Legislature(2017 - 2018)BARNES 124
01/18/2017 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
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| Overview: Department of Natural Resources | |
| Adjourn |
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
January 18, 2017
1:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Andy Josephson, Co-Chair
Representative Geran Tarr, Co-Chair
Representative Dean Westlake, Vice Chair
Representative Harriet Drummond
Representative Justin Parish
Representative Chris Birch
Representative DeLena Johnson
Representative George Rauscher
Representative David Talerico
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Chris Tuck (alternate)
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
ANDREW MACK, Commissioner
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided a PowerPoint presentation
entitled, "Department of Natural Resources Overview for House
Resources Committee, January 18, 2017."
ED FOGELS, Deputy Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided background information on
directors Mr. Keyes, Mr. Maisch, and Mr. Ellis of the Department
of Natural Resources, and answered questions during the
PowerPoint presentation entitled, "Department of Natural
Resources Overview for House Resources Committee January 18,
2017."
ARTHUR KEYES, Director
Division of Agriculture
Department of Natural Resources
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on the Division of
Agriculture during a PowerPoint presentation entitled,
"Department of Natural Resources Overview for House Resources
Committee January 18, 2017."
JOHN "CHRIS" MAISCH, State Forester and Director
Division of Forestry
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on the Division of
Forestry during a PowerPoint presentation entitled, "Department
of Natural Resources Overview for House Resources Committee
January 18, 2017."
BEN ELLIS, Director
Central Office
Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on the Division of
Parks & Outdoor Recreation during a PowerPoint presentation
entitled "Department of Natural Resources Overview for House
Resources Committee January 18, 2017."
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:00:30 PM
CO-CHAIR GERAN TARR called the House Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. Representatives Tarr,
Birch, Parish, Talerico, Rauscher, Drummond, Johnson, Westlake,
and Josephson were present at the call to order.
[Committee members described various natural resources
activities and issues related to each of their districts. Co-
Chairs Tarr and Josephson provided members with organizational
information on the structure of the committee.]
^OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
1:17:45 PM
CO-CHAIR TARR announced that the only order of business would be
a PowerPoint presentation provided by the Department of Natural
Resources (DNR).
1:22:27 PM
ANDREW MACK, Commissioner, Department of Natural Resources,
provided detailed background information on key staff members.
He then directed attention to a PowerPoint presentation
entitled, "Department of Natural Resources Overview for House
Resources Committee January 18, 2017," and noted that the
presentation would include four parts: Part I would be a broad
overview on Alaska's resource base such as the resources that
are available and the state's obligation thereto; Part II would
be an introduction of the divisions within DNR and information
on their recent activities; Part III would provide an update on
the Alaska LNG Project (AKLNG); Part IV would be the
department's 2017 priorities and activities (slide 2).
Commissioner Mack pointed out that not included in the
presentation is DNR's responsibility to maintain the state's
position relative to the federal government and federal agencies
on issues such as land management, public land orders, the
National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA), and the proposed road
through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. He recommended
that another full presentation is warranted to discuss the
topics of land issues and large resource development projects.
1:30:24 PM
The committee took a brief at-ease.
1:31:19 PM
COMMISSSIONER MACK informed the committee that a fundamental
principal of Alaska is its responsibility to manage its land
base; in fact, the state encompasses 586,412 square miles, is
larger than all but eighteen sovereign nations, and has an
extensive coastline, three million lakes, and approximately 40
percent of the nation's freshwater. At statehood, Alaska was
granted approximately 105 million acres of land along with
tidelands, shore lands, and submerged lands, which add an
additional 60 million acres. He compared the total land managed
- in excess of 160 million acres - to an area approximately
three times the size of Oregon, which creates exciting
opportunities, along with obligations, responsibilities, and
questions that are fifteen times greater than those of any other
state (slide 3). Turning to the vast resource potential of oil
and gas, Commissioner Mack said on the North Slope there is an
estimated 40 billion barrels of undiscovered conventional oil -
16 billion barrels of that is onshore in state and federal land
- an estimated 24 billion barrels offshore, and an estimated
over 200 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered conventional
natural gas. He pointed out the premise for the natural gas
estimate is based on estimates for Prudhoe Bay and Point
Thomson.
1:36:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked whether the state is due any further
entitlements of land.
