03/12/2012 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB153 | |
| SB123 | |
| SB159 | |
| SB181 | |
| SB205 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 123 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 159 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 181 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 205 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | SB 153 | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 12, 2012
3:34 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Joe Paskvan, Co-Chair
Senator Thomas Wagoner, Co-Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Vice Chair
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator Hollis French
Senator Gary Stevens
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 153
"An Act relating to a gas storage facility; relating to the tax
credit for a gas storage facility; relating to the powers and
duties of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission;
relating to the regulation of natural gas storage as a utility;
relating to the powers and duties of the director of the
division of lands and to lease fees for a gas storage facility
on state land; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSSB 153(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 123
"An Act establishing May 10 of each year as Alaska Mining Day."
- HEARD & HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 159
"An Act establishing the Susitna State Forest; and providing for
an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 181
"An Act approving an interim classification by the commissioner
of natural resources closing certain land within the Glacier
Creek and Winner Creek drainages to new mineral entry; amending
the mineral entry closure in sec. 2, ch. 8, SLA 2003, for
certain land within the Glacier Creek and Winner Creek
drainages; and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 205
"An Act establishing the Alaska Chinook research and restoration
endowment fund and relating to grants from the fund."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 123
SHORT TITLE: ALASKA MINING DAY
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) GIESSEL
04/08/11 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/08/11 (S) RES
03/12/12 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 159
SHORT TITLE: SUSITNA STATE FOREST
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) MENARD
01/17/12 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/17/12 (S) RES, FIN
03/12/12 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 181
SHORT TITLE: CLOSING CERTAIN LAND TO MINERAL ENTRY
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) GIESSEL
01/27/12 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/27/12 (S) RES
01/27/12 (S) RES RPT RECD W/CS AWAIT TRANSMITTAL NXT
01/27/12 (S) RES RPT CS #DP #DNP #NR #AM
03/12/12 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 205
SHORT TITLE: CHINOOK RESEARCH & RESTORATION ENDOWMENT
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) OLSON
02/21/12 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/21/12 (S) RES, FIN
03/12/12 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 153
SHORT TITLE: NATURAL GAS STORAGE TAX CREDIT/REGULATION
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) THOMAS
01/17/12 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/13/12
01/17/12 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/17/12 (S) RES, FIN
02/09/12 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/09/12 (S) Heard & Held
02/09/12 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/05/12 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
03/05/12 (S) Heard & Held
03/05/12 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/12/12 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR JOE THOMAS
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT Sponsor of SB 153:
GRIER HOPKINS, staff
Senator Joe Thomas
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions about SB 153 for the
sponsor.
SENATOR CATHY GIESSEL
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 123.
FRED PARADY, Executive Director
Alaska Miners Association
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported for SB 123.
SENATOR LINDA MENARD
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 159.
MICHAEL ROVITO, Chief of Staff
Senator Linda Menard
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 159 for the
sponsor.
JOHN "CHRIS" MAISCH, Director
Division of Forestry
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions and provided backup
information on SB 175.
SENATOR CATHY GIESSEL
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 181.
SHARON LONG, Staff
Senator Cathy Giessel
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided a sectional analysis for SB 181.
WYN MENEFEE, Chief of Operations
Division of Mining, Land and Water
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding SB 181.
FRED PARADY, Executive Director
Alaska Miners Association
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Stated support for SB 181.
DAVID SCOTT, Staff
Senator Donny Olson
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the changes in the CS to SB 205
for the sponsor.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:34:48 PM
CO-CHAIR JOE PASKVAN called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:34 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Stedman, French, Wielechowski and Co-Chair
Paskvan.
SB 153-NATURAL GAS STORAGE TAX CREDIT/REGULATION
3:37:21 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN announced the consideration of SB 153, [CSSB
153, version 27-LS1187\D, was before the committee].
SENATOR STEVENS joined the committee.
3:37:26 PM
SENATOR JOE THOMAS, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB 153,
said the cost of fuel in Alaska is crippling much of the state's
economy, and the dramatic delivery of fuel oil to Nome this
winter helped focus attention on it. In the Interior today, he
said heating fuel costs are $4.68 a gallon; when he last
reported they were under $4, but it is natural for the price to
go up in winter.
