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State
California
PRC Sec 5001-5019.5 Classification of Units of the State Park System (STATE PARKS AND MONUMENTS)

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE
SECTION 5019.50-5019.80





5019.50. All units that are or shall become a part of the state
park system, except those units or parts of units designated by the
Legislature as wilderness areas pursuant to Chapter 1.3 (commencing
with Section 5093.30), or where subject to any other provision of
law, including Section 5019.80 and Article 1 (commencing with Section
36600) of Chapter 7 of Division 27, shall be classified by the State
Park and Recreation Commission into one of the categories specified
in this article. Classification of state marine reserves, state
marine parks, and state marine conservation areas, requires the
concurrence of the Fish and Game Commission for restrictions to be
placed upon the use of living marine resources.



5019.53. State parks consist of relatively spacious areas of
outstanding scenic or natural character, oftentimes also containing
significant historical, archaeological, ecological, geological, or
other similar values. The purpose of state parks shall be to
preserve outstanding natural, scenic, and cultural values, indigenous
aquatic and terrestrial fauna and flora, and the most significant
examples of ecological regions of California, such as the Sierra
Nevada, northeast volcanic, great valley, coastal strip,
Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains, southwest mountains and valleys,
redwoods, foothills and low coastal mountains, and desert and desert
mountains.
Each state park shall be managed as a composite whole in order to
restore, protect, and maintain its native environmental complexes to
the extent compatible with the primary purpose for which the park was
established.
Improvements undertaken within state parks shall be for the
purpose of making the areas available for public enjoyment and
education in a manner consistent with the preservation of natural,
scenic, cultural, and ecological values for present and future
generations. Improvements may be undertaken to provide for
recreational activities including, but not limited to, camping,
picnicking, sightseeing, nature study, hiking, and horseback riding,
so long as those improvements involve no major modification of lands,
forests, or waters. Improvements that do not directly enhance the
public's enjoyment of the natural, scenic, cultural, or ecological
values of the resource, which are attractions in themselves, or which
are otherwise available to the public within a reasonable distance
outside the park, shall not be undertaken within state parks.
State parks may be established in the terrestrial or nonmarine
aquatic (lake or stream) environments of the state.



5019.56. State recreation units consist of areas selected,
developed, and operated to provide outdoor recreational
opportunities. The units shall be designated by the commission by
naming, in accordance with Article 1 (commencing with Section 5001)
and this article relating to classification.
In the planning of improvements to be undertaken within state
recreation units, consideration shall be given to compatibility of
design with the surrounding scenic and environmental characteristics.

State recreation units may be established in the terrestrial or
nonmarine aquatic (lake or stream) environments of the state and
shall be further classified as one of the following types:
(a) State recreation areas, consisting of areas selected and
developed to provide multiple recreational opportunities to meet
other than purely local needs. The areas shall be selected for their
having terrain capable of withstanding extensive human impact and
for their proximity to large population centers, major routes of
travel, or proven recreational resources such as manmade or natural
bodies of water. Areas containing ecological, geological, scenic, or
cultural resources of significant value shall be preserved within
state wildernesses, state reserves, state parks, or natural or
cultural preserves, or, for those areas situated seaward of the mean
high tide line, shall be designated state marine reserves, state
marine parks, state marine conservation areas, or state marine
cultural preservation areas.
Improvements may be undertaken to provide for recreational
activities, including, but not limited to, camping, picnicking,
swimming, hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, boating, waterskiing,
diving, winter sports, fishing, and hunting.
Improvements to provide for urban or indoor formalized
recreational activities shall not be undertaken within state
recreation areas.
(b) Underwater recreation areas, consisting of areas in the
nonmarine aquatic (lake or stream) environment selected and developed
to provide surface and subsurface water-oriented recreational
opportunities, while preserving basic resource values for present and
future generations.
(c) State beaches, consisting of areas with frontage on the ocean,
or bays designed to provide swimming, boating, fishing, and other
beach-oriented recreational activities. Coastal areas containing
ecological, geological, scenic, or cultural resources of significant
value shall be preserved within state wildernesses, state reserves,
state parks, or natural or cultural preserves, or, for those areas
situated seaward of the mean high tide line, shall be designated
state marine reserves, state marine parks, state marine conservation
areas, or state marine cultural preservation areas.
(d) Wayside campgrounds, consisting of relatively small areas
suitable for overnight camping and offering convenient access to
major highways.


