Oregon Preservation Plan

Number of Pages:  19
Approval Date:  August 2, 2005
Planning Cycle:  5 years

Contact Information:

Dr. Stephen Poyser
State Historic Preservation Office
Heritage Conservation Division
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
725 Summer Street, Suite C
Salem, Oregon 97310
(503) 986-0686; fax (503) 986-07937
E-mail: stephen.poyser@state.or.us
Web site: http://egov.oregon.gov/ORPD/HCD/SHPO/docs/shpo_preservation_plan-2005.pdf

Mission/Vision Statement:
Not included in the Plan.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Purpose
Integration With Other Plans
SHPO Role and Philosophy
Issues, Goals, and Objectives
Issue 1: Partnerships
Issue 2: Advocacy
Issue 3: Economic Development
Issue 4: Preservation and Rehabilitation
Issue 5: Identification and Designation of Resources
Issue 6: Communication and Networking
Issue 7: Funding
Issue 8: Education
Issue 9: Codes and Ordinances
Conclusion and Implementation
Appendix I: Oregon's Cultural Resources (Archaeological and Historic Resources)
Appendix II: Bibliography

PLAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Public Participation Strategies:

• Series of 25 public meetings held around the state, attended by more than 300 Oregonians;
• On-line public opinion survey;
• Needs assessment.

HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES
Archaeological resources, including prehistoric Indian sites and historic-period sites; above-ground historic resources, including buildings and structures; prehistoric archaeological sites include lithic scatters and quarries, habitation, hunting, and food processing sites, temporary campsites, and burials; historic archaeological sites include rural homesteads, industrial sites, shipwrecks, and urban/town sites; historic resources include properties from the 19th century, early 20th century, and post-WWII periods; historic resources include buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts; examples of historic buildings include houses, commercial, public, institutional, industrial, and agricultural buildings; warehouses, factories, mills, barns and other outbuildings; historic structures include bridges, canals, railroad grades, trails, and roads; cultural and historic landscapes, including combinations of natural features and human-shaped elements, such as formal gardens or parks designed by prominent landscape architects, or informal landscapes shaped by uses and traditions, such as ranching, farming, and mining, and those associated with important religious beliefs or traditions of local cultures ("traditional cultural places"); Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

ISSUES, THREATS, & OPPORTUNITIES

• Partnerships are very important, given the limited resources available for preservation;
• Coordinated advocacy strategy is needed to address preservation needs;
• Commercial revitalization and heritage tourism can benefit from the income and jobs associated with preservation activities;
• Careful oversight by preservation professionals is needed during revitalization and tourism development;
• Preservation and rehabilitation rely on appropriate information, guidance and expertise;
• Identification and designation of historic resources is a key factor in their preservation;
• Preservation community needs to share information and experiences, and keep up-to-date on current issues;
• Distance is a major challenge to communication in the state;
• Funding for preservation activity is the top "need" identified in the statewide needs assessment;
• Public awareness and professional training are essential for preservation success;
• Many local ordinances need revision and up-dating;
• Existing regulations need strengthening;
• Archaeological resources in remote areas are subject to looting and vandalism;
• Tens of thousands more resources remain to be inventoried statewide;
• Need for scholarship on "resources from the recent past" so significance can be evaluated;
• Continued use of historic industrial and agricultural buildings is difficult, leading to abandonment and demolition;
• Owner consent and property rights measures threaten to dilute the regulatory options local governments use to protect historic resources;
• Linear structures are a challenge to document and preserve;
• Cultural landscapes can be difficult to document and protect due to their scale and complexity.

1. Create and enhance partnerships that leverage resources for preservation.
2. Defend and promote heritage resources by administering strong, professional preservation programs and by employing well-coordinated and well-targeted response strategies and proactive initiatives.
3. Employ historic preservation as an economic development
4. Increase the number of high-quality preservation projects.
5. Expand the inventory and designation of Oregon's prehistoric and historic cultural resources for use in planning, education, public information, and education.
6. Expand the exchange of historic preservation-related information among Oregon communities and cultural groups.
7. Strengthen/Expand existing financial incentive programs and develop new incentives and funding sources, both public and private.
8. Expand the general public's awareness of preservation issues and support specialized preservation education and training.
9. Develop and implement codes and ordinances that promote preservation through both regulations and incentives.