He said that when he last reported, about $660 million was being
spent in the Interior on just energy. At the new rate, it would
be over $800 million for the same amount of fuel. It averages
out to about $8,100 per person as compared to $6,600 that it was
last time he testified. He said 39 percent of Golden Valley
Electric Association's (GVEA) electricity is produced from
diesel fuel, which accounts for about 60 percent of the
electrical generation budget. With the fuel dollar increase
since he left Fairbanks, they now pay over $40/mmbtu compared to
$8.67 in Southcentral. Fairbanks is currently paying $23.35 for
1 cf/gas and $.23 per kilowatt hour. He said individual heating
bills of $1,000 to $1,500 a month are not unusual for the
heating season which is September through April.
SENATOR THOMAS said SB 153 addresses this problem by
incentivizing the private sector to deliver additional trucked
gas to Fairbanks over the next three years. Fairbanks has
trucked gas now, but the amount is limited because Southcentral
suppliers are obligated to take care of their customers first.
So they cut back sometimes and Fairbanks Natural Gas (FNG), the
distributor, can't get what they need. This means that some
places have to shut down their natural gas generation and turn
their fuel oil generation back on. The fuel oil and gas prices
are not dramatically different now, because there is no
competition for it.
He said SB 153 would result in savings of $15 million or 50
percent of the construction cost, whichever is less. This credit
is currently available to Cook Inlet's gas storage project,
CINGSA. He wants Fairbanks to receive the same benefit although
the storage would be above ground since there are no depleted
wells to use as underground storage. He said anyone taking
advantage of these tax credits must be a regulated utility,
because then whatever savings is received will be passed through
to the consumer through RCA regulation. It will also ensure that
neither North Slope producers nor an LNG export facility that do
not provide for consumption of gas at savings to Alaskans that
and are not regulated utilities, will not have access to these
credits.
SENATOR THOMAS said storage will be needed in any event, even
with a gasline from the North Slope. He noted that SB 153 has
had no negative attention since it was introduced. He thanked
the additional sponsors.
3:41:22 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE joined the committee.
3:43:44 PM
CHAIR FRENCH said he thought it was fair to do in Fairbanks what
has been done in Kenai at the Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage,
Alaska facility (CINGSA). He asked how much the state spent for
the CINGSA facility and how much storage it bought.
3:44:11 PM
GRIER HOPKINS, staff to Senator Thomas, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, AK, answered that $15 million was given to
CINGSA in tax credits on a volumetric calculation of $1.50/mcf
of storage; 11 bcf/gas was stored in that reservoir along with 7
bcf of cushion gas for a total of 18 bcf.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what sort of volumes this bill envisions.
MR. HOPKINS replied about 360 mmcf/gas stored in two separate
tanks, two-thirds of that on the North Slope and one-third in
North Pole.
3:45:24 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN said this looks more like an appropriation bill
and asked him to review who could take advantage of it and why
this wouldn't be done through a regular capital appropriation
process for a regular utility.
SENATOR THOMAS explained that there has been interest in various
areas; propane storage has interest as well. Fish processing
plants, Valdez and Cordova all show interest, because they have
huge issues with their electrical generation and are looking for
relief. He initially wanted to make sure that if the credits
were given in one place that they would at least be allowable in
other places. So, it looks like an appropriation bill.
SENATOR STEDMAN asked if there are restrictions on it or could
every town in the state make a similar request.
SENATOR THOMAS replied that the only limiting factor is being a
regulated utility.
MR. HOPKINS added that language on page 3, line 31, lowers the
size of the tank to 25,000 gallons so that smaller utilities
(especially along the Railbelt) could apply for the tax credits.
3:49:29 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN observed that the term used is "credits," but
it's really more like an equity infusion.
MR. HOPKINS said HB 280 (the CINGSA tax credit) by
Representative Hawker was also perceived to be a tax credit, but
the project has moved forward, it has become a limited liability
corporation with a number of different entities working together
in partnership to build the storage facility. It is not paying
any taxes to the state, the same situation GVEA would be in with
this bill.
3:51:24 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI moved to report CSSB 153( ), [version D,]
from committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal note(s). There were no objections, and CSSB 153(RES)
moved from the Senate Resources Standing Committee.
3:51:54 PM
At ease 3:51 p.m. to 3:53 p.m.
SB 123-ALASKA MINING DAY
3:53:54 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN announced the consideration of SB 123.
