The legislature hereby finds that many rivers of this state, with their immediate environs, possess outstanding natural, scenic, historic, ecological, and recreational values of present and future benefit to the public. The legislature further finds that the policy of permitting the construction of dams and other impoundment facilities at appropriate sections of the rivers of this state needs to be complemented by a policy that would protect and preserve the natural character of such rivers and fulfill other conservation purposes. It is hereby declared to be the policy of this state that certain selected rivers of the state which, with their immediate environs, possess the aforementioned characteristics, shall be preserved in as natural a condition as practical and that overuse of such rivers, which tends to downgrade their natural condition, shall be discouraged.

The purpose of this chapter is to establish a program for managing publicly owned land on rivers included in the state's scenic river system, to indicate the river segments to be initially included in that system, to prescribe a procedure for adding additional components to the system, and to protect the rights of private property owners.