5019.59. Historical units, to be named appropriately and
individually, consist of nonmarine areas established primarily to
preserve objects of historical, archaeological, and scientific
interest, and archaeological sites and places commemorating important
persons or historic events. The areas should be of sufficient
size, where possible, to encompass a significant proportion of the
landscape associated with the historical objects. The only
facilities that may be provided are those required for the safety,
comfort, and enjoyment of the visitors, such as access, parking,
water, sanitation, interpretation, and picnicking. Upon approval by
the commission, lands outside the primary historic zone may be
selected or acquired, developed, or operated to provide camping
facilities within appropriate historical units. Upon approval by the
State Park and Recreation Commission, an area outside the primary
historic zone may be designated as a recreation zone to provide
limited recreational opportunities that will supplement the public's
enjoyment of the unit. Certain agricultural, mercantile, or other
commercial activities may be permitted if those activities are a part
of the history of the individual unit and any developments retain or
restore historical authenticity. Historical units shall be named to
perpetuate the primary historical theme of the individual units.




5019.62. State seashores consist of relatively spacious coastline
areas with frontage on the ocean, or on bays open to the ocean,
including water areas landward of the mean high tide line and
seasonally connected to the ocean, possessing outstanding scenic or
natural character and significant recreational, historical,
archaeological, or geological values.
The purpose of state seashores shall be to preserve outstanding
natural, scenic, cultural, ecological, and recreational values of the
California coastline as an ecological region and to make possible
the enjoyment of coastline and related recreational activities which
are consistent with the preservation of the principal values and
which contribute to the public enjoyment, appreciation, and
understanding of those values.
Improvements undertaken within state seashores shall be for the
purpose of making the areas available for public enjoyment,
recreation, and education in a manner consistent with the
perpetuation of their natural, scenic, cultural, ecological, and
recreational value. Improvements which do not directly enhance the
public enjoyment of the natural, scenic, cultural, ecological, or
recreational values of the seashore, or which are attractions in
themselves, shall not be undertaken.


5019.65. State reserves consist of areas embracing outstanding
natural or scenic characteristics or areas containing outstanding
cultural resources of statewide significance. State reserve units
may be established in the terrestrial or nonmarine aquatic (lake or
stream) environments of the state and shall be further classified as
one of the following types:
(a) State natural reserves, consisting of areas selected and
managed for the purpose of preserving their native ecological
associations, unique faunal or floral characteristics, geological
features, and scenic qualities in a condition of undisturbed
integrity. Resource manipulation shall be restricted to the minimum
required to negate the deleterious influence of man.
Improvements undertaken shall be for the purpose of making the
areas available, on a day use basis, for public enjoyment and
education in a manner consistent with the preservation of their
natural features. Living and nonliving resources contained within
state natural reserves shall not be disturbed or removed for other
than scientific or management purposes.
(b) State cultural reserves, consisting of areas selected and
managed for the purpose of preserving and protecting the integrity of
places that contain historic or prehistoric structures, villages, or
settlements, archaeological features, ruins, artifacts, inscriptions
made by humans, burial grounds, landscapes, hunting or gathering
sites, or similar evidence of past human lives or cultures. These
areas may also be places of spiritual significance to California
Native Americans. Within state cultural reserves, the highest level
of resource protection shall be sought. Improvements may be
undertaken for the purpose of providing public access, enjoyment, and
education, and for cultural resource protection. Improvements made
for the purpose of cultural resource protection shall take into
account the possible need for access to the site for ceremonial or
spiritual purposes. Living and nonliving resources contained within
state cultural reserves may be used for ceremonial or spiritual
purposes, consistent with other laws, and if the use is not harmful
to threatened or endangered species or to the cultural resources
intended for protection by this designation. Management actions
shall be consistent with the preservation of cultural resources and
with federal and state laws.



