Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society
|
Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
|
|
GIS PROJECT Josephine County Geographic Information System (GIS) The Hugo Emigrant Trails Committee (Trails Committee) was formed to bring together all those who want to learn more about the early transportation in the area, from the casual admirer to the dedicated researcher.1&2Success encourages involvement and the Josephine County Community Development Department is to be complemented on the development and application of its winning ArcView GIS tool (Planning’s Universal Mapping Application - PUMA). PUMA provides the user with a simple interface for viewing, querying, mapping, and reporting of many aspects of land use, land ownership, and the natural environment in the county. PUMA also makes this information easy to disseminate by providing ready-made maps and property reports. The Applegate Trail is not an official inventory of the Josephine County Comprehensive Plan and GIS theme, but it could be. It is identified on numerous Josephine County assessor maps as the "Approx. center line of Territorial Road Willamette to Jacksonville." A rationale for the trail being an official inventory and development of this new theme is based on the belief that the county can be more effective in serving its citizens if it has a more comprehensive picture of its historical resources. Goal 5 - Open Spaces, Scenic, & Historic Areas, & Natural Resources
• Cultural Areas Goal 5 encourages local governments to maintain current inventories of the following resources: historic resources, open space, and scenic views and sites. The goal establishes a process through which resources can be inventoried and evaluated by local governments. If a resource or site is found to be important, the local government considers three policy choices: to preserve the resource, to allow the proposed uses that conflict with it, or to establish some sort of a balance between the resource and those uses that would conflict with it. The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development’s web site has information on Goal 5. http://www.lcd.state.or.us/LCD/docs/goals/goal5.pdf GIS Project The responsibilities of the trail Monitoring Coordinators3 are to monitor proposed land use changes along the emigrant trails and work with landowners to educate, protect, and preserve as much of the trails as possible. The value of an official land use inventory of the Applegate Trail acknowledged by Josephine County, Oregon would be significant. An official inventory would be a huge advancement toward achieving the goal of informing landowners of the trail’s existence, and its possible protection and preservation.It is recommended by the Trails Committee that the Hugo Neighborhood, Josephine County Historical Society, and the Oregon-California Trails Association 2&4 jointly sponsor the idea of the Applegate Trail becoming an official Oregon statewide Goal 5 inventory for Josephine County as one of its GIS themes. Trail locations could be based on the 1856 GLO township maps by the Oregon Surveyor Generals Office. Road from Willamette Valley to Jacksonville (route of the Applegate Trail) Road to Illinois Valley via Van Noys Ferry (route of the Applegate Trail from Widow Niday’s place to ferry location on Rogue River) An immediate value of implementing this idea is that whenever there is a land use application in Josephine County its land use system would, as applicable, automatically flag the fact that the trail might be in the area of the proposed development (e.g., partition, subdivision, transportation project, etc.) and in a public forum the county would decide on one of the three policy choices. This idea also works for the entire State of Oregon in all units of local government where the trail is located.
|
|
© 2011 Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