1. Partnerships.
   • Strengthen partnerships between preservation groups and local governments;
   • Strengthen relationships between preservation groups and tribes;
   • Strengthen affiliations between preservation groups and academia;
   • Convene a gathering of land managing agencies to discuss cultural resource issues;
   • Establish partnerships between preservation groups, government agencies, and economic development and tourism efforts;
   • Strengthen relationships between preservation groups and research repositories.
2. Advocacy.
   • Support efforts of community, non-profit, and tribal advocates;
   • Develop preservation plans that are integrated with broader governmental and tribal planning efforts;
   • Strengthen preservation communication and networking;
   • Increase funding for threatened resources and emergencies;
   • Develop statewide preservation awards program;
   • Enforce existing cultural resource protection statutes;
   • Form multi-agency working committees to address cultural resource issues.
3. Economic Development.
   • Develop authentic cultural heritage tourism efforts;
   • Include cultural resource preservation in economic development strategies at all levels of government;
   • Assess and report on beneficial impacts of heritage tourism and historic preservation activities;
   • Expand preservation-friendly redevelopment programs such as the National Main Street Program;
   • Ensure that heritage tourism efforts take into account long-term sustainability of cultural resources.
4. Preservation and Rehabilitation.
   • Offer grants and other financial incentives;
   • Balance incentives and regulations;
   • Use physical preservation options (rather than only documentation) as mitigation for impacts to historic buildings and sites;
   • Identify technical preservation problems and research solutions;
   • Maintain a library of technical assistance materials and directory of preservation professionals;
   • Increase use of the Oregon Preservation Listserv and preservation web sites;
   • Provide workshops and training materials on preservation technology;
   • Educate code enforcement officers, building officials, and planners about historic building needs;
   • Enhance the "sustainability" of preservation;
   • Provide technical assistance and advice to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department;
   • Assist state and federal agencies with their cultural resource responsibilities.
5. Identification and Designation of Resources.
   • Update heritage resource inventories;
   • Nominate significant properties to the local and/or National Registers;
   • Streamline the survey process by using new technologies and recent scholarship;
   • Expand the historic sites database and make it accessible to the public;
   • Expand the archaeological site database and make it accessible to qualified professionals;
   • Develop training materials and opportunities for cultural resource surveyors;
   • Incorporate cultural resource information into data systems of other government agencies to integrate preservation into land-use and management processes.
6. Communication and Networking
   • Communicate and share information through listservs and websites;
   • Use traditional publications where appropriate;
   • Hold workshops on a regular basis;
   • Include under-represented groups in preservation network;
   • Develop, maintain, and disseminate preservation information in a coordinated manner.
7. Funding.
   • Expand state and federal rehabilitation tax credits;
   • Create local incentives to inventory, designate, and rehabilitate historic properties;
   • Publicize fundraising success stories and examples of creative and successful private/public preservation partnerships;
   • Make available contact information for grant and fundraising experts;
   • Develop list of funding sources for preservation;
   • Minimize administrative costs and paperwork associated with preservation grant and incentive programs;
   • Offer preservation expertise to other entities that award preservation grants if they do not have in-house expertise;
   • Increase use of easements for historic properties and archaeological sites;
   • Secure funding for the authorized SHPO revolving loan fund.
8. Education.
   • Develop interpretive materials and programs;
   • Provide training opportunities for cultural resource staff within government agencies and tribes;
   • Prepare up-to-date hand-out materials and make them readily available;
   • Conduct workshops for cultural resource consultants;
   • Develop heritage education programs for diverse audiences;
   • Examine ways to use the media for public education purposes;
   • Provide scholarships, internships, employment referrals, instruction, recruitment, and information sharing programs at Oregon colleges and universities;
   • Develop educational programs where they are most needed;
   • Incorporate heritage education into continuing education, vocational, and Parks and Recreation programs statewide.
9. Codes and Ordinances.
   • Develop training opportunities for local building and design professionals, disability advocates, building trades representatives, and developers;
   • Adopt legislation providing greater flexibility in applying building codes to historic buildings and structures;
   • Update state statutes and rules as appropriate;
   • Incorporate archaeological site protection into local ordinances;
   • Develop code accommodation that protects historic and prehistoric resources;
   • Update and improve preservation ordinances as needed;
   • Improve administrative and enforcement procedures instead of wholesale revisions to regulations;
   • Adopt flexible or "smart" building codes;
   • Coordinate fact finding and information sharing on the effects of Measure 37 (November 2004) on cultural resources.