News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Sisters resident gave 30 years to Oregon Parks

Dave Talbot. photo by Tom Chace

For 30 years Dave Talbot served his state as director of the Oregon State Parks system.

Then he retired to Black Butte Ranch where he has found local fame as a playwright with three one-act comedies recently performed by the Black Butte Players.

"I had the best job in the entire state," he said. "I could go anywhere in Oregon and be at work in one of our 200 parks."

His was a political office -- appointed by the State Highway Commission, which was appointed by the governor.

He served as head of state parks under six governors

"Many are not aware that over half of Oregon is publicly owned," he said. "Much by the federal government but a tremendous amount by the State of Oregon.

"In my opinion, we have the most diverse and beautiful terrain of any state anywhere. We cover extreme desert conditions, majestic mountains, fishing and navigable rivers and incomparable ocean shores."

Before rest stops became popular and abundant on highways, Oregon pioneered the concept.

"Partly because the parks department was a part of the highway department, we were able to do unique things that required the cooperation of both," Talbot said.

"Of all the things that happened during my 30-year tenure," he said, "probably the most satisfying and rewarding, and the one with the greatest impact for the future, was when we were able to get legislative and judicial acknowledgment that the beaches are public land."

Talbot said that what kicked off this major turnaround was a motel owner at Cannon Beach who put up a fence in front of his establishment indicating that the beach there was private, "and he owned it."

The issue was private property versus public access.

He used pictures of the Cannon Beach motel to show what might happen in Oregon if public access was denied to the "public" beaches.

The legislature, under his tutelage, did pass a beach bill in 1967, just three years after he became parks director. The action wound its way through the courts to the Oregon Supreme Court, which offered a sweeping opinion that all Oregon beaches could be considered "public recreational land based on customary use."

It was a major victory for the people of Oregon, won in part by the tenacity of David Talbot.

It was Talbot who set up the statewide park and camp-ground reservation system "in the basement of a highway department building in Salem."

Under his watch, campgrounds were set up adjacent to many rest stop locations -- many of the sites he and his department were able to help the highway department select, build and improve.

Talbot lives in Black Butte Ranch with his wife, Lynn, an actress of some renown.

 

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