The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), officially known (in state law) as the State Parks and Recreation Department, is the government agency of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

which operates its system of

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

s. In addition, it has programs to protect and provide public access to natural and historic resources within the state, including the

State Historic Preservation Office The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) is a state governmental function created by the United States federal government in 1966 under Section 101 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The purposes of a SHPO include surveying an ...

, Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries, recreation trails, the Ocean Shores Recreation Area, scenic waterways and the Willamette River Greenway. The department's chief sources of funding are the

Oregon Lottery The Oregon Lottery is run by the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). History The Oregon Lottery was authorized by Oregon Ballot Measure 5 which was passed by voters in the 1984 ...

, state park user fees. and recreation vehicle license fees. The department also manages the system of rest areas along the highways and freeways within the state. In 2006 the department was delegated responsibility for managing the

Oregon State Fair The Oregon State Fair is the official state fair of the U.S. state of Oregon. It takes place every August–September at the Oregon State Fairgrounds located in north Salem, Oregon, Salem, the state capital, as it has almost every year since 1862. ...

.Heine, Steven Robert. ''The Oregon State Fair Images of America''. Arcadia Publishing. 2007-08-20. pp. 7–8. The department was created in 1921 as a branch of the Oregon Highway Department (predecessor to the present-day

Oregon Department of Transportation The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway Depar ...

). The 1989

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

transferred authority to a newly created department under its current name effective January 1, 1990. In the 2019 fiscal year, Oregon state parks attracted 55 million visitors, a 1.3 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. For the 2010 fiscal year, Oregon ranked first among U.S. states in state park capacity utilization rate, indicating that Oregon's state parks were the most overused. As of 2012, 7.5 percent of lottery revenues in Oregon were dedicated to state and local parks, leading to new park acquisitions and a reduced backlog of maintenance at existing parks. Nevertheless, Oregon ranked 30th in the nation in state park acreage per 1,000 people. At the same time, it ranked second nationally for the number of park visitors per acre, indicating that the state’s limited area of parks are intensively used.

Notes

External links

Official website
Parks and Recreation Department 1921 establishments in Oregon Government agencies established in 1921 {{Oregon-gov-stub

See also

Notes

External links