Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/19/1994 09:03 AM Senate CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS brought HB 259 (title am) (LAND GRANT FOR LAKE & PENINSULA BOROUGH) before the committee as the next order of business. KAREN BRAND, staff to Representative Carl Moses, explained the legislation statutorily authorizes 187,000 acres as an entitlement for the Lake and Peninsula Borough (LPB), and it gives the LPB until October 1, 1996 to select those lands. The 187,000 acre figure represents a little less than three percent of the total state lands within the borough. The borough assembly and planning commission have developed a comprehensive borough plan and have identified certain lands of interest to them. Since there is very little land available from Vacant, Unappropriated, and Unreserved (VUU) inventories, and because other state lands would need reclassification before issuance of grant land to the LPB, pursuing entitlements through the formula in AS 29.65.030 would delay the certification process for the LPB. Ms. Brand said the formula in Title 29 that determines land entitlements for newly formed boroughs has not been an effective tool for the department in calculating that number. DNR has instead encouraged boroughs to work with their planning commissions and then come to the department and work with them in either reclassifying the lands and reconveying them or selecting other lands. HB 259 would raise the priority for processing grant land entitlements for the LPB, and it does not apply to any other boroughs or municipalities. Number 348 SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS announced that testimony on HB 259 would be taken over the teleconference network. JEFF PARKER, representing the Anchorage Fish & Game Advisory Committee and testifying from Anchorage, urged that HB 259 be held in committee for additional hearings, and he also suggested it be referred to the Senate Resources Committee. He advised that he would be submitting a petition of 430 signatures opposing HB 259. Their primary concern is that there are many types of changes coming at the Bristol Bay drainages, not only from the LPB interests, but also from a prospective new borough, the university lands bill, the Mental Health Lands settlement, etc. They believe the public should have the opportunity to see what the final land ownership pattern is going to look like when these various entities settle upon their lands. HB 259 is like piecemeal decision making as to what the final land ownership pattern is going to be. Number 413 ALICE RUBY, a council member for the City of Dillingham testifying on behalf of the Bristol Bay CRSA Board from Dillingham, stated opposition to HB 259. They just recently became aware of the legislation, as well as some of the other tracts the LPB has identified for selection. She said it takes time to get the word out to the villages in their area so that they have the opportunity to understand the issues surrounding the bill and to make their concerns known to the Legislature. She voiced concern that language in the bill provides the LPB with a great deal of selectable acreage. She requested the committee delay passage of the legislation so that more information can be provided to the committee, and to have other agencies address the committee about other concerns in the region. Number 460 TERRY HOEFFERLE, an executive officer for the Bristol Bay Native Association testifying from Dillingham, said the association has as members approximately 90 percent of the 1,700 people that reside in the Lake and Peninsula Borough. He said he was asked to testify by a Native allotment holder who has a Native allotment within the boundaries of the Lake and Peninsula Borough. The individual was alarmed to find out that this particular piece of legislation even existed, and is concerned about the possible impact that it might have upon the future value and his continued use and enjoyment of his Native allotment. He pointed out that there are over 466 of such Native allotment parcels within the LPB. Mr. Hoefferle requested that the bill be held over until another legislative session, and that the LPB be encouraged to hold public hearings informing various interested members of their community about the purpose and intent of the bill. Number 497 ANGELA GERKEN, representing Iliaska Lodge and testifying from Homer, voiced her concern that the LPB plans to lease lands for new lodges and development. She noted the Lake and Peninsula Borough started out as a school district, and in the last five years they have pushed to become more than that, and the land grant issue would give them a huge power base. She suggested that the legislation needs to be looked at closely to see if it will benefit the residents of the borough. Number 535 TED GERKEN, owner and operator of the Iliaska Lodge at Lake Iliamna for 18 years, stated the land grant to the LPB looks like one of the largest land grants attempted in the State of Alaska by a borough that has been in existence for a few years, and he added they really don't even need a borough there. They spend a lot of money in taxes to maintain the operation of the borough and they receive absolutely no benefits. He said there are already too many lodges in the area, and, if the LPB wants to lease out more land to put in more lodges, everybody is going to lose by this effort because there is limit to the resource that they are fishing for. There needs to be a reasonable balance. Number 555 KEITH HARSH, a concerned citizen testifying from Kenai, agreed with comments by the previous speakers and also voiced concern that the general public has not been aware of the existence of HB 259. Number 565 JERRY LIBOFF, Vice Chair of the Bristol Bay CRSA Board, testifying from Dillingham, also urged delaying passage of HB 259 and to give more opportunity for public hearings, specifically in the villages in the borough that will be impacted by this decision. He said no one in any of these villages had any idea that this was being proposed. Number 580 SENATOR TAYLOR asked how much privately owned ANSCA land exists in and around the area being discussed. JERRY LIBOFF answered that he would guess there is probably close to 500,000 acres of corporation land. TAPE 94-29, SIDE B Number 012 SYLVIA CASSIDY of Homer and representing the Alaska Environmental Lobby, stated the Alaska Environmental Lobby has two major concerns about the consequences of HB 259: (1) it is an excessively large land grant and it would be a precedent for other boroughs that incorporate in the future; the LPB request is disproportionate to entitlements received by other boroughs on a per capita basis; and (2) the state should retain control of and protect unique irreplaceable resources when it is in the best interest of the state and the public to do so. The LPB land selections are very high public interest land with most of the parcels identified being classified as wildlife habitat and wildlife habitat is not available for borough selection under current regulations. Ms. Cassidy said the Environmental Lobby would be more comfortable if HB 259 were amended to prohibit boroughs from receiving any lands identified as important fish and wildlife habitat and/or important public