In areas where conflicts seem extreme, intransigent, and regulatory or policy issues seem to be causes of conflicts, it is possible to create a small (3-5) committee to develop a cooperative program of action that achieves objectives on a part of the total area. These cooperative arrangements recognize unique environmental and social conditions. They are to further innovative work, reduce conflict, and allow the major work of the area to move ahead. These are tests of policies, procedures, rules, techniques, and programs. The intent is clear: innovation. If they become a land use class or become widely used, they will clearly be in violation of their purpose and the means by which land is to be used and managed. A brief signed statement of intent is needed. It is placed in the Guidance upright files and elsewhere. Results are monitored and reported. The assumption made in creating such areas is that people of goodwill will generally more readily do something they have agreed to do than when forced into action. These innovation areas are "a way to get around the rules", especially those that are unripe for judicial review, but that are designed to allow, even encourage, such action for the right reasons -- to achieve objectives, to allow rules to work well and as natural and expected, but only for most, not all situations.

To name examples of such places may violate the intent of this planning section. To be entirely new, then there may be no prior examples. Mitchell et al. (1993) described "places of the heart" where there are emotional attachments, affective ties. These may be just such places. Unique configurations of geology, water, and catastrophes may create conditions needing special attention due to scale and things on site. New recreational uses may be studied in such areas. The emphasis remains: innovation.

Within landuse planning programs, these are treated usually as "area constraints7quot; but they can and do affect viewscape, water resource, and other land use quantities.

Literature

Mitchell, M. Y., J. E. Force, M. S. Carroll, and W. J. McLaughlin. 1993. Forest places of the heart. J. Forestry 91:32-37

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Last revision January 17, 2000.