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Guidelines for final formatting and submission of subbasin plans

December 2003

[This guide is intended primarily for writers/editors who will be submitting final subbasin plans to the Council.]
 

The Council will receive more than 50 subbasin plans on May 28, 2004. It is the Council's goal to distribute the plans for ISRP and public review as quickly as possible to facilitate the review and adoption process. The ISRP plans to complete its review by the end of July, and the public comment period will last through the end of September. As the plans arrive, Council staff may be doing some minor reformatting for web/review suitability. For this reason, it is important that all plans are formatted and structured as consistently as possible. It isn't necessary to send publication-quality documents. We ask for standard word-processing document files with clean file formatting. Once adopted, we will format them in publication quality.

Please use the following guidelines for organizing, formatting, and delivering your plan:

Structure, outline and format

The three major sections of a subbasin plan include:

  • Assessment
  • Inventory
  • Management plan (see more detail on these sections)

Within each major section, use the following decimal outline and fonts for headings (no indenting):

1 First-level heading (Heading 1 ? 16 pt bold Arial/sans serif on 10% gray background)

1.1 Second-level heading (Heading 2 ? 14 pt bold Arial/sans serif)

1.1.1 Third-level heading (Heading 3 ? 13 pt bold Arial/sans serif)

Fourth-level or lower headings can use bold, italic, or underlined Times Roman, indented or not, outline numbering optional. Reason: Users of the plan need to easily reference sections, like ?Assessment section 2.5.1?

Font: Use primarily 12-point Times New Roman for body text. For number-heavy tables, use a sans-serif font like Arial.

Numbering pages, figures and tables:  Page numbers at bottom center of each page either consecutively through the entire plan, or by major section. Number all figures and tables.

Include a Table of Contents.

Executive summary

An Executive Summary of your plan is suggested but not required. If preparing multiple Executive Summaries for different audiences, please submit to the Council the one that is most appropriate for the Council and ISRP. An Executive Summary can provide reviewers with an overview of the major influences and findings of your plan. This is an appropriate place to describe the key social, economic, physical and biological influences in the process; the players, the limitations, the successes and results.

Section overviews

Provide an overview or summary for each plan component  (assessment, inventory and management plan), either separately, or within the management plan section.

File formats and sizes

Provide at least one paper copy of the entire plan; single-spaced and either single- or double-sided.

Also provide the entire plan on a CD, including any available referenced materials.

Files to put on the CD:

  • Major sections of planning documents in original format (Word, InDesign, etc.) as individual files (i.e. Assessment.doc, Inventory.doc?). No limit on file sizes.
  • Adobe PDF files (if used) should not exceed 10mb in size. Some major sections may need to be split into multiple PDF files to limit file sizes. See the Clearwater Plan for an example. Please name PDF files clearly so the organization is obvious (like assessment01.pdf, assessment02.pdf.
    • Any documents linked electronically to from the main documents, unless they're already available on the web. When including linked materials, please double-check links on CDs to assure no broken electronic links.
    • Additional materials like GIS files, spreadsheets, databases, gray literature, etc. Please include descriptions about how they relate to the plan so web users browsing the plan's files will understand.  For example, a folder of GIS files should include a "read me" file describing the contents.

Delivery

Mail a paper copy of entire plan and CD of all documents by May 28, 2004 to:

Mark Walker, Director of Public Affairs
Northwest Power and Conservation Council
851 SW 6th Ave., Suite 1100
Portland, OR 97204

For more information about...

  • subbasin plan content (general) ? read the overview or the initial request for recommendations, or contact Lynn Palensky at 503-222-5161 or
  • state-specific guidance ? contact your state coordinator or click level 2 links at the left to access state-specific guides
  • technical support or further formatting questions ? contact Eric Schrepel at 503-820-2328 or