Interpretive Center
Plan Overview
Plan Review
Land Use Designations Acreage
Recreation Development Proposals List
Recreation Intensity Classes Acreage
Natural Resource Species List
Landscape Setting Acreage
|
|
Plan Overview
Congress called for the preparation of the Management Plan for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (Management Plan) to ensure that land in the Scenic Area is used consistently with the purposes and standards of the Scenic Area Act. The Gorge Commission and U.S. Forest Service spent more than three years developing the Management Plan with input from Indian tribal governments, county and city governments, state and federal agencies, citizens, and organizations. The original Management Plan was adopted by the Gorge Commission in October 1991. The Management Plan was sent to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for concurrence as required by the Scenic Area Act. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture concurred with the Management Plan in February 1992. Revisions to the Management Plan were adopted in 2004 and incorporated into an updated Management Plan in 2007.
The Management Plan includes guidelines and land use designations for lands in the General Management Areas and Special Management Areas. It also identifies goals, objectives, policies and guidelines for resource protection and enhancement; action programs for recreation development, economic development, enhancement strategies, and interpretation and education; and establishes the roles of the Gorge Commission, the Forest Service, and Indian tribal governments.
The Management Plan is organized into four parts, following an Introduction:
Part I identifies goals, objectives, policies, and guidelines for resource protection and enhancement. Individual chapters cover scenic resources, cultural resources, natural resources, and recreation resources.
Part II addresses land use designations. Individual chapters identify the goals, objectives, policies, and guidelines for each land use category: agricultural land, forest land, open space, residential land, commercial land, and recreation designations. These six chapters are followed by a chapter on general policies and guidelines that affect all uses in the Scenic Area, regardless of land use designation.
Part III outlines an action program, with chapters devoted to the recreation development plan, economic development, enhancement strategies, and interpretation and education.
Part IV focuses on the role of the Gorge Commission, the Forest Service, and Indian tribal treaty rights and consultation.
All chapters in Parts I and II, and Chapter 1 in Part III, are organized so the first part of the chapter focuses on the GMA (or combined GMA and SMA) and the second part focuses on the SMA. The Gorge Commission and five Gorge counties have adopted land use ordinances that implement Parts I and II of the Management Plan. |
