Chetco River Scenic Section, June 20

The draft management plan and rules for a portion of the Chetco River recently designated by Governor Brown as a State Scenic Waterway are the topic of a June 20 rules advisory committee meeting hosted by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Harbor Water District Offices, 98069 W Benham Lane. The rules advisory committee will review the draft management plan developed in 2015 for the section of the Chetco between the Steel Bridge and Alfred A. Loeb State Park. The advisory committee will also review proposed scenic waterway rules for this section of the river and provide comments on the impact of those rules on both land managers and the public. Members of the public are welcome to attend but the meeting will be a work-session. The public will not have an opportunity to comment at this meeting; however, public comments will be accepted during the rule making process which will follow later this summer. Scenic waterways staff will incorporate committee input into a final draft management plan and draft rules for OPRD commissioners to review. OPRD will also schedule a rule-making hearing to solicit public feedback on the draft rules following this meeting. The State Scenic Waterways Program seeks to balance protection of natural resources, scenic value and recreation. Scenic waterway designations do not affect existing water rights. The draft plan, meeting materials and other information are available at http://bit.ly/scenicwaterways. For more information about the meeting or about the draft rules on the Chetco River Scenic Waterway, please contact Rocky Houston at 503-986-0750 or rocky.houston@oregon.gov or Laurel Hillmann at 503-986-0700 or laurel.hillmann@oregon.gov. For more information on the rulemaking process, please contact Richard Walkoski at 503-986-0748 or richard.walkoski@oregon.gov.