Five things to know about Oregon's outdoor smoking ban

The saga of the outdoor smoking ban at Oregon state parks is about to wrap up.

During the past year and a half, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has studied two rules that restrict how smokers of tobacco products can use the state's 286 parks along with all 362 miles of Oregon Coast beach.

Few issues have been as polarizing for the department. Among detractors, the department has been called everything from a nanny-state enforcer to a rogue branch of tyrannical government on par with Nazis. Among supporters, the department is taking logical steps to ban a toxic poison with no place on our public lands.

As always, the reality is less explosive. Here are five things to know about the smoking ban.

1. State parks: Smoking cigarettes is illegal everywhere within state parks except personal vehicles and developed overnight camping areas. That means trails, picnic areas and any other public space is now smoke-free. While park rangers are likely to issue a warning to first-time offenders, beginning in 2015 the fine for breaking the rule could reach $60 and $110. This rule was approved by the OPRD Commission in February.

2. Oregon beaches: OPRD will not adopt a rule that would outlaw smoking on all 362 miles of the Oregon Coast beach. The Commission will make a final decision at its meeting Nov. 19 in Astoria. The department said enforcing a ban on such a large area would be difficult and that it would be better served starting with an educational campaign to encourage smokers to not litter on beaches.

However, OPRD will revisit the rule in two years. If staffers believe there is still a major problem with cigarette litter, they may take up the rule again.

3. Role of public comments: OPRD has said that the public's input has been a major factor in driving the decision-making process on where to ban smoking and where to leave well enough alone.

The numbers bear that out … sort of. The Statesman Journal filed public records request for a breakdown of all public comments on this issue, and the results mostly back up the assertion.

The first rule, banning smoking at outdoor areas within state parks, was supported by public comments 80-55. The commission thus approved the rule.

The second rule, which would have banned smoking on all 362 miles of Oregon Coast beach, was also supported by the public but by a thinner margin of 178-166.

That thin margin, along with the much higher degree of difficulty in enforcing the rule on the wide swaths of beach, was the reason OPRD said it wouldn't recommend the rule banning smoking the beaches.

4. Trash and secondhand smoke: The two main reasons OPRD gave for the smoking ban was the health danger of secondhand smoke and the proliferation of litter from cigarette butts.

The first claim has always been a tough sell because, in the outdoors and especially on the Oregon Coast, secondhand smoke is much less noticeable than inside a restaurant, for example.

The second claim carried a little more weight because beach clean-ups always turn up a large amount of cigarette butts, and the butts do have chemicals that make them bad for wildlife and the ecosystem.

Even so, critics pointed out, plenty of trash can be found on the beach in the form of sandwich wrappers and beer bottles, and OPRD isn't trying to ban either of those.

That argument appears to have picked up some traction, because while the department won't implement a smoking ban on the beaches, it will spend $50,000 over the next two years in an educational effort to reduce trash on the beaches.

The effort is likely to include placing signs that emphasize picking up trash and adding literature to agency websites and publications, along with installing more cigarette-friendly trash receptacles.

5. Lessons on rulemaking: If there is one lesson to take away from the smoking ban episode it is this: get involved.

All that's required to get your comment on the record is writing an email, sending a letter or showing up to a meeting.

Despite editorials in newspapers and comments on social media to the contrary, OPRD does pay close attention to the feedback they get during the public comment period.

"We don't walk into this process thinking we know what's right," Havel said. "Our job is to be good stewards of the process. We don't direct it toward one particular outcome."

Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for six years. He is the author of the book "Hiking Southern Oregon" and can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Facebook at Zach's Oregon Outdoors or @ZachsORoutdoors on Twitter.