OMRA Legal News

OMRA Legal News

PLEASE get as many of your OHV enthusiasts to go to these upcoming meetings. You can be sure that the enviro extremists will be there in force to close down OUR riding areas, so do not give them the chance! Go here to get the time and place for your part of the state:

http://www.prd.state.or.us/trailsplanning_workshops.php

Locations/Dates:

Location: La Grande (Union) Date: 4/1/2003
Site: The Union Hotel, 326 N. Main, Union

Location: Burns Date: 4/2/2003
Site: Harney County Courthouse, Basement Meeting Room, 450 N. Buena Vista

Location: Bend Date: 4/3/2003
Site: Aspen Hall, 18920 Shevlin Park Road

Location: Klamath Falls Date: 4/15/2003
Site: Klamath County Museum, 1451 Main Street

Location: Grants Pass Date: 4/16/2003
Site: La Quinta, 243 NE Morgan Lane

Location: Bandon Date: 4/17/2003
Site: Best Western Inn at Face Rock, 3225 Beach Loop Road

Location: Lincoln City Date: 5/20/2003
Site: Driftwood Public Library, 801 SW Highway 101

Location: Portland (Aloha) Date: 5/21/2003
Site: Historic Jenkins Estate (Stable), 8005 SW Grabhorn Road, Aloha

Location: Eugene Date: 5/22/2003
Site: City of Eugene Public Works Bldg., 1820 Roosevelt Blvd, Building 2 Conference Room

STATEWIDE COMPREHENSIVE OUTDOOR RECREATION PLAN

During the last 2 years, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has actively engaged public and private sector recreation providers, recreational interest groups and citizens across the state in a planning effort to complete a Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) for Oregon.

The plan constitutes Oregon's basic five-year plan for outdoor recreation. It provides the state with an up-to-date regional information and planning tool serving as the basis by which all Oregon recreation providers (state, federal, local, and private) catalogue and rank their recreation needs, obtain funding through partnerships and grants, and affirm their respective roles.

STATEWIDE TRAILS PLAN!

The statewide trails planning process will include a series of issue scoping workshops held in locations across the state. The following type of information will be gathered for each of the 3 trails planning components (motorized, non-motorized and water):

Identification of regional trail issues
Identification of regional trail needs
Identification of potential trail development opportunities

In a cost-savings effort (e.g. to reduce meeting administrative and travel costs), each workshop session will address issues, needs and trail development opportunities associated with motorized, non-motorized and water trails in the planning region. The format of each workshop will allow adequate time for discussion of each of these 3 trail types and topics.

Early in the trails planning process, OPRD staff identified a total of 6 regions for the trails planning effort. Each region is of sufficient geographic area to have a unique set of trail related issues and associated management concerns. A series of issues workshops have been scheduled for locations in each of these regions:

Workshop Format
Daytime sessions (11 am to 4:30 pm) will be open to all public-sector recreation providers within the region. These providers include all federal and state agencies, county, municipal, port and special district recreation departments, and Native American Tribes.

Evening sessions (6 pm to 8 pm) will be open to the general public including interested members of the public, trail user groups or clubs, commercial organizations (e.g., guides, outfitters, sports equipment retailers), or any other organizations of persons interested in providing trail-related issues, needs and opportunities within the planning region.

STATEWIDE TRAILS PLAN
During the 2003-2007 Oregon Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Planning (SCORP) process, recreation providers across the state expressed a strong desire for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) to update existing Oregon Statewide Trails Plans (OHV and Recreational Trails Plans). They also felt the trails plan should address a growing interest in canoe, rafting, and kayak routes (water trails) throughout the state. Based on this reported need, a planning objective in the Oregon SCORP states that OPRD will develop a Statewide Trails Plan with input from federal, state, special district, county and municipal providers and advocacy groups.

As a result, OPRD is embarking on a 2-year statewide trails planning effort beginning in January of 2003. The effort involves separate (but concurrent) motorized, non-motorized, and water trails planning components. Specific planning objectives include:

Assessing the needs and opinions of Oregon's citizens as they relate to trail recreation opportunities and management (motorized, non-motorized and water).
Establishing priorities for expenditures from the Oregon ATV Grant Program, Federal Recreational Trails Program and other applicable sources.
Developing strategic directions to guide activities for OPRD's ATV Program, statewide recreational trails planning and water access goals.
Gathering additional inventory measurement data for motorized and non-motorized trail resources and facilities.
Conducting a systematic inventory of existing and potential water trails and facilities, identifying priority needs and potential funding sources.
Recommending actions that enhance motorized, non-motorized and water trail opportunities to all agencies and the private sector who provide trail resources in Oregon.

The effort will result in 3 planning documents, packaged into one volume, providing a one-stop planning document for recreational planners who often work on motorized, non-motorized trails/riding area planning and water trails. The plans will be designed as an information resource as well as a planning tool to guide agencies for the next 5 years. Final planning documents are scheduled for completion in December 2004.

This area of the OPRD website will eventually contain separate sections on motorized, nonmotorized and water trails.

MASTER PLANS

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department master planning staff is continually involved in the long-range review of state park system properties.

A master plan is a assessment of resource suitability, recreation opportunities and development recommendations. It is not just a site design, but includes site designs for any development proposals in the plan.

The plans include management guidelines for each park's natural, cultural and scenic resources, and interpretive objectives. Each plan is intended to guide future development in the park over a 15-20 year period, but resource guidelines may be intended for use for longer periods.

As new draft master plans are developed, they will be posted on this page for public comments.