COMMISSIONER MACK responded that the state selected about 100
million [acres], with about 5 million more [acres] to be
selected, and has patented title to about 60 million [acres].
He explained that although there are federal barriers to the
state's plans in many areas, the state holds title to 60 million
acres, 40 million acres have been tentatively approved, and 5
million acres are left for selection.
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked whether the state formally objected
to the "offshore designation ... [that] took a lot of our
offshore potential away."
COMMISSIONER MACK said yes, the state asserted its interest and
legally nominated both the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea for
development under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act [of
1952]. He characterized the recent decisions affecting that
area as "very disappointing." He concluded his discussion on
resource development on the North Slope, observing that there
are also companies that are interested in unconventional plays.
In Cook Inlet, significant undiscovered resources include 19
trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 600 million barrels of oil,
and 46 million barrels of natural gas liquids. Furthermore,
there are companies such as Doyon, Limited and Ahtna,
Incorporated who are looking for oil and gas in Middle Earth
[areas of the state not on the North Slope or in Cook Inlet]
(slide 4). Commissioner Mack continued, noting that the state
ranks in the top ten in the world for important minerals
including coal, copper, lead, and gold. He said DNR believes
that mining in Alaska has untapped potential and the department
works to ensure mining operations have a clear path, and opined
that the state has a good relationship with mining regarding
safety. Alaska was ranked second for mineral potential in the
2015 Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies and has the
potential to lead the nation in mineral production (slide 5).
1:41:36 PM
COMMISSIONER MACK presented an organizational chart showing the
DNR commissioner, deputy commissioners, and division directors,
and which indicated that Deputy Commissioner Mark Wiggin
presides over the Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys,
the Division of Oil & Gas, and the Mental Health Trust Land
Office. Deputy Commissioner Ed Fogels presides over the
Division of Agriculture, the Division of Mining, Land & Water,
the Office of Project Management & Permitting, the Division of
Forestry, the Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation, and the
Division of Support Services (slide 6).
CO-CHAIR JOSEPHSON related that the Office of Project Management
& Permitting is now fully funded by developers, explorers, and
producers. For a later discussion, he expressed his interest in
learning how this saves general fund (GF) dollars.
1:44:13 PM
ED FOGELS, Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner, DNR,
provided background information on Arthur Keyes, director,
Division of Agriculture.
1:45:01 PM
ARTHUR KEYES, Director, Division of Agriculture ("DoAG"), DNR,
informed the committee that the division provides land sales,
loans, and inspections, manages the Alaska Grown program, and
oversees other programs related to the agricultural industry.
One of the sections of the division is the Plant Materials
Center (PMC), which is the sole source of native seed for the
state (slide 7). In 2016, PMC treated 657 surface acres of
Elodea-infested waterways in Anchorage and in the Matanuska
Susitna valley (Mat-Su). He clarified that Elodea is an aquatic
invasive plant that causes problems for float planes, fish
species, and natural habitat. In addition, PMC produced 1,837
pounds of certified seed potatoes sold to producers in
Southcentral, Interior, Kodiak and Southeast Alaska, which
equals approximately $3 million in retail sales of mature
potatoes. Finally, PMC processed over 177,000 pounds of grass
seed to revegetate and reclaim 3,900 acres of land. Mr. Keyes
said over the past three years, the division educated fourteen
communities and one hundred and seventy=five producers about
farm food safety practices, and opined farm food safety is one
of the largest challenges facing Alaska's farmers.
MR. KEYES continued, noting that the division conducted 350
field inspections of the timber industry, seed potatoes, seed
grass, federal country-of-origin (COO) audits, farmer's markets,
retail [sales], and farms. Also in 2016, the division
facilitated the transition of Mt. McKinley Meat & Sausage to the
private sector. Mr. Keyes explained that Mt. McKinley Meat &
Sausage is located in Palmer, is an asset of the Agricultural
Revolving Loan Fund (ARLF), and is the only U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) approved slaughter facility in Southcentral.
