Legislature(2011 - 2012)BARNES 124
03/07/2011 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB97 | |
| HB106 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 97 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 106 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 97-EXTEND INVASIVE PLANTS LAW
1:04:47 PM
CO-CHAIR FEIGE announced that the first order of business is
HOUSE BILL NO. 97, "An Act extending a provision relating to
noxious weeds, invasive plants, and agricultural pest management
and education; providing for an effective date by repealing the
effective date of sec. 2, ch. 102, SLA 2008; and providing for
an effective date."
1:05:03 PM
JEANNE OSTNES, Staff, Representative Craig Johnson, Alaska State
Legislature, introduced HB 97 on behalf of Representative
Johnson, sponsor. She explained that the bill would delete the
sunset clause for a two-year-old position [Invasive Weeds and
Agricultural Pest Coordinator] in the Division of Agriculture,
Department of Natural Resources. She directed attention to a
document in the committee packet outlining the accomplishments
of this position, specifically pointing out that the person in
this position successfully applied for grants that brought in
funds in addition to those provided by the state for the
position. The two-year position was established by House Bill
330, which provided $80,000 for the position's paycheck to put
together a plan for the state.
MS. OSTNES pointed out that Alaska does not have much policy
dealing with invasive weeds. One project of this position was
to bring together a state plan, which is almost complete because
all of the public comment has happened. The letters of support
received by committee members are from many of the organizations
that deal with the land and people around Alaska, such as the
soil and water conservation districts and the Alaska Committee
on Noxious and Invasive Plant Management (CNIPM). A number of
people volunteer with these organizations to try to deal with
weeds in each of their specific areas. She drew attention to a
graph showing the timeline between an invasive species first
occurrence in an area and when it goes into its high growth
period. She related that most experts say Alaska is at the
bottom of the depicted S-curve and ready to go into the high
growth period.
1:08:29 PM
MS. OSTNES noted that a huge spurt in dandelions, white clover,
and hairy vetch occurred this last summer. This position will
bring together the people around the state dealing with weeds as
they appear and begin to cause problems. For example, an award
was given to a U.S. Coast Guard employee in Ketchikan who found
a gypsy moth egg mass at the top of a conning tower of a ship
that came in from Japan. She warned that gypsy moths coming
into the Tongass National Forest would definitely be an
agricultural pest.
MS. OSTNESS said one example of something the state must begin
worrying about is the Anchor River where an invasion of reed
canary grass has grown so much that now nothing can be done and
therefore smaller infestations must instead be dealt with first.
This position prioritizes, discusses policy, and tries to save
the state from spending a lot of money. For example, in 2007
the governor of Idaho requested $6 million to fight noxious
weeds in that state; $4 million to deal just with Eurasian
watermilfoil. She reminded members that Idaho is a state much
smaller state than Alaska with much less water. Because
invasives can be such a costly problem, this position will
hopefully save Alaska millions by trying to employ a rapid
response against those species that have invaded the state.
1:10:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER observed that the fiscal note is now
[$101,100 annually] and asked why the difference.
MS. OSTNES replied that this includes travel, supplies, and
contracts, such as for surveying areas.
REPRESENTATIVE DICK commented that he has heard nothing but good
about this program, but he has also heard that much of this
success is due to the dedication of the person currently holding
the job. He expressed his concern that if the sunset provision
is removed, a new person with less diligence might be hired
sometime in the future.
MS. OSTNES responded that the person in this position must be a
good coordinator. While she does not know what the department's
job description is for the position, she said she is sure there
would be a full vetting process should the current coordinator
decide to leave. She also offered her belief that the position
requires applicants to be Alaska residents.
1:12:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DICK cautioned that if government is going to be
grown, it must be done with a specific purpose and intent. He
expressed his fear that in 10 years there may not be the same
diligence, focus, and energy as there has been so far.
MS. OSTNES related that from her talks with the various
organizations and soil and water conservation districts around
the state that they could not have done the $1 million of work
without this coordinator. The state must at some point begin to
make policy decisions and this will not happen without someone
in this job. In the long run, she advised, spending $100,000
now will save millions later.
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ offered her support for the bill and asked
whether the costs for [weed management] projects initiated by
the coordinator are funded at the local level. In response to
Ms. Ostnes and Co-Chair Feige, Representative Munoz agreed to
ask this question of the coordinator, Gino Graziano, when he
testifies.
1:15:14 PM
CO-CHAIR FEIGE opened public testimony on HB 97.
