Glossary
This is a basic glossary only and is not intended to be a comprehensive or legal definition of the terms.

buffer zone
a strip of land, as a park or similar use, that separates lands of different use (e.g., residential from commercial)

easement
the right to use part of the land owned by another for a specific use, such as right-of-ways or utilities

ecosystem
the balance of nature, developed over thousands of years, made up of a community of animals, plants, and bacteria interrelated with climate and geography.

Ecosystems include such things as food chains and natural resistance.

EQIP
Environmental Quality Incentives Program

OCC
Acronym for Oklahoma Conservation Commission.

ODWC
Acronym for Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

riparian
derived from the Latin ripa, meaning riverbank; the interface between land and stream. A riparian buffer is a vegetative strip along a stream, usually forested, which helps protect a stream from impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a significant role in increasing water quality by filtering sediment, nutrients, pesticides, and other ecological hazards from surface run-off before it enters the stream. Riparian buffers also stabilize the stream bank, which prevents excessive erosion that causes the stream to become wide and shallow. They also serve as habitat and wildlife corridors in primarily agricultural areas.

SCAC
Acronym for Spring Creek Angling Club.

SCC
Acronym for Spring Creek Coalition.

SCCC
Acronym for Spring Creek Conservation Coalition., SCC's legislative, electoral and political arm

USFWS
Acronym for United States Fish & Wildlife Service.

watershed
Everyone lives in a watershed. A watershed is the land that water flows across or under on its way to a stream, river, or lake.

All water runs to the lowest point. On its way, water travels over the surface across fields, forestland, lawns, and roads. It also seeps into the soil and travels as ground water.

A farm pond, and the land which surrounds and drains into it, is a small example of a watershed. The Spring Creek watershed drains 117,760 acres into Spring Creek.

zoning
an execution of police power by a municipality to regulate the use of a property