The facility is used by farmers statewide and is a vital piece
of infrastructure to the agricultural industry. Mr. Keyes said
that millions of dollars in agricultural loans are dependent
upon the aforementioned facility [for repayment] because the
plant provides the USDA stamp so that farmers' products can be
sold as a final cut of meat. He stressed the plant's importance
to the agriculture community and for food security in Alaska;
however, ARLF took possession of the plant in 1986 and it
traditionally operates at a loss. He pointed out that the
facility is a "holdover" from Alaska Correctional Industries and
serves as a prisoner training business. The plant's annual
losses of $100,000 to $150,000 are paid from interest payments
farmers make to ARLF, thus no losses are paid from unrestricted
general funds (UGF). In 2002 and 2006, the state issued a
request for proposal (RFP) for purchase of the plant, without
success. As director, Mr. Keyes released a new RFP in July 2016
and there were no valid applicants, but the RFP was amended in
response to the agricultural community, a qualified applicant
emerged, and the applicant's proposal was accepted by the Board
of Agriculture & Conservation on December 9, 2016. Currently,
the RFP is available for public comment, and Mr. Keyes expressed
his confidence in the pending sales agreement.
1:54:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked about the public response to the
RFP.
MR. KEYES answered that the Board of Agriculture & Conservation
considered the plant a real estate asset but the public viewed
the RFP issued in July 2016 as "one-sided." After review, a few
new ideas were incorporated.
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER noted his district includes agricultural
land.
REPRESENTATIVE PARISH asked whether there are any protections in
place for the pricing of products, considering the fact that a
private owner may need to raise prices to meat producers to make
the business profitable.
MR. KEYES agreed that prices could be raised; however, he
related that there has been "massive" growth in the livestock
industry and another way to make a profit is to increase volume.
Speaking from his experience as a business owner, he posited
that the facility under private ownership would increase its
volume. He said, "I would expect it would be competitive and
remain competitive for the producers."
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND recalled touring the plant and seeing
its products and prisoners processing meat. During the tour she
learned that if the plant under discussion were to shut down,
protein production in Southcentral would be destroyed due to the
distances from other plants that can certify USDA, and also
conflicts with hunting seasons at the other two plants.
MR. KEYES said the other two aforementioned plants include wild
game processing in their business plans. In fact, the other two
plants stop processing livestock for two months during wild game
season because livestock and wild game cannot be processed at
the same time. Were it not for Mt. McKinley Meat & Sausage,
this period of closure would be devastating for the producers
[of livestock] due to the distance needed to travel to another
plant while one is shut down. He restated that recently the
volume of livestock processed through Mt. McKinley Meat &
Sausage has set a record, and a shutdown would force all of the
livestock to be processed in Fairbanks or Delta Junction,
adding, "I don't view it as feasible, [Mt.] McKinley Meats [&
Sausage] is vital."
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND asked what percentage of meat sold
commercially in Alaska is processed at the Mt. McKinley plant.
She estimated the amount would be comparable to locally grown
food, which is about 5 percent.
MR. KEYES said he would provide that information.
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked whether the reliance of 4-H [youth
organizations] on Mt. McKinley Meat & Sausage was taken under
consideration.
MR. KEYES expressed his belief that the potential new owner is
supportive of 4-H.
MR. FOGELS added that two years ago a legislative audit of ARLF
said the state cannot hold and manage assets.
CO-CHAIR TARR offered to provide members further information on
the related legislative audit. Returning attention to the terms
of the RFP, she asked whether farmers would retain access to the
facility throughout the transition to new ownership.
2:04:12 PM
MR. KEYES stated that one of the biggest problems with the RFP
issued in July 2016, was that it dictated certain policies to a
potential new owner. Interested parties informed the state that
it could not "[tie] someone's hand" for the new owner to
succeed, therefore the restrictions were reduced. He pointed
out that a new owner will have to invest a lot of money in the
facility, and to be profitable, must provide service to
everyone. Mr. Keyes redirected attention to DoAG activities in
2016, noting that ARLF - which was established in 1953 - managed
sixty-six loans for agriculture equipment, property, and
activities, with a principal loan balance of $7.69 million and
six new loans in 2016. In addition, the division leveraged $1.3
million in federal grant funding for state and industry
projects, including the Elodea program. Another division
program inspected more than 116 million board feet of timber,
thus enabling exports of Southeast timber to Asian markets and
generating $93 million in timber industry revenue (slide 8).
CO-CHAIR JOSEPHSON inquired as to the amount of state revenue
that is derived from $93 million in timber industry revenue, and
questioned why DoAG, and not the Division of Forestry, provides
timber inspections.
