The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is updating its rules around how and when visitors may be excluded from state parks. A committee of lawyers, mental health professionals and park staff has been developing the update over the last few months. The updated rules specify that any behavior that endangers the safety of visitors, staff or park resources qualifies for an exclusion. They also lay out how long a visitor may be excluded based on those behaviors and the appeals process for visitors who feel they’ve been unfairly excluded. Public comment on the update is now open and will close Nov. 3. 

Chris Havel is the deputy director and a spokesperson for the OPRD. He joins us with more details on the proposed update.