5019.68. State wildernesses, in contrast with those areas where man
and his own works dominate the landscape, are hereby recognized as
areas where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by
man and where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. A state
wilderness is further defined to mean an area of relatively
undeveloped state-owned or leased land which has retained its
primeval character and influence or has been substantially restored
to a near-natural appearance, without permanent improvements or human
habitation, other than semi-improved campgrounds, or structures
which existed at the time of classification of the area as a state
wilderness and which the State Park and Recreation Commission has
determined may be maintained and used in a manner compatible with the
preservation of the wilderness environment, or primitive latrines,
which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural
conditions, and which:
(a) Appears generally to have been affected primarily by the
forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially
unnoticeable.
(b) Has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and
unconfined type of recreation.
(c) Consists of at least 5,000 acres of land, either by itself or
in combination with contiguous areas possessing wilderness
characteristics, or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its
preservation and use in an unimpaired condition.
(d) May also contain ecological, geological, or other features of
scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.
State wildernesses may be established within the boundaries of
other state park system units.


5019.71. Natural preserves consist of distinct nonmarine areas of
outstanding natural or scientific significance established within the
boundaries of other state park system units. The purpose of natural
preserves shall be to preserve such features as rare or endangered
plant and animal species and their supporting ecosystems,
representative examples of plant or animal communities existing in
California prior to the impact of civilization, geological features
illustrative of geological processes, significant fossil occurrences
or geological features of cultural or economic interest, or
topographic features illustrative of representative or unique
biogeographical patterns. Areas set aside as natural preserves shall
be of sufficient size to allow, where possible, the natural dynamics
of ecological interaction to continue without interference, and to
provide, in all cases, a practicable management unit. Habitat
manipulation shall be permitted only in those areas found by
scientific analysis to require manipulation to preserve the species
or associations that constitute the basis for the establishment of
the natural preserve.



5019.74. Cultural preserves consist of distinct nonmarine areas of
outstanding cultural interest established within the boundaries of
other state park system units for the purpose of protecting such
features as sites, buildings, or zones which represent significant
places or events in the flow of human experience in California.
Areas set aside as cultural preserves shall be large enough to
provide for the effective protection of the prime cultural resources
from potentially damaging influences, and to permit the effective
management and interpretation of the resources. Within cultural
preserves, complete integrity of the cultural resources shall be
sought, and no structures or improvements that conflict with that
integrity shall be permitted.



5019.80. (a) The Marine Managed Areas Improvement Act (Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 36600) of Division 27) establishes a uniform
classification system for state marine managed areas and is
incorporated herein by reference. Any proposals for marine managed
areas made after January 1, 2002, shall follow the guidelines set
forth in that act. Pursuant to Section 36750, existing marine or
estuarine areas within units of the state park system that have not
been reclassified in accordance with the Marine Life Protection Act
(Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section 2850) of Division 3 of the
Fish and Game Code) on January 1, 2002, shall be reclassified by the
State Interagency Coordinating Committee into one of the following
classifications:
(1) State marine reserve.
(2) State marine park.
(3) State marine conservation area.
(4) State marine cultural preservation area.
(5) State marine recreational management area.
(b) The process for establishing, deleting, or modifying state
marine reserves, state marine parks, state marine conservation areas,
state marine cultural preservation areas, and state marine
recreational management areas shall be established pursuant to that
act. The restrictions and allowable uses applicable to those areas
are as set forth in that act.