 Generally, Levels 1 and 2 allow very limited development such as trails, small
			 trailheads and trail use and related interpretation structures. Level 1
			 generally incorporates more specific natural resource protection regulations
			 for such things as trail placement and seasonal trail closures.
(e) "Cultural resources": Archeological sites
			 or features; and historic sites, districts, landscapes, features, structures,
			 buildings and objects.
(f)
			 "Important cultural resource": A cultural resource which is of statewide or
			 regional historic significance, retains its historic appearance, and is in good
			 condition; or if the resource is only of local historic significance, it must
			 also be somehow important to the interpretation of the park, region or
			 state.
(g) "Important Cultural
			 Resources designated as Level 1 development intensity": Refers to a special
			 application of one of the Composite Suitability Assessment designations which
			 recognizes the need for strict protection of the significance and condition or
			 integrity of the important cultural resource, while allowing any proposed
			 development that can be shown to be compatible with cultural resource
			 protection.
(h) "Natural Resource
			 Maintenance": Any action needed to sustain a natural resource in its current
			 condition and composition, or to provide visitor and staff safety or
			 recreational access.
(i) "Natural
			 Resource Enhancement": Any action needed to improve the condition or
			 composition of a natural resource.
(j) "Natural Resource Restoration": Any
			 action needed to re-establish an important natural resource to the park that
			 has been destroyed or lost.
(k)
			 "Cultural Resource Preservation": Management or maintenance actions needed to
			 keep the cultural resource in it current condition and appearance, primarily
			 for interpretive purposes.
(l)
			 "Cultural Resource Restoration": Actions for returning a cultural resource to
			 its appearance at a selected time in its past, primarily for interpretive
			 purposes.
(m) "Cultural Resource
			 Rehabilitation": Actions for returning a cultural resource to its appearance at
			 a selected time in its past, which may include altering it somewhat for some
			 type of modern use other than interpretation without affecting its condition.
			 Moving a cultural resource to a new site is also a form of
			 rehabilitation.
(n) "Cultural
			 Resource Reconstruction": Building a replica of a lost cultural resource to
			 represent the resource at a selected time in its past, either for interpretive
			 or other uses. Reconstruction may include building some, all, or a suggestion
			 of, the original resource.
(o)
			 "Cultural Resource Management as ruins": Providing only those management or
			 maintenance actions needed to keep viewers of the cultural resource safe while
			 allowing the gradual deterioration of the resource. Photo or other
			 documentation is often included.
(p) "Cultural Resource Removal": Taking the
			 cultural resource down or moving it out of the park.
(q) "Important views": Existing or proposed
			 viewing locations for public access, which are key to viewing scenic features,
			 interpretive features or beautiful landscapes associated with the
			 park.
(r) "Themes": Major
			 interpretive or educational stories or topics.
(s) "Areas of Concern": Lands and land uses
			 adjacent to a park which have potential negative or positive impacts on park
			 uses, facilities or resources.