03/20/2002 03:35 PM Senate RES

          HB 131-FOREST RESOURCES & PRACTICES STANDARDS                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN TORGERSON announced HB 131 to be up for consideration                                                                  
and said it was introduced by the House Rules Committee at the                                                                  
request of the Governor.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MS. CAROL CARROLL, Director, Support Services, Department of                                                                    
Natural Resources (DNR), said:                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     What  the   bill  does,   it  identifies  the   riparian                                                                   
     standards for Region 3. The  Board of Forestry requested                                                                   
     the science  and technical subgroup to get  together and                                                                   
     identify  all of  the best  science.  They got  together                                                                   
     with  an  implementation  group  and  with  all  of  the                                                                   
     affected parties  to make sure  what we were  looking at                                                                   
     in the scientific and technical  group really would work                                                                   
     on  the ground.  After that  process  was completed,  we                                                                   
     brought  the bill  back  to the  Board  of Forestry  for                                                                   
     their review  and that bill  is what you see  before you                                                                   
     today.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. CARROLL said the committee has a "consensus bill" before it.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN TORGERSON asked what the  difference was between this and                                                              
Areas 1 and 2.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MS.  CARROLL replied  that Area  1 is  coastal Alaska,  Area 3  is                                                              
Interior Alaska and Area 2 is next.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MS. MARTY  FREEMAN, Division  of Forestry, DNR,  said she  was co-                                                              
chair  of the  Science and  Technical  Committee in  the group  of                                                              
stakeholders.  She  said  that the  difference  between  this  and                                                              
Region  1 is  that  they have  a different  stream  classification                                                              
system in  the Interior that is  tailored to the  different stream                                                              
types there.  In Region  1 there are  four different  stream types                                                              
including anadromous streams and  tributaries. In the Interior the                                                              
streams are both  anadromous and high value resident  fish streams                                                              
and those are subdivided between non-glacial and glacial waters.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MR.  BOB  ZACHEL   said  he  was  the  Interior   timber  industry                                                              
representative on  the Science and  Technical Committee  when they                                                              
worked on this.  He said, "I wanted  to make it clear  that what I                                                              
thought I was  getting from this agreement was that  Fish and Game                                                              
must present  clear scientific data  to justify any  objections to                                                              
sales beyond the 100 ft. setback."                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN TORGERSON asked if he wanted  to see something in statute                                                              
rather than just have a promise from ADF&G.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MR. ZACHEL said he did.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR.  JAMES  DURST,  Division  of  Habitat  and  Restoration,  DNR,                                                              
supported  HB 131.  He  commented,  "I think  it's  been a  pretty                                                              
impressive, consensus based development  and nobody got absolutely                                                              
everything we  wanted, but I  think we all  got enough of  what we                                                              
needed to get…"                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
He said it was  a good balanced bill and clarified  that it wasn't                                                              
their intention  to deal with issues  beyond 100 ft.  The existing                                                              
statute calls  for a  100 ft. special  management area  along high                                                              
value resident  and [indisc.].  The bill  maintains that  idea and                                                              
narrows it down to 66 ft. on private land.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN  TORGERSON said  he hoped  Mr. Durst  could get  together                                                              
with Mr. Zachel to work the differences out.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. DURST said they had been talking about it.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN TORGERSON said the industry  needed to be on board and if                                                              
it wasn't, he wasn't either.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. BETH CAISSIE, Northern Alaska  Environmental Center, supported                                                              
HB 131. She stated,  "We support this bill because  not only would                                                              
it provide a higher level of protection  for riparian habitats and                                                              
the fish that depend on it here in  the Interior, but also because                                                              
we support the process by which this bill is drafted…"                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN TORGERSON said that concluded  the committee's agenda for                                                              
the day and adjourned the meeting at 5:07 p.m.