Or. Admin. R. 629-021-0100 - Purpose
(1) Improving fish
and wildlife habitat and water quality cannot succeed through laws and
government actions alone. These rules implement ORS
541.973 which reflects and
depends upon Oregonians characteristic spirit of volunteerism and stewardship.
The rules provide the means for the Departments of Forestry and Agriculture to
implement a voluntary and flexible conservation incentives program that
recognizes and rewards agricultural, forest, and other landowners who choose to
exceed regulatory criteria for conservation, restoration, and improvement of
fish and wildlife habitat or water quality while managing land to meet their
objectives. Stewardship agreements will be long-term and consider conservation
from a property wide perspective, rather than at the scale of single localized
projects.
(2) This program provides
incentives for landowners who meet and exceed regulatory requirements to
achieve conservation. Regulatory requirements are continually reviewed and
revised in the face of new scientific information and changing social values.
As such, the relevant habitat and water quality statutes provide the means to
evaluate whether a landowner is meeting and exceeding regulatory
criteria.
(3) For lands and
activities falling under the Oregon Forest Practices Act, the purpose of the
stewardship agreement program is also to more efficiently implement the
provisions of the Act as a voluntary alternative to traditional mechanisms of
forest operation planning, review, inspection, and enforcement.
(4) The stewardship agreement program will
recognize other relevant landowner efforts, such as forest or agricultural
certification and habitat conservation plans, which have been developed by
landowners to meet their management objectives, as components that partially or
fully qualify a landowner for a stewardship agreement.
(5) The stewardship agreement program may not
meet the objectives of all landowners. Landowners who choose not to enter into
stewardship agreements, although they may be qualified to do so, are not
considered less protective of resources than those landowners who choose to
enter into stewardship agreements.
(6) Voluntary conservation, restoration, and
improvement of fish and wildlife habitat or water quality depends on effective
partnerships with other parties. The stewardship agreement program seeks to
develop and support cooperative and collaborative partnerships with federal,
state, and local agencies and with private conservation and landowner
organizations.
Notes
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 541.973 & 526
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 541.973
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