MR. KEYES explained that DoAG historically provides inspections
because its staff includes the State Plant Regulatory Officer
(SPRO). Inspections and certifications made by the SPRO are
recognized at the federal level. He advised that in some
states, forestry and agriculture are "one and the same."
MR. FOGELS added that most state timber in Southeast is sold for
local mills; however, the aforementioned program certifies round
logs harvested from private land and going to markets in Asia.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked for further information regarding
timber inspection.
MR. KEYES said the division sends an inspector to Asia where the
logs are fumigated, and the inspector certifies the fumigation.
The logs are then accepted into port to be further processed.
MR. FOGELS further explained that Asian countries will not
accept logs from the U.S. unless they have been fumigated to
prevent the entry of invasive "bugs or critters." As per
international trade protocols, a bio-sanitary inspector must
certify the fumigation; most logs are fumigated in the U.S. but
Alaska has an exception from USDA that allows the fumigation and
certification to occur in Asia.
CO-CHAIR TARR asked for further information on the certification
of seed potatoes.
MR. KEYES observed that Alaska has a pristine environment for
agriculture due to its long distance from other agricultural
areas; inspecting and certifying seed potatoes ensures that
Alaska potatoes will not have the diseases seen in the Lower 48.
Providing protection is not expensive but results in over $3
million in economic activity and a measure of food security.
REPRESENTATIVE TALERICO asked whether Elodea [eradication]
projects are planned for the Fairbanks area.
MR. KEYES affirmed that the division is in the process of
permitting a project in the Fairbanks North Star Borough that
will be finalized in February [2017], and treatment will begin
the following summer. He offered to provide further details.
REPRESENTATIVE TALERICO asked for confirmation when the meat
facility transition is completed.
MR. FOGELS provided background information on Mr. Maisch,
director of the Division of Forestry.
2:15:22 PM
JOHN "CHRIS" MAISCH, Director, Division of Forestry (DOF), DNR,
informed the committee DOF's mission is to serve Alaskans
through sustainable forest management and wildland fire
protection. The DOF fiscal year 2017 (FY 17) operating budget
was approximately $47 million, of which approximately $24.2
million were UGF. The division supports 239 positions and is
one of the larger divisions within DNR. Mr. Maisch said DOF is
the lead state agency for wildland fire management of 150
million acres with the primary goal of protecting life and
property. Further, DOF manages 47 million acres of forest land
considered commercial. Alaska also has three state forests that
are managed by DOF. During the last fire season, there were 354
fires in state protection areas that burned 104,482 acres, one
of the least amounts of area burned in recent years (slide 9).
Calendar year 2016 was the second worst year and 5.1 million
acres were burned during 766 fires. The contrast between the
past two fire seasons demonstrates the range of fire seasons
possible in Alaska from the number of acres burned, to the
corresponding budget expenses; for example, in FY 17 fire
suppression activities cost $26.2 million UGF and in FY 15 fire
suppression activities cost $103.4 million [UGF].
MR. MAISCH, turning to timber and forest management, said DOF
sold 8.2 million board feet of logs in 34 timber sales - from
the Railbelt to Southeast - to 27 Alaska-based companies. He
pointed out that timber sales were about one-half of normal due
mostly to a 42 percent budget reduction in forest management,
and to environmental challenges to the Southeast timber program.
Mr. Maisch projected that more sales will occur because DOF has
cleared legal challenges related to the Tongass National Forest
transition plan (slide 9). He then directed attention to
activities in [FY 16] beginning with the Tetlin River Fire and
the McHugh Fire near Anchorage. He said 93 percent of the
firefighting workforce were Alaskans, which generated about $5.5
million in payroll, but last season only about 50 percent of
firefighters were Alaskans. In addition, Lower 48 fire
assignments of Emergency Firefighter crew generated $5.6 million
in wages to Alaskans fighting fires in the southern U.S. The
division received four competitive grants for hazard fuel
reduction for facilities in Caswell, McGrath, and Delta Junction
amounting to $800,000. He noted that federal grants are the
only source of funds for this type of mitigation, such as the
fuel break which saved a portion of Soldotna during the Funny
River Fire (slide 10). In response to Representative Parish, he
returned attention to staff reductions, and said from FY 15 to
FY 17 there was a 39 percent reduction in staff and a 42 percent
reduction in the budget of the forest management side of the
division.