SENATOR CATHY GIESSEL, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB
123, said the bill establishes May 10 every year as Alaska
Mining Day. It recognizes the role of development of mineral
resources and that role in Alaska's history and growth - and its
future. She said the sponsor statement reviews that history and
that mining today continues to be a source of jobs and economic
impact in communities where mining has been going on for more
than a century. For example, Fort Knox in Fairbanks purchases
its power for Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) and
because of the impact of that power purchase it lowers the cost
of electricity for the consumers in Fairbanks by $.1 a kilowatt
hour. Livengood also might have a mine in the future and they
are also planning to purchase power from GVEA, which would
provide another significant impact for the Fairbanks ratepayers.
She said Nome is having quite a mining boom with gold being
found under the water on the beach. A couple of days ago, she
talked to the representative from Nome who has a one bedroom
house he posted for rent. Within 24 hours he had more than 30
hits, because last year they ran out of housing. This mining
activity is having quite an impact economically on the community
of Nome.
Juneau, which is named for Joe Juneau, had three very robust
mines build up the community. Today, some of the tunnels are
being used to store water for emergency fire response. In 2010,
100 private sector jobs were created in the Juneau area at the
Kensington Mine. The average wage in mining is $95,000 a year.
In fact, the largest private sector employer is the Greens Creek
Mine. So mining is having quite a significant economic impact in
Juneau.
She reviewed the contents of their SB 123 packets that included
a new update from Dr. Scott Goldsmith, dated March 2012, on the
structural analysis of the Alaska Economy Mining Section. She
thanked the chair and Senator Wagoner for signing on as co-
sponsors of the bill.
3:58:08 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN said he thought having a designated day was a
good idea, but one of the most infamous mines, Rodman Bay Mine,
was left off as was the Chichagof Mine in Southeast.
SENATOR GIESSEL thanked him and remarked that Bokan Mountain
contains rare earth elements and they are looking for quite a
robust development there, which will impact Southeast.
3:59:18 PM
FRED PARADY, Executive Director, Alaska Miners Association,
Anchorage, AK, supported for SB 123. He said his organization is
a nonprofit organization established in 1939 to represent the
mining industry in Alaska. It is composed of more than 1,400
individual prospectors, geologists, engineers, vendors, suction
dredge miners, small family mines, junior mining companies and
major mining companies. Throughout the state they produce gold,
silver, platinum, diamonds, lead, zinc, copper, coal, limestone,
sand, gravel, crushed rock, armor rock and other material and
the members live and work throughout the state in each of their
districts.
MR. PARADY said the anniversary of the General Mining Act of the
United States is May 10, making it an appropriate date for
celebrating mining. He explained that minerals are not
discovered in a vacuum; they are a product a particular
technical knowledge and skill coupled with tenacity and risk
taking. These minerals were essentially the primary drivers of
Alaska's early economic development and cities such and
Fairbanks, Juneau and Nome were founded on mining and today the
same sort of cities - Fairbanks, Juneau, Kotzebue and Anchorage
- are reliant on the products of mining and the prosperity it
brings to the Alaskan economy.
MR. PARADY said mining is also a key driver to further
development of infrastructure across the state, but what he
really wanted to focus on was the workforce it would create. The
recent McDowell report estimated the creation of 4,500 direct
jobs with a new average wage of $100,000.
He asked them to replace their mental image of a miner with a
sledge hammer to one of a miner at the controls of multimillion
dollar highly computerized piece of equipment that is producing
the resources from the earth that everyone relies on. Miners
today are highly skilled; they have to be knowledgeable about
high pressure hydraulics, high voltage electronics, rock
mechanics, instrumentation and controls.
MR. PARRADY said Alaska has seven operating mines: Usibelli Coal
Mine, Greens Creek, Red Dog, Fort Knox, Pogo, Kensington and
Nixon Fork, and substantial projects are moving their way
through exploration including Chuitna, Wishbone Hill, Donlin
Gold, Livengood, Niblack and Pebble. There were 60 exploration
projects last year that spent more than $100,000 and 30 more
projects spending more than $1 million. This is the leading edge
of the next generation of mining in Alaska - the exploration
phase.
He concluded with a quote from President Abe Lincoln in a letter
to miners meeting in Denver at the Western Association of
Miners. It was on April 14, 1865. His message was:
Tell the miners from me that I shall promote their
interests to the utmost of my ability, because their
prosperity is the prosperity of the nation, and we
shall prove in a very few years that we are indeed the
treasury of the world.
4:03:39 PM
SENATOR STEVENS noted that Koniaq Corporation is opening a very
large granite quarry on Kodiak Island and asked if he considered
that mining.