DAVID LENDRUM, Owner, Landscape Alaska, noted that he is the
fifth generation of an agriculture family and that in addition
to his nursery and landscape contracting business he is the
landscape superintendent for the University of Alaska Southeast.
He confessed that when Mr. Graziano first visited him he was not
enthused because he was sure he would be told that some of the
plants he was selling and planting would be on the prohibited
list. However, he is now a wholehearted convert. Over the past
two years he has worked with people from the Committee for
Noxious and Invasive Plant Management (CNIPM) and has found that
their expertise and the size of the problem are much larger than
he ever imagined. As Alaska's climate changes, the plant
materials change, and the plants moving into the state now are
causing much more trouble than they would have 100 years ago.
1:17:23 PM
MR. LENDRUM explained that the biology of invasive species gives
them certain advantages, such as starting earlier or lasting
longer in the season or occupying niches that would not
otherwise be occupied by something else. Several species are
already nearly out of control; for example, sweet white clover
is displacing everything along rivers in the Fairbanks area and
is waist to chest high as far as the eye can see. Alaska is
still in a pretty good position, he continued, because invasive
plants must follow a highway system, too, in that they need a
way to be introduced and therefore much of Alaska has had
virtually no introduction. However, those areas that are prone
to infestation are vulnerable. While the coordinator position
addresses invasive plants, CNIPM addresses invasive plant,
marine, and insect species.
1:19:23 PM
MR. LENDRUM related that at a conference last year he learned
that invasive underwater plants that have never before been seen
in Alaska are spreading in the state's harbor areas and there
are no control measures. These types of things are what need
work and prohibition, he advised. Regarding Representative
Dick's questions, he said he has been overwhelmed by the depth
of dedication not just from Mr. Graziano, but throughout the
whole [CNIPM] organization. The people involved have taken it
up with a fervor that is not normally seen. It has become a
calling for many of these people who are from all age groups,
economic standards, and lifestyles, and he is impressed.
1:20:30 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER commented that some of this sounds
terrifying and asked what chance does the state have.
MR. LENDRUM replied that this is the only thing; the state must
get going now. He grew up in California where most of the
native habitat has been overcome by European invaders; most of
the plants now seen in California's wild landscape are non-
natives that have taken the place of the species that were there
before. He allowed there are some invaders that might not be
stopped, but advised that the focus needs to be on early
detection and rapid response to the first invaders while their
numbers are small.
1:21:59 PM
FRANCI HAVEMEISTER, Director, Central Office, Division of
Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said she is
present to answer questions, but noted that this successful
program has been housed within the Division of Agriculture for
just under three years.
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI inquired why control of underwater
invasive plants is not done under the Division of Agriculture.
MS. HAVEMEISTER deferred to Mr. Graziano.
GINO GRAZIANO, Natural Resource Specialist, [Invasive Weeds and
Agricultural Pest Coordinator], Division of Agriculture,
Department of Natural Resources (DNR), replied that determining
whether management of submerged aquatic invasive species belongs
to the Division of Agriculture or the Alaska Department of Fish
& Game is ongoing. Within DNR he has not yet heard an attorney
general's opinion, but he has heard some folks mention that DNR
manages the substrate of a river bed and therefore it would fall
to the Division of Agriculture working with lands. Others point
out that the harvest of seaweed is managed by the Alaska
Department of Fish & Game and therefore management of aquatic
invasives is the purview of ADF&G. Beyond that, the general
consensus that he gets is that it is probably a DNR issue.
1:24:13 PM
JANICE CHUMLEY, Cooperative Extension Service, University of
Alaska Fairbanks, informed members that throughout the years
when invasive plants in the state were being noted as a growing
menace to Alaska's wildlife habitat, fisheries, and agriculture,
the one sticking point was that there was no point person
through the Division of Agriculture to coordinate all of those
activities and, therefore, efforts were splintered. She said
she supports continuation of this position, regardless of who
might hold it in the future, because it is important to have
someone coordinating statewide efforts for addressing these
invasive species. Without one person coordinating things, all
the efforts will be splintered and nothing will proceed. Alaska
still has the ability to contain or eradicate some of the
invasive species within the state and efforts really need to be
taken to make that happen.
1:25:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ asked how a specific project is identified
and what is involved in coordinating with communities.
MR. GRAZIANO responded that typically a community will form a
cooperative weed management area (CWMA), getting interested
organizations and individuals involved in invasive species
management and bringing to the table the Department of Natural
Resources, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, and
federal and municipal land managers. He helps the groups get
organized, identify projects, and find funding for the projects.