2:23:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PARISH asked about the effect of the reduction in
timber sales on lost state revenue and economic activity.
MR. MAISCH advised that DOF annually generates about $980,000 in
revenue from timber sales, mostly from the southern Southeast
timber program targeted for domestic processing; logs sold on
the export market are more valuable, but the state historically
sells timber locally to protect jobs. He restated that last
year was the lowest volume for Southeast, and he estimated
revenue will be about one-half of average.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON recalled there was a forestry office in
Palmer during an extremely bad fire year and an appropriation
was needed to continue firefighting activities. She inquired as
to the source of the extra funds.
MR. MAISCH cautioned that budget questions are not easy to
answer because the fire season is split by two fiscal years.
The division spends funds from an activity code for
firefighting, and from a preparedness code to be ready.
Further, the activity code is divided for fire suppression on
federal land, which is reimbursed. He said at the end of a fire
season it "takes actually two years to balance those books with
our federal partners and other states ...." However, all of the
funds for state protected lands are GF money, and all of the
funds for federal lands are federal money. The state also
protects private and municipal lands.
MR. MAISCH returned to the presentation, noting that DOF
continues work on the Tongass National Forest (Tongass)
transition from old growth to young growth together with the
U.S. Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Department of Agriculture; the
state is a major partner in forest management and recently
signed the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) agreement that allows
states management authority for timber sales on federal lands,
after the federal government completes the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) statement. At this time, DOF is
in the process of negotiating a supplemental project agreement
for a large timber sale. Also, DOF is participating in a
federally funded USDA Forest Inventory & Analysis Program in the
Interior that will measure forest productivity and create
sustained yield calculations to support biomass projects in
rural communities. He estimated the program will bring about
$1.1 million to $2 million into the division annually (slide
10).
CO-CHAIR JOSEPHSON referred to slide 10, which showed that DOF
was involved in issues of water quality and fish habitat. He
asked whether the indicated inspections are reimbursable service
agreements between DNR and the Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game
(ADFG).
MR. MAISCH explained that the inspections occur under the
auspices of the Alaska Forest Resources and Practices Act
(FRPA); DNR is the lead agency and works with ADFG and DEC to
follow the regulations of the Act which are designed to protect
fish habitat and water quality. The statutes and regulations of
the Act require private landowners to observe certain best
management practices. Fifty-four inspections were on private
land, mostly on Alaska Native corporation land in Kodiak and
Southeast, and eighty-two inspections were on state land. In
further response to Co-Chair Josephson, he said DOF gives
deference to its sister agencies in areas of fisheries and water
quality, but each of the three departments "support their own
efforts in that so no money exchanges hands between the three
agencies."
COMMISSIONER MACK added that there are concerns about the most
recent plan by USFS to manage the Tongass, and the state
formally objected and lodged complaints through comments during
the development of the plan. However, the state can take
advantage of the work being done by the Tongass young growth
forest inventory and through the Good Neighbor Authority
agreement. He stated his hope that additional federal funds
identified for fire suppression in the Tongass can be redirected
into a planning process, and complete the inventory quickly, to
facilitate more federal timber sales in Southeast.
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH inquired as to the status of the "roadless
rule."
2:34:42 PM
MR. MAISCH said there is one piece of litigation pending in
district court between the state and USFS on this topic. The
state's challenge to the [2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule]
was argued over one year ago and a decision is expected at any
time.
REPRESENTATIVE PARISH inquired as to how much of the 60 million
acres of state land and the 40 million acres of tentatively-
approved land is likely to increase fire danger in the future,
and how many are "forestry lands."
MR. MAISCH cautioned that most of Alaska can burn whether
forested or not; he noted that all of the 105 million acres of
entitlement land are provided fire protection by either the
Alaska Fire Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S.
Department of the Interior, or the Division of Forestry,
depending on the service area affected. He offered to provide
further details of the fire management plan to the committee.
MR. FOGELS added that there are few state land selections in
Southeast. In further response to Representative Parish, he
clarified that the state has received 100 million acres of land
from the federal government, and of the 100 million acres
received, 60 million [acres] have been patented, and 40 million
[acres] have been tentatively approved, thus the state has legal
management authority over 100 million acres of state land and is
due 5 million more acres.
