Legislature(2009 - 2010)BUTROVICH 205
04/08/2010 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview from Conoco Philips | |
| HB210 | |
| HJR40 | |
| HJR26 | |
| HCR10 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | HB 210 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HCR 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HJR 26 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HJR 40 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 210-IZEMBEK STATE GAME REFUGE LAND EXCHANGE
4:02:25 PM
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE announced consideration of HB 210 [CSHB
210(RES) was before the committee].
REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON, sponsor of HB 210, said this bill deals
with a much publicized effort to establish a 30-mile road
between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay. It authorizes
the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to make the
transaction given that the actual land exchange with the federal
government is of unequal values. Title 38 requires the DNR to
authorize land transactions of that nature. Submerged and
tidelands are involved as part of the overall transaction as
well; so the department needs to be able to consummate that.
With the passage of HB 210, he said, further work will need to
be done at the federal level to complete the full authorization
for the construction of the small part of the road that is
missing. The Department of Interior would need to do an
environmental impact study (EIS) and a public interest finding.
He explained that the proposed route goes through about 10 miles
of some bird migration and wilderness areas, which will have to
be approved. He said the most harrowing 10 minute flight he's
ever taken is from Cold Bay to King Cove. With the help of a
hover craft in the last couple of years, transport between the
two areas is easier, but it is very expensive and as well as
cumbersome to keep the hover craft running. For the 750
residents at King Cove this is about accessing the fifth largest
all-weather runway in the state that also happens to be
straddled by both the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. So, for
them this is a life and safety issue.
4:08:12 PM
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE confirmed that she has been contacted by people
from that area who are concerned, and she applauded his efforts
to deal with this problem.
CO-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI said he can understand the health and
safety issue, but this land exchange is controversial because it
is the first time it has been done on a national wildlife
refuge. He asked what kind of community outreach and involvement
process it had been through, and was it acceptable to all
parties.
REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON answered that the land transaction
involves about 60,000 acres versus the 206 acres that comprise
the very narrow one-lane transportation corridor that would
complete the road; the US Fish and Wildlife Service threw in
about 1,600 acres off of Kodiak Island for good measure.
Converting the National Wildlife Refuge into wilderness areas
has been going on since ANILKA was established in 1980, and it
has been happening without any consultation at all with the
community members, fishermen, the tribe or the city. So, the
recent outreach effort has been unprecedented.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if most of the organizations,
particularly environmental, have accepted this as a fair
compromise.
REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON replied that the National Public Lands
Bill that was passed in March of last year took a great deal of
effort including that of the Alaska delegation. Certainly, there
was opposition to it. But many sideboards were enacted around
the construction of the road - a single-lane gravel road, steel
cables on both sides, specified turnouts, and a road design that
has to meet the EIS. Further sideboards are the state process
and public interest finding.
4:12:04 PM
STANLEY MACK, Mayor, Aleutian Seas Borough, Alaska, said he
lives in Sand Point, but also lived in Cold Bay for years. He is
a commercial fisherman and supported HB 210. It is the final
step in a long legislative process authorizing a trade of state
and King Cove Corporation land to the federal government in
exchange for approving a small road through the Izembek National
Wildlife Refuge.
The road corridor will allow for a one-lane gravel road so the
residents of King Cover will finally have a safe and dependable
access to Cold Bay Airport. Not all of the transportation
challenges can be resolved, but King Cove's problem is different
because it can be solved. He couldn't express how happy he is to
think that this is going to happen in his lifetime. It
represents a successful partnership between state and local
government to achieve.
4:16:25 PM
HENRY MACK, Mayor, King Cove, Alaska, said he supported CSHB
210(RES). He said he had lived most of his life in King Cove and
was a commercial fisherman for 40-plus years. This road has long
been in the making since 1976 when they first adopted a
resolution identifying the need. King Cove's small plane airport
is unusable 30 to 40 percent of the time due to high winds. This
will resolve the problem for many people whose lives are
impacted by the lack of reliable access to the Cold Bay Airport.
4:19:56 PM
DICK MYLIUS, Director, Division of Mining, Land and Water,
Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said under AS 38.50 his
division is responsible for conducting land exchanges involving
state land and they support this legislation. It is before them
for two reasons. The first one is that AS 38.50.020 requires
legislative approval of land exchanges for other than equal
appraised fair market values and secondly, one of the provisions
of this exchange is that certain state tide and submerged lands
would be added to the Izembek State Game Refuge.
He said a road from King Cove to Cold Bay has been talked about
for many years and DNR's original Bristol Bay area plan adopted
25 years ago identified the need for this corridor. Regional
transportation prepared by the Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities (DOTPF) has also identified this need. Several
years ago the Aleutian Seas Borough, City of King Cove, King
Cove Village Corporation, Governor's Office and DNR agreed to
revive the discussions about a land exchange to enable
construction of the road and it was largely because borough
leaders had found that the hover craft was not providing a safