Analyzing Planning Factors for Characterization of Okanogan County’s Shorelines

The Okanogan Regional SMP is based on inventories and evaluations of biophysical and human influences. This report described the use of technical information that pertains to man-made patterns across the landscape that shape the overall shoreline uses. Referred to here as planning factors, these influences provide information that can be used to inform future development decisions as well as explain why or how certain shoreline conditions have occurred. A separate report, the Okanogan County Shoreline Ecological Characterization (Appendix A) written by ENTRIX, Inc. (“ENTRIX”), discusses the use of biophysical data and the influence of science factors. By integrating the planning factors with the science factors an overall picture of the shorelines can be created. The characterization provided in Chapter 4 for each shoreline zone reflects the accumulation of science and planning factors across multiple analysis units. The characterization was used to assign shoreline environment designations. The designation process is described in Chapter 10: Shoreline Environment Designations in the SMP.