04/05/2017 01:00 PM House RESOURCES

        HB 130-GAME REFUGE/CRIT HABITAT AREA BOUNDARIES                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:55:14 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  JOSEPHSON announced  that the  final order  of business                                                               
would be  HOUSE BILL  NO. 130,  "An Act  relating to  the Izembek                                                               
State Game  Refuge, Cape Newenham  State Game Refuge,  Palmer Hay                                                               
Flats  State  Game Refuge,  Port  Moller  Critical Habitat  Area,                                                               
Egegik Critical Habitat Area, Pilot  Point Critical Habitat Area,                                                               
Fox  River Flats  Critical Habitat  Area,  Kachemak Bay  Critical                                                               
Habitat  Area,   and  Dude  Creek  Critical   Habitat  Area;  and                                                               
providing for an effective date."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
2:55:28 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
The committee took a brief at-ease.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
2:55:40 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MORGAN  FOSS, Legislative  Liaison, Office  of the  Commissioner,                                                               
Alaska Department  of Fish &  Game, introduced HB  130, sponsored                                                               
by the  House Rules Committee  by request  of the governor.   She                                                               
explained the  bill pertains to  the legal  boundary descriptions                                                               
of  special  areas,  state  game  refuges  (SGRs),  and  critical                                                               
habitat areas (CHAs).  State game  refuges, of which there are 12                                                               
in the  state, are designed  to protect and preserve  the natural                                                               
habitat  and game  population; SGRs  and CHAs  are co-managed  by                                                               
ADFG  and  the  Department  of Natural  Resources  (DNR),  or  in                                                               
certain  cases,   a  private  landholder.     Ms.  Foss  directed                                                               
attention  to a  map of  the Izembek  SGR located  near Cold  Bay                                                               
[slide 1].   Izembek  SGR was established  by the  legislature in                                                               
1972  with the  intent to  incorporate tide  and submerged  lands                                                               
into  the  SGR, thus  incorporating  the  waterbodies within  the                                                               
[Izembek   National   Wildlife   Refuge]  watershed   and   fully                                                               
protecting  waterfowl  and  shorebird  habitat  in  the  bay  and                                                               
lagoon.  She said the exclusion  of the waterbodies may have been                                                               
due to imperfect mapping of mean  highwater in the '60s and '70s.                                                               
Slide 2  was a  map of  Cape Newenham  SGR, located  near Izembek                                                               
SGR,  and  she  characterized  the changes  there  as  "the  same                                                               
scenario with [land]  ... that was intended for  inclusion."  Ms.                                                               
Foss turned  attention to slide  3 that was  a map of  the Palmer                                                               
Hay Flats  SGR which was  designated by the legislature  in 1975.                                                               
The Palmer  Hay Flats SGR  surrounds the Matanuska River  and the                                                               
riverbed is  owned by  the state.   The  original survey  in 1913                                                               
platted a  fixed river  channel, which  has since  has meandered,                                                               
making  the designated  area no  longer practicable  for managers                                                               
and  users.    The  bill would  incorporate  the  excluded  areas                                                               
indicated by the crosshatched areas shown on slide 3.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
2:59:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR   JOSEPHSON  asked   how  the   undesignated  land   was                                                               
previously classified.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. FOSS  said some of the  land within the Palmer  Hay Flats SGR                                                               
is private, and there are various land types in these areas.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR JOSEPHSON clarified his question  in that in the Izembek                                                               
SGR, for example, what is  the classification of the parcels that                                                               
are being added.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS.  FOSS answered  [the land]  is  not part  of the  CHA and  is                                                               
designated  as  state water.    She  then directed  attention  to                                                               
[slide  4]  that was  a  map  of  the  Port Moller  CHA  boundary                                                               
established in  1972, and  said the  demarcations were  six miles                                                               
west  of the  intended boundary,  which erroneously  incorporated                                                               
the  community of  Nelson Lagoon  into the  CHA.   The bill  will                                                               
correct the  boundaries and benefit  the community.   In response                                                               
to  Co-Chair  Josephson,  she agreed  the  aforementioned  change                                                               
would affect residents.   Slides 5 and 6 were  maps of the Egegik                                                               
CHA  and the  Pilot  Point  CHA boundaries,  both  of which  have                                                               
noncontiguous segments  due to mistakes in  the 1972 legislation;                                                               
corrections in  HB 130  would redraw the  boundaries so  that the                                                               