resource lands. However, their organization is opposed to excessive transfer of land to a borough, excessive in terms of what has been done with other boroughs which is basically 10 percent of VUU lands. Number 133 RON SWANSON, Director, Division of Land, Department of Natural Resources, said he has worked with municipalities and boroughs for several years in trying to figure out what the best way to come up with entitlement is. The straight formula of 10 percent Vacant, Unappropriated and Unreserved is probably not fair for every particular borough. LPB approached Mr. Swanson for a way to figure out what their entitlement should be, and he told them that under the current statute it would be 11,000 acres. The borough originally identified about 200,000 acres they wanted to select, the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Fish & Game reviewed the selections, and the departments concur with about 100,000 to 125,000 acres of those selections, but they have concerns with the rest. Mr. Swanson said he has never been able to find a formula that works for every municipality. Further, he knows that this is a very political process, but he thinks it is one that should be more open to the public where they can work with their local municipality and the state to figure out what type of land and for what purposes it could be used. He added that the selections made by the LPB are definitely economic related, mainly recreational parcels of land and some mineral potential lands where they could raise revenue down the road. Number 162 SENATOR ADAMS asked Mr. Swanson if he was advancing the concept of legislation for each borough with the allocated amount of whatever land the Legislature feels it should give each one rather than having 10 percent of VUUs as proposed in SB 375. RON SWANSON acknowledged that was correct. He believes it is much better for the state, for the administration, and the local municipality to come in and present their case and let the Legislature set the policy for what they feel the entitlement should be and for what type of purposes. Number 175 Responding to a question from Senator Taylor concerning wildlife habitat, Mr. Swanson clarified under the definition of "Vacant, Unappropriated, Unreserved" in statute, wildlife habitat would not be considered as part of figuring the formula, although municipalities can select wildlife habitat land and would then go through a public process to see if it's appropriate to change the classification. He said that is exactly what would have to happen with the Lake and Penn Borough. Number 210 SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS asked if the Department of Natural Resources has a position on HB 259 and Mr. Swanson answered that they support the bill in concept, but leave it up to the Legislature to figure out what the entitlement should be. Number 225 FRANK RUE, Director, Habitat & Restoration Division, Department of Fish and Game, said, basically, the issue of whether this is the appropriate number of acres is a concern the department would have, but they leave it up to the Legislature to decide what is fair in looking at all of the other boroughs. He expressed the department's appreciation for the willingness of the LPB to discuss the lands they would be interested in once they got an entitlement. The areas of concern to the department have been along the Mulchatna River and Talarik Creek. There concern has been that those two areas remain in state ownership for public use, commercial recreation, public recreation and public use subsistence. Mr. Rue related that Fish and Game has been working with DNR and borough to define lands which meet the needs of the borough. He said it is important that the process for selecting the actual lands be the one that is laid out now in statute: DNR will go back out to the communities once an entitlement is established and work with the borough and the local communities to figure which lands are actually going to be selected, and the public would have the opportunity to comment on any changes. Mr. Rue briefly discussed the department's concern with the selection of land along the entire Mulchatna River corridor. Number 350 SENATOR LEMAN requested that the committee be provided with a map identifying these lands, the conflict areas, and what is suggested for appropriation. Number 365 BRUCE GERAGHTY, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Community & Regional Affairs, stated the department's support for HB 259, as well as the approach to providing entitlements to new boroughs in this manner. Many of DNR's land planning processes occurred prior to the formation of boroughs, and this has restricted the availability of land to municipalities, boroughs in particular, to generate revenues which provide services to the residents of that area. DCRA believes that local governments often serve the people more adequately than does a government at a distance. Number 386 SENATOR ZHAROFF asked if this process of municipal land selection would it have priority over Mental Health Lands. RON SWANSON answered that the Mental Health legislation, which is currently pending in both houses, has a designated land list. So, if that legislation passes, they will know what the Mental Health Lands will be. Number 460 LAMAR COTTEN, representing the Lake and Peninsula Borough, explained to the committee the two-year planning process the borough conducted in selecting the 187,000 acres of land. One of the chief components of the planning process was trying to look ahead to where they were going to fund programs that are, for the most part, subsidized or paid for by the State of Alaska. Through that process they identified lands and narrowed it down to the 187,000 acres. Mr. Cotten said the borough's discussion to date has been that the principal use of the land would be for commercial recreation since that is the most likely buyer or user of the property. The LPB has agreed to public access to the property that they would own; they would allow for shoreline easements, etc. Mr. Cotten said there has been a lot of public input by the residents of the borough, and the borough has responded to some of their concerns. Speaking to a dispute that villages north of Lake and Penn had with the LPB when it was first organized, Mr. Cotten said the LPB has no interest in selecting any lands in that area until that court case is resolved. Mr. Cotten pointed out that even if this legislation passes, the borough, along with DNR, has to go through a series of public hearings for any land that they select, so the public has not been, nor will it be left out in the process. Concluding his comments, Mr. Cotten said he believes HB 259 is a good piece of legislation, not only for the Lake and Penn Borough, but that it sets a good precedent for future boroughs. TAPE 94-30, SIDE A Number 001 Mr. Cotten responded to several questions from witnesses relating to the public hearing process; studies of prospective new lodge sites; and public access along anadromous waterways. SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS closed the public hearing on HB 259 and stated it would be back before the committee at its next meeting on Thursday, April 21.
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