MR. PARADY said yes and apologized for omitting that mine from
his list. He added that one of the hidden stories of mining in
modern day Alaska is that the Native Corporations benefit from
the mining industry activity through 7(i) and 7(j) royalty
sharing payments, which amounted to $82 million last year for
Red Dog. Koniaq is in the same vein.
MR. PARADY said that modern mining techniques bring the ability
to meet modern environmental standards, because you are
generating wealth and are able to do good work.
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN held SB 123 in committee.
SB 159-SUSITNA STATE FOREST
4:05:21 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN announced the consideration of SB 159.
SENATOR LINDA MENARD, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB
159, said that MatSu Borough has 16.1 million acres and 9.5
million acres of it is forestland; the Susitna State Forest is
763,200 acres and would represent 4 percent of it.
She said that Article 8, Section 4, of the Alaska Constitution
addresses sustainable yield including: fish forest, wildlife,
grass lands and all other replenishable resources belonging to
the state shall be utilized, developed and maintained on the
sustainable yield principle subject to preferences among
beneficial users. SB 159 seeks to further accomplish this
constitutional mandate by creating the Susitna State Forest.
Through SB 159, the Division of Forestry will be able to manage
the state forest for a long term supply of timber to local
processors and retain the land in state ownership for multiple
uses such as trapping, mining, fishing and hunting.
SENATOR MENARD said the proposed state forest includes 32
parcels totaling about 763,200 square acres. The parcels are
forestry classified lands and are located in four large
management blocks. She explained that legislatively designating
a state forest would ensure that some land will remain available
for long term forest management and that the region will retain
large open spaces of public lands to benefit residents of the
region who currently enjoy them for multiple uses.
A state forest designation gives the Division of Forestry the
assurance that lands they are managing will be there in
perpetuity, and importantly, it will therefore be more apt to
invest money and resources towards permanent upgrades. There is
also a need to more actively manage lands and vegetation to
promote a variety of forests ages to provide for diversity and
healthy habitats for wildlife. At the same time, active
management will also help to reduce wild land fire risks by
breaking up large fuel types and encouraging initial
regeneration of hardwood species.
SENATOR MENARD said that SB 159 will set aside ground work to
accomplish all of this. Besides professional mills, the state
forest will maintain a supply of hardwood for personal use. For
instance, right now Susitna Valley High School is looking at
woody biomass that could heat their entire school and chips and
pellets have become more common and sought for residential space
heating. It's important for Alaska residents to have a place
managed for them to obtain their material.
By passing SB 159, Senator Menard said, they will make the
Susitna State Forest (second largest) the fourth state forest in
Alaska and it will be joined by Tanana Valley State Forest
(largest), the Haines State Forest and Susitna Southeast Forest.
The Division of Forestry will manage the Susitna State Forest as
part of the State Forest System under AS 41.17.200-230, the
statute that governs the creation of the state forests.
SENATOR MENARD related that the division is required to prepare
a management plan for the forest within three years of its
establishment. She said the division had put years of work into
this plan and Alaska is ready for its fourth state forest. She
noted letters of support and a resolution passed unanimously by
the City of Houston in support of this bill.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if there was any opposition to the bill.
4:11:29 PM
MICHAEL ROVITO, Chief of Staff to Senator Linda Menard, Alaska
State Legislature, answered the bill had no opposition.
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN asked the purpose of identifying the particular
parcels in the bill.
SENATOR MENARD deferred to the state forester.
4:12:14 PM
JOHN "CHRIS" MAISCH, Director, Division of Forestry, Department
of Natural Resources (DNR), explained that these are legal
descriptions that need a high level of detail, because they
become a matter of law. A lot of effort goes into the legal
descriptions. He noted that a future CS will address inholdings.
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN asked when that would be complete.
MR. MAISCH replied shortly.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said some of the parcels are not contiguous
and some are not touching at all and asked what the law requires
as far as parcels being contiguous, how these parcels were
selected, what kind of public process this had gone through and
what further process he anticipated.
MR. MAISCH explained that all the land on the map was owned by
the state already. Two area plans pertain to that area: Susitna
management plan (recently signed and approved) and the Southeast
Susitna area plan, and they both talk about access and access
corridors. In addition, if this bill passes, they must prepare a
forest management plan for the state forest and address access
issues in that. Right now they have the capability to cross
other state lands to access disparate parcels. He said they are
interested in access to the better forest lands, and an example
of small corridors was between the Skwentna and Mount Susitna.