For example, Fairbanks has a cooperative weed management area
led by the soil and water conservation district. One of the
area's members found the common waterweed, Elodea canadensis, so
he joined their meetings to start addressing the weed and
develop strategies for finding funds to do more surveying and
management of that weed.
1:27:25 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ inquired whether Juneau's problem with
Japanese knotweed has been brought to Mr. Graziano's attention.
MR. GRAZIANO answered yes; he has been working with the Juneau
management area through the Juneau Watershed Partnership. The
partnership has been doing what it can by removing the weed, but
Japanese knotweed is a very entrenched species in Southeast
Alaska. Additionally, he has had a lot of correspondence with
the Department of Transportation & Public Facilities,
particularly when the department is doing construction projects
in areas that have Japanese knotweed, in which case he consults
with them on how to deal with it.
1:29:05 PM
BRYCE WRIGLEY, Farmer, testified that he raises about 1,000
acres per year of barley and wheat. Over the years he has
watched invasive weeds move into the state that represent a
direct threat to his ability to provide a sellable product in
the Alaska market. After Canada thistle was discovered in a
local field, the Cooperative Extension Service and the Delta
Farm Bureau coordinated an effort to eradicate the weed before
it could spread. Later, the soil and water conservation
district took over the noxious weed effort in this area. It
took 18 years to eradicate that patch of Canada thistle and
there has not been any in the area for the past 13 years.
MR. WRIGLEY expressed his concern as a producer that Alaska is
doing too little to address this problem while it is in its
infancy. Once this window of opportunity for controlling the
spread of invasive plants closes, it will never again be as
cheap or as easy to address the problem as it is right now. It
is his opinion that the solution is a long-term commitment by
the state to manage invasive species, beginning with a point
man, and HB 97 addresses the sunset of this position. The
purpose of House Bill 330 was to hire a coordinator to develop a
statewide weed plan, which is necessary to bring in federal
dollars for weed management in Alaska. He drew attention to a
report by Mr. Graziano that states a federal grant of $80,000
had to be returned because there were no matching funds for that
grant. If the state does not pay to address this issue now, it
will most definitely be paying for it later, he advised.
MR. WRIGLEY suggested that in addition to removing the sunset
for the coordinator's position, the committee also include in HB
97 a mechanism to match federal dollars so that the investment
by the state can be maximized. Without an effective weed
management plan for the state, the cost to Alaska farmers will
continue to increase and the cost to the state will increase
exponentially. More needs to be done in Alaska to address this
problem. He urged that the coordinator's position be funded,
the sunset clause removed, and a mechanism provided for
utilizing federal grants.
1:32:31 PM
LORI ZAUMSEIL informed members that she and her husband Troy
were the people who found a Canada thistle growing in a plant
that they had purchased from a local box store. They began
investigating this, and with the help of the Cooperative
Extension Service learned just how noxious and invasive Canada
thistle is. When no satisfactory response came from the store
as far up as its corporate level, they contacted the Division of
Agriculture only to find that there was no one to take their
report about something so serious and they were subsequently
passed all the way to the division's director. She further
found that in Anchorage, all of the federal agencies in the U.S.
Department of Interior had a person working on this issue, but
the State of Alaska had no one and the Municipality of Anchorage
had no one. Even to an amateur it was obvious that multiple
people spinning in individual orbits were not going to
accomplish anything positive enough to handle this problem. So
creating a position to advocate for the State of Alaska seemed
like an incredibly important thing to do to bring the state into
the battle so it was not just a battlefield to be overrun.
1:34:36 PM
MS. ZAUMSEIL related that when Representative Johnson responded
to her and Troy in 2007, they committed to doing everything they
could to make their fellow property owners and taxpayers
understand that spending $1 now would save $100 later. This is
an issue that will grow exponentially and is growing even with
effort. If momentum is lost from losing this position, it will
be so costly to everybody in Alaska, from salmon fishermen to
property owners to farmers. As a result of their involvement in
Alaska, she and Troy have been invited to speak all over the
country and they have found that all eyes are on Alaska. People
in other states with budgets of tens of millions of dollars and
with agricultural losses in the tens of millions of dollars,
have told her that Alaska is where their state was 20 or 30
years ago and they wish they had not waited to deal with the
problem. She understands Representative Gardner's position
about being terrified because that is exactly how she and Troy
felt. She urged the continuation of the coordinator's position
because it is important and matters on so many levels.
1:36:29 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER commented that she would not know a
Canada thistle and would therefore not be alarmed about
something growing in a plant pot.
MS. ZAUMSEIL answered that she and Troy came across a pocket-
sized weed guide that talked about invasive plants in Alaska,
which was a totally foreign concept to them. However, they
paged through the guide anyway. A month later they found a
Canada thistle growing in their backyard in Anchorage, which
heightened their awareness. The next spring while purchasing
garden starts at a retail box store in Anchorage they found a
Canada thistle growing in a pot. They had an inkling that this
was a bad thing, so to be certain they took it to the
Cooperative Extension Service to have it identified. She then
"googled" it on the Internet and in 30 minutes she was pretty
mad and in 60 minutes she was an activist.
1:38:26 PM
MS. ZAUMSEIL addressed what local citizens can do, noting that
she and her husband have no science background and hold full-
time jobs. However, because they recognized the seriousness of
this, they created their own nonprofit Cooperative Weed
Management Area (CWMA) in Anchorage, and dedicated a lot of time
for about three years. A concerned citizen with a voice and a
passion can really accomplish something and this particular
issue is a good example of that. She informed members that
federal legislation was introduced by U.S. Senator Harry Reid,
and at her and Troy's request this legislation was co-sponsored
by Senators Begich and Murkowski. They also asked Congressman
Don Young to introduce a companion bill, which he did the day
after Senator Reid's bill was introduced. This demonstrates how
much impact a citizen can have on the process.
1:40:30 PM
BLAINE SPELLMAN, Alaska Association of Conservation Districts,
said his organization wrote a letter of support for HB 97 and he
is willing to answer any questions about how the Division of
Agriculture's program has benefitted his group's efforts in
managing invasive plants around the state.
CO-CHAIR FEIGE asked Mr. Blaine Spellman about how effective the
coordinator position has been in terms of actual coordination.
MR. SPELLMAN replied that the soil and water conservation
districts have been managing invasive plants for a very long
time and, as pointed out by Ms. Chumley, it was oftentimes an
uncoordinated effort done by various groups in complete
isolation of one another. Having a state coordinator has been
exceptionally important because it has unified all the
nonprofits and the soil and water conservation districts into
one team working with the state. He said he feels that the
position and the strategic plan developed by the Division of
Agriculture have been very valuable.
1:42:25 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 1:42 p.m. to 1:43 p.m.
1:43:43 PM
CO-CHAIR FEIGE closed public testimony on HB 97 after
ascertaining that no one else wished to testify.
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON commented that Dave Cannon, a local area
coordinator, gave him a presentation on this issue and it is
surprising how much is unknown about invasive species. Pretty,
non-native flowers that people want to grow can be disastrous.
The legislature needs to think about creating an Alaska seed
bank or creating more of a seed bank, like the global seed bank
in Norway, and should consider a seed vault so that native plant
species can be saved for the future.
1:45:13 PM
CO-CHAIR SEATON moved to report HB 97 out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes.
There being no objection, HB 97 was reported from the House
Resources Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HRES 3.7.11 HB 97 Extend Invasive Plants Law.PDF |
HRES 3/7/2011 1:00:00 PM SFIN 4/16/2011 10:00:00 AM |
HB 97 |
| HRES 3.7.11 HB 106 Coastal Management Program.PDF |
HRES 3/7/2011 1:00:00 PM HRES 3/16/2011 1:00:00 PM HRES 3/18/2011 1:00:00 PM HRES 3/28/2011 1:00:00 PM HRES 3/30/2011 1:00:00 PM |
HB 106 |
| ACMP Final Evaluation June 2008.pdf |
HRES 3/7/2011 1:00:00 PM |
|
| HRES 3.7.11 DNR Response to Rep. Foster-Herron Letter.PDF |
HRES 3/7/2011 1:00:00 PM |
|
| LB&A ACMP Audit Report Part 1.pdf |
HRES 3/7/2011 1:00:00 PM |
|
| LB&A ACMP Audit Report Part 2.pdf |
HRES 3/7/2011 1:00:00 PM |
|
| HRES 3.7.11 HB97 Perception of an Invasive Species.PDF |
HRES 3/7/2011 1:00:00 PM SFIN 4/16/2011 10:00:00 AM |
HB 97 |
| HRES 3.7.11 HB97 Report on AK Invasive Plant Project.pdf |
HRES 3/7/2011 1:00:00 PM SFIN 4/16/2011 10:00:00 AM |
HB 97 |