previously isolated segments become part of a contiguous CHA.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH inquired  as to how the  affected areas were                                                               
discovered.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. FOSS said  ADFG habitat biologists and  staff have discovered                                                               
mistakes inconsistent with the original intent of legislation.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE WESTLAKE  recalled the issue  of a road  from King                                                               
Cove  [proposed  in the  Izembek  National  Wildlife Refuge]  and                                                               
asked what prompted moving the land into a CHA or SGR.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. FOSS  explained the bill  would not  add land to  CHAs except                                                               
for  the  change to  the  Dude  Creek  CHA.   The  department  is                                                               
shifting boundaries to align with the original statutory intent.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
3:04:45 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  JOSEPHSON returned  attention  to the  Port Moller  CHA                                                               
boundary  and asked  whether there  was a  problem affecting  the                                                               
community of Nelson Lagoon.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS.  FOSS  understood that  when  the  community was  erroneously                                                               
placed  within the  CHA in  1972,  there was  "much concern  over                                                               
this."   In  further  response to  Co-Chair  Josephson, she  said                                                               
there was  no change  in the  acreage of  the CHA  illustrated on                                                               
slide 5.  She further  described the boundary error affecting the                                                               
Pilot Point  CHA, and presented slide  7, which was a  map of the                                                               
Fox River  Flats CHA  located at  the head  of Kachemak  Bay, and                                                               
created in  1972.  Shown on  the map was the  mean highwater line                                                               
which  divides  the  uplands from  the  tidelines  and  submerged                                                               
water, which is important to the  boundary of the CHA.  Along the                                                               
north and  east boundaries, four  of the seven  meridian township                                                               
ranges  (MTRs)  have  tidelands  and  submerged  water  excluded;                                                               
however, the exclusions were not  applied consistently.  The bill                                                               
would remove  the existing exclusions  so that all  four sections                                                               
are treated  consistently; at this  time, the affected  areas are                                                               
the  intersection of  the  Bradley River  and  the tidelines  and                                                               
submerged lands.  She added that  Kachemak Bay was sinking and is                                                               
now  rebounding,  so  a  flexible definition  of  the  mean  high                                                               
tideline is necessary.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  JOSEPHSON asked  whether  ADFG has  heard any  concerns                                                               
from the community or residents of Homer.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MS. FOSS  said ADFG  has not received  negative feedback  and has                                                               
received  letters  of  support  from  two  organizations  in  the                                                               
Kachemak Bay area.   Directing attention to slide 8,  which was a                                                               
map of  the Kachemak Bay CHA,  she said the Kachemak  Bay CHA was                                                               
created in  1974 as a list  of townships and ranges  and the tide                                                               
and  submerged  land  and  waters within,  and  includes  all  of                                                               
Kachemak  Bay  except a  small  area  omitted  by error.    Long-                                                               
standing access to the area would not be affected by the bill.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked for the significance of a CHA.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:09:31 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. FOSS said a CHA is open  to multiple use as long as [multiple                                                               
use]  does  not   conflict  with  the  original   intent  of  the                                                               
protection.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR JOSEPHSON surmised the Fox  River Flats area is subsumed                                                               
inside Kachemak Bay.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MS. FOSS said correct.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:10:22 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND asked for the location of Kachemak Selo.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS.  FOSS  explained [the  community  of]  Kachemak Selo  is  the                                                               
beachfront area.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR JOSEPHSON  asked for further  questions to  be submitted                                                               
in writing, due to time constraints.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MS. FOSS  directed attention to  slide 9 which  was a map  of the                                                               
Dude  Creek CHA  boundary  in  Gustavus near  Glacier  Bay.   She                                                               
described this area  as an addition of land -  that was purchased                                                               
by  Nature Conservancy  in 2016  - to  an existing  CHA.   Nature                                                               
Conservancy  subsequently transferred  ownership of  the land  to                                                               
the  state, and  in November  2016, the  [Gustavus City  Council]                                                               
passed a  resolution urging ADFG  to accept  management authority                                                               
and  incorporate the  land  into  the CHA.    There  has been  no                                                               
negative feedback at this time.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
HB 130 was held over.