Problems with access are not anticipated, he added.
With regard to the second question about the public process that
has taken place, he explained that as part of the area planning
functions seventeen separate meetings were held for the
Matanuska Area planning process. In addition, in the last two
weeks he had been to a number of public meetings in the Valley
and met with the Willow Dog Mushers Association, the Houston
City Council, the Talkeetna Community Council, the Matanuska
Susitna Borough and Senator Menard had hosted an open house.
Division of Forestry staff were present at all of those
meetings.
MR. MAISCH explained that the area plans classify lands as
either forestry, agriculture, settlement or a few other
categories. The concept of state forests was brought forward in
this area planning process.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI noted a number of prolific salmon areas and
asked him to discuss setbacks on salmon streams when logging is
done.
MR. MAISCH explained that the major systems have buffers of a
quarter mile. In addition, the State's Forest Resources
Practices Act divides the state into three different geographic
areas: the Interior (Region 3), the Southcentral (Region 2) and
Southeast (Region 1). There are various salmon and high value
resident fish protection standards based on the kind of stream -
a large glacial braided system or a small narrow fresh water
clear system, for instance. The buffer standards in the Forest
Practices Act are tailored to the type of fish and the type of
stream in the three different regions. Those standards affect
both public lands and private lands.
4:19:00 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN observed that it's a good idea to create forests
and commented that the Tongass National Forest with 1,800,000
acres, another at 763,000, the Haines Forest at 286,000 and the
Southeast Forest at 48,000 - just a fraction of what we have -
also has the potential in southern Southeast of having the best
quality timber. It hinders Southeast timber development. He
provided some back ground saying that at the time of statehood
Southeast didn't really get to participate in the land selection
process and 50 year contracts were put in place in the Tongass.
Those, along with fishing, were the major anchors for jobs in
Southeast communities. Now, Southeast has no long term timber
contracts and both pulp mills were removed going on 20 years
ago. He thought they should maybe take the opportunity in this
piece of legislation and encourage the administration to
negotiate with the federal government to either get some land
out of the Tongass with remaining statehood selections or just
flat out buy it and get some of the Southeast land into state
ownership so we could have a better opportunity to stabilize the
community and create some growth, and basically have livable-
wage jobs. The window of opportunity might be better today than
it was 10 years ago with the federal government's fiscal
position being substantially weaker than it was and Alaska's
substantially stronger.
SENATOR STEDMAN said there are 48,000 acres in southern
Southeast and 13 million board feet a year could come out of
that.
MR. MAISCH confirmed that the allowable cut is 12.8 million
board feet a year.
4:22:56 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN said that's about one-third of what a medium
sized saw mill would need. He said it's difficult to get
financing without having at least a 20-year supply of fiber. He
said he would discuss this further with the bill sponsor.
MR. MAISCH added that the Tongass Timber Task Force is
considering this same question and that report is due to the
governor in July, but they have a self-imposed deadline of May
because of the urgency they feel.
SENATOR STEDMAN said his understanding of that concept is the
state may manage some of the Tongass forest, but the ownership
would remain with the federal government. That is better than
the current situation, but it would be better to own the deed.
"Otherwise we're still always going to be in the king's
forest..."
4:25:35 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN commented that possibly language could be
included in the future CS. From what he has heard about the
forests of Southeast Alaska, one would think their acreage would
be much greater than Interior Alaska as a primary timber
resource of the whole state.
4:26:36 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE said she would support that idea and citing the
most recent DOR recreational remote cabin site pamphlet noted
that it was controversial when first introduced. Finally it
passed, and now Alaskans all over the state are taking advantage
of this opportunity to get out into the forest and establish
cabin sites. She agreed with Senator Stedman that too much land
is held by the federal government.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked him to explain the practical
implication of making this a state forest and the impacts on
hunting, fishing, and other recreation in this area.
MR. MAISCH replied that all those activities will continue and
based on his experience with the Tanana Valley State Forest,
more access would be developed over time with a mixture of all-
season roads and winter access.
The division's perspective on the long term nature of
designating this as a state forest is that it is important for
long term sustained yield with different types of multiple use
opportunities for wood products; for instance, Talkeetna High
School using wood biomass for space heating. In turn, the state
will make long term investments in roads, bridges and access
developments that they don't currently make, because that land
could be reclassified for some other use at a future point.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what kind of timber is found in the
area.
MR. MAISCH answered that it varies in different parts of the
Valley; generally speaking the forests are toward the over-
mature side in terms of age class and size. This means the hard
woods are declining in quality. Fire is one of the main ways
these forests are regenerated and it has been quite some time
since a large scale stand replacement fire happened. So, any
kind of forest management activity they can do to break up
conifers is beneficial from a wild fire and habitat standpoint.
From a hunting standpoint, various age classes are better for
wildlife habitat. In the Valley, the wildlife professionals say
there are not enough younger age classes of hard wood species
for a lot of the ungulates, which in turn affects hunting
opportunities.
4:32:07 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN asked why the mountaintops aren't included
within the forest.
MR. MAISCH said the state forests are focused on areas that are
good for timber production. Another issues is that the steeper
ground is more difficult to access.
SENATOR MENARD suggested that a strong Senate resolution would
encourage the governor to allow these federal lands to benefit
all state forests, but she thought this was good legislation and
wanted to see it move.
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN held SB 159 in committee.
SB 181-CLOSING CERTAIN LAND TO MINERAL ENTRY
4:34:08 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN announced the consideration of SB 181.
SENATOR CATHY GIESSEL, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB
181, said this measure would close certain lands to mineral
entry (mining claims). She related that Girdwood is home to
Alyeska Ski Resort, the largest recreational facility of its
kind in Alaska. Girdwood also has multiple world class hiking,
cross country running, mountain biking and Nordic ski trails. It
is a year round recreational destination for Alaskans and
visitors to the state, as well. SB 181 allows for the expansion
of these recreational opportunities in the mountains to the east
of the ski resort by closing additional state lands in the
Glacier and Winner Creek drainages to mining claims. A large
portion of the land had already been closed to mining claims
since 1992 by action of the legislature. And that closure has
recently been extended by the legislature to the Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) commissioner. SB 181 will complete some
necessary additional land closures in that area for recreational
use.
She said there is widespread support for the bill from private
persons who live in the Girdwood area as well as businesses
there. Even the Alaska Mining Association supports this bill. Of
significance to her was one that one of her Hope constituents
who is a placer miner recently "poked around" in this area and
reported that he saw no significant mining opportunities on this
land supports this bill, too. This bill will not impact Crow
Creek, an active gold mining area several miles to the
southwest.
4:36:55 PM
SHARON LONG, staff to Senator Cathy Giessel, Alaska State
Legislature, provided a sectional analysis for SB 181.
Section 1 states the purpose of the bill is to approve the
interim classifications contained in mineral order 121.
Section 2 identifies the land in the Glacier Creek and Winner
Creek drainages that are closed to new mineral entry. Section 3
amends the description of land in the Glacier Creek and Winner
Creek drainages that were closed to mineral entry and approved
by the legislature in section 2, chapter 8, SLA 2003, a bill
that Senate French was a cross sponsor of, by excluding two
additional mining claim recordations that were left out in that
legislation.
Section 4 provides for an immediate effective date.
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN said page 1, line 12, talks about "new mineral
entry" and seemed to infer that current mineral activity was
going on there and asked if that was true.
MS. LONG replied her understanding was that the lands in the
blue area of the map had been closed to mineral entry since 1992
for a 10-year period and extended again in 2003. The new mineral
order which was issued this last year is the gold area. She was
unaware of mining activity in that area, but the division could
speak to specifics.
4:39:20 PM
WYN MENEFEE, Chief of Operations, Division of Mining, Land and
Water, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), explained that
were no mineral claims or locations within the area except for
the federal claims in the Crow Creek area, and those existed
prior to the original mineral closing order.
4:40:22 PM
FRED PARADY, Executive Director, Alaska Miners Association,
Juneau, AK, stated support for SB 181. While some may find it
surprising that the association supports this bill, he said they
were specifically appreciative of the process followed by DNR in
evaluating the proposed areas as to their mineral potential and
other values. They support the closure orders and agree with the
assessment that these lands are properly suitable for expansion
of the recreation uses. He noted that if such uses cease, they
would like to the see the closure orders reversed and the areas
reopened to mineral development, commenting that you just never
know what might happen in the future.
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN held SB 181 in committee.
SB 205-CHINOOK RESEARCH & RESTORATION ENDOWMENT
4:42:20 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN announced the consideration of SB 205.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI moved to bring CS for SB 205, labeled LS-
271312\D, before the committee as the working document. There
were no objections and it was so ordered.
4:42:50 PM
DAVID SCOTT, staff to Senator Donny Olson, Alaska State
Legislature, sponsor of SB 205, explained that the CS mirrors
the companion House bill. It creates a trust fund and
establishes a long term source of funding to support high
quality interdisciplinary research on Alaska king salmon in AS
37.14. He explained that in 2010, the Yukon kings were declared
failing by the federal government and of the 14 stocks of
concern in the state, 8 are king salmon stocks. He thought it
was time to augment what the Alaska Department of Fish and Game
(ADF&G) has been doing.
MR. SCOTT provided a sectional analysis explaining what each of
the new sections to AS 37.14 would do as follows:
Section 37.14.650 establishes the Chinook Salmon
Research and Restoration Fund.
Section 37.14.655 establishes the grant account in the
General Fund. The fund would make the money and the
legislature would appropriate money out of it. From
the grant fund the board, which is created later,
would award grants to Alaskan entities that would put
forward projects for restoration or research regarding
king salmon. Section 37.14.660 is where the Department
of Revenue (DOR) commissioner will identify the
availability of funds to be appropriated to the
restoration fund from the grant fund.
Section 37.14.665 relates to what the appropriations
in the grant account may be used for. "Research and
restoration" was changed to "research or restoration"
to not limit their use. They can also be used for
reimbursement to the Department of Revenue (DOR) for
the cost establishing and managing the fund and
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic
Development (DCCED) for the cost of establishing and
administering the board and the grant program. They
may also be used for matching funds for private and
federal grants and soliciting contributions for
purposes consistent with establishment of the fund.
The board may also expend private donations for uses
consistent with the fund and the purposes of the
grantee of a private fund.
Section 37.14.670 establishes the board and .675
further specifies who is on the board. They are all
appointed by the governor and includes the
commissioner of ADF&G and six public members, one each
residing in from Southeast, Southcentral, Southwest,
Western, Arctic and Interior Alaska. They must be
engaged somehow in subsistence, personal, sport or
commercial use of king salmon. Section .680 is how the
board will administer the program. Section .685 says
what the board has to consider in reviewing grant
applications (not awarding projects that are not
needed). The board will also consider whether the
applicant has appropriate experience. It must consider
recommendations of state agencies or organizations
involved in salmon management. It must give priority
grants that target king salmon stocks that are stocks
of concern that are subject to state or federal
fisheries disaster declarations, that are closed or
significantly restricted or have declined
significantly from historic yields. Section .695 is
definitions.
4:50:10 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN found no further questions.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if this is truly aimed at salmon as a
statewide resource.
MR. SCOTT confirmed that this is aimed at a statewide resource.
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN held SB 205 in committee.
4:53:46 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Co-Chair Paskvan adjourned the Senate Resources Committee
meeting at 4:53 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB0123 vs M.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 123 |
| SB 123 Research & backup.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 123 |
| DRAFT CS SB - 153 - Version D.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 153 |
| SB 159 RFH.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 159 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 159.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 159 Sectional Analysis.PDF |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 159 Expanded Bullets on SSF area plans public process.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 159 Susitna State Forest Briefing Paper.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 159 Susitna State Forest Briefing Side by Side.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 159 Suuport Docs.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 159 MAPS.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB 181 Hearing Request Memo.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |
| SB 181 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |
| SB 181 ver M.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |
| SB 181 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |
| SB 181 Supporting Document-Certification Letter Comm Sullivan DNR.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |
| SB 181 Supporting Document-Findings of the Commissioner DNR.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |
| SB 181 Supporting Document-Letters of Support with Index.PDF |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |
| SB 205 hearing request.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB 205 - SS.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB 205 - version M.PDF |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB 205 - Advisory Committees by Region.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB 205 - Regional AC's regulations.PDF |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB 205 Letters of Support.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB159-DNR-FMD-03-09-12.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB205-DOR-TRS-03-07-12.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB205-DOA-DOF-02-22-12.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB205-DCCED-DCRA-03-09-12.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB205-DFG-CO-03-09-12.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 205 |
| SB 181 Supporting Document-AMA Letter, USDA Letter.PDF |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |
| SB 159 Ruffed Grouse Soc.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 159 |
| SB123-DOA-FAC-3-11-12.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 123 |
| SB181-DNR-MLW-03-07-12.pdf |
SRES 3/12/2012 3:30:00 PM |
SB 181 |