The Department’s Administrative Rules set forth guidelines for classifying lands into each subzone. This summary is drawn from the copy of the rules (§13-2-11 through §13-2-15) distributed to the public by the Office of Conservation and Environmental Affairs at the DLNR.
The General (G) subzone is to “designate open space where specific conservation uses may not be defined, but where urban use would be premature.”
Into the Limited (L) subzone fall lands where “natural conditions suggest constraints on human activities. According to the Rules, this subzone encompass (1) Land susceptible to floods and soil erosion…; (2) Lands necessary for the protection of the health and welfare of the public by reason of the land’s susceptibility to inundation by tsunami and flooding or to volcanic activity and landslides which incorporate a general slope of 40 percent or more.”
The Resource (R) subzone includes land valued for one or another type of resource, whether or not it is being used at present. Included are parklands, areas deemed suitable for logging, recreational sites, and submerged lands not in any other subzone.
The Special (SS) subzone is generally associated with educational institutions or historic or cultural sites.
Lands in the Protective (P) subzone encompass “restricted watersheds; marine, plant, wildlife sanctuaries, significant historic, archaeological, geological, volcano-logical features and sites; and other designated unique areas.”
The Rules set forth lists of activities that the Board may permit within each subzone. Activities are most restricted in the Protective subzone; least restricted in the General.
Within the Protective subzone the following uses or activities are allowed as permitted uses: research, recreational and educational uses that do not require a physical facility; marine, plant, and wildlife sanctuaries and the establishment of wilderness and scenic areas, restoration of archaeological sites; removal of noxious plants; fishing and hunting; monitoring of natural resources; “occasional use” (defined as infrequent use not to exceed seven days and causing no permanent change in the area where it occurs); and use by government agencies “where public benefit outweighs any impact on the conservation district.” All these activities are permitted in the Limited subzone plus the following emergency warning or telephone systems; flood, erosion, or siltation control projects and the growing and harvesting of forest products (including logging).
In the Resource subzone, permitted activities include everything allowed in the Limited and Protective subzones as well as aquaculture, artificial reefs and commercial fishing.
Permitted uses in the General subzone include everything that is permitted in the Limited, Resource and Protective subzones. Beyond that, one more use is added. “Development of water collection, pumping, storage, control and transmission. Residential use, it should be noted, is not on the list of permitted activities.
Volume 1, Number 3 September 1990