REPRESENTATIVE TALERICO asked whether the director has any
concerns about BLM's Eastern Interior Resource Management Plan
(RMP), or the Central Yukon RMP, related to designated areas of
"critical environmental concern."
MR. MAISCH said he does not anticipate any difficulties managing
the state forest due to either of the aforementioned federal
plans.
COMMISSIONER MACK informed the committee that both the Eastern
Interior RMP - approved by BLM in 2016 - and the Central Yukon
RMP, affect land in the [Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)]
corridor and the entire North Slope. This is a very significant
concern to the state; in fact, DNR has objected to the Eastern
Interior RMP, and BLM has acknowledged receipt of the state's
objection. Impacts to the Fortymile Mining District and other
issues are substantive, although a litigation decision has not
been made. In addition, the Central Yukon RMP is of immense
concern to the state because it is a BLM plan over Alaska's
North Slope. He added that the Central Yukon RMP covers 53
million acres, 13 [million] of which are federally owned, and 40
million [acres] are state-owned.
2:44:36 PM
BEN ELLIS, Director, Central Office, Division of Parks & Outdoor
Recreation, DNR, informed the committee Alaska is blessed with
the largest state parks system in the nation. The largest state
park, Wood-Tikchik, is 1.6 acres, and the third largest,
Chugach, is 0.5 million acres. The division manages the parks
with 177 fulltime positions, administers federal recreation
grants, and oversees state programs such as boating safety, the
Alaska Office of History and Archaeology, and the State Historic
Preservation Office (slide 17). Mr. Ellis invited the committee
to attend the opening of the K'esugi Ken campground in the South
Denali Visitor's Center Complex, which is the first new
campground in 20 years. Turning to budget issues, he said the
division continues its initiative to reduce reliance on general
funds for state park operation. In FY 13, program receipts from
fees covered 33 percent of the division's operational cost; by
2016, fees covered 37 percent, and last year fees covered 49
percent of the division's operational cost. He projected that
in FY 18, fees will cover over 50 percent of operational cost.
The division's goal is to bring operational costs close to self-
sufficiency. One of the division's stellar programs is the
boating safety program, and through the Kids Don't Float and
life jacket loan board programs, 28 lives were saved in Alaska.
In addition, the division reviewed over 1,600 projects for their
impact to historical properties. These reviews assist in
exploration and development and are federally funded, as is the
boating safety program. The division also awarded $360,000 in
historical grants and over $1,400,000 in recreational grants for
trails funded by the Recreational Trails Program (RTP), Federal
Highway Administration. The recreational grants are used for
grooming trails and for safety and education (slide 18). Mr.
Ellis expressed his pride in the division.
2:50:00 PM
CO-CHAIR JOSEPHSON inquired as to the funding source for snow
machine trail grooming and snowpack work.
MR. ELLIS explained that a program for snow machine grooming and
safety comes from snow machine registration fees collected by
the Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Administration,
and a "pass-through in the budget." The budget amount was
eliminated last year; however, the program is funded one year
and enacted the following year, thus the division is using "2016
money." He understood the amount has been returned in the
governor's proposed budget.
CO-CHAIR TARR recalled the division received increased state
receipt authority from the legislature to allow for
merchandising.
MR. ELLIS advised that many state parks sell park-themed
merchandise for revenue; at least six states earn millions of
dollars through wholesale retail, online, and campsite sales.
After receiving permission from the legislature, the division
developed merchandise and a web site for sales. So far, the
division has generated about $20,000 in revenue from sales in
the late fall and early winter, and he expressed hope sales of
merchandise will decrease the division's need for UGF.
REPRESENTATIVE PARISH asked how the committee can help promote
growth in sales.
MR. ELLIS said funding would help the division put out more
products for sale, and pointed out states that invest $500,000
in products sell that merchandise for $1,000,000. Furthermore,
other programs, such as more public use cabins and new
campgrounds, will also increase revenue and advance the division
toward self-sufficiency. In further response to Representative
Parish, he said Alaska will primarily rely on the Internet for
selling merchandise, which is an area of sales that is "slowest
to grow."
2:59:35 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:59 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 DNR Overview for House Resources.pdf |
HRES 1/18/2017 1:00:00 PM |
Department Overview: Alaska Department of Natural Resources |