02/06/1995 08:08 AM House RES

 HRES - 02/06/95                                                               
 HB 121 - SALVAGE TIMBER SALES                                               
                                                                               
 SARA HANNAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL LOBBY, stated           
 she is a property owner in Cooper Landing and over the past 30                
 years has seen the devastation the spruce bark beetle brings to               
 forests.  As a property owner, she has concerns about fire and                
 timber damage and how the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has           
 managed the dying timber in Southcentral Alaska.                              
                                                                               
 MS. HANNAN stressed there are two things HB 121 does not do which             
 it needs to do.  She stated HB 121 needs to address salvage timber            
 that is dead or dying trees.  She noted the intention of HB 121 is            
 to address the dead and dying timber in Southcentral and Northern             
 Alaska but HB 121 does not limit it to that.  HB 121, as written,             
 opens up any negotiated sale to 25 years.  She pointed out if the             
 state waits 25 years to address the beetle problem in Southcentral            
 Alaska, the next cycle of beetle kill will have already begun.                
 Beetles are not brought on by current suppression techniques but              
 rather are brought on as a natural cycle in a normal forest of                
 uniform age.  She added the spruce bark beetle thrives in a forest            
 that has a uniform age and the beetle corridor follows the road               
 corridor, which is an area which was harvested approximately seven            
 years ago.                                                                    
                                                                               
 MS. HANNAN said it is important now to address what the ongoing               
 problem is from a legislative perspective.  She stated she was                
 outraged to hear DNR say it does have a tool to manage harvesting             
 if the harvesting could happen within 366 days but there was not a            
 tool available if the harvest was going to take 367 days, and that            
 a five year sale is too long to negotiate, and a one year sale is             
 too short.  She felt it was an outrageous problem but is not a                
 statutory problem.  She said the current management available to              
 DNR allows for them, the regional managers, the borough, and                  
 private land owners to negotiate sales to harvest spruce bark                 
 beetle kill, fire threatened timber anywhere in the state which               
 needs harvesting.                                                             
                                                                               
 MS. HANNAN noted the morning's Anchorage Daily News talked about              
 habitat concerns on the Kenai.  She said the area wildlife                    
 biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) said             
 the current timber sale harvest rates on the Kenai Peninsula are              
 going to, in the next couple of years, provide a crisis in habitat            
 management for big game.  She wondered if a situation is going to             
 be created where the bear corridor is going to be driven back into            
 the resident population because the only trees left standing are              
 those on private property.  She urged committee members to look               
 cautiously at the future of a complicated ecosystem and not to                
 respond to people's concerns when a timber company has not been               
 able to negotiate a timber sale they desire.  She pointed out there           
 are a lot of timber harvesters who are currently cutting trees on             
 Southcentral Peninsula where the beetle infestation is the biggest.           
 She stressed it is not necessary for a statutory change to                    
 accomplish the intent of HB 121 which is to salvage dead and dying            
 trees.                                                                        
                                                                               
 Number 068                                                                    
                                                                               
 JACK PHELPS, AIDE, REPRESENTATIVE BILL WILLIAMS, PRIME SPONSOR,               
 stated HB 121 addresses a problem in the state and specifically               
 allows the state to begin the public process of examining timber              
 sales, under the circumstances described, more quickly than it                
 currently can.  Currently, the state is required to list those                
 timber sales in two five-year schedules, meaning there is a minimum           
 of 24 months of scheduling before the sales can begin.  He felt it            
 was important for the committee to note that HB 121 does not set              
 aside any of the requirements of the Forest Practices Act (FPA) in            
 terms of how the timber is harvested.  He said it was also                    
 important for the committee to note that HB 121 does not set aside            
 any public comments.  He pointed out that HB 121 does require a               
 time for both agency and municipal comment, as well as public                 
 comment before the state goes forward.                                        
                                                                               
 MR. PHELPS explained the second section of HB 121 adds an                     
 additional element to those situations in which the state can                 
 negotiate a sale.  He noted that these negotiated sales are                   
 currently in statute and require all three of the elements listed             
 on page 2, lines 2-4, before a salvage sale can go forward.  He               
 stated what HB 121 adds to that requirement is the timber which is            
 being referred to as salvageable.  He pointed out the provisions of           
 HB 121 are in harmony with current regulations that indicate when             
 there is timber endangered by insects or disease epidemics, it                
 should be harvested quickly                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE PETE KOTT stated based on testimony he heard, there            
 are a lot of positives to be gained by HB 121.                                
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE KOTT made a MOTION to MOVE HB 121 out of committee             
 with individual recommendations.                                              
                                                                               
 CO-CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS asked if there were any objections.  Hearing             
 none, the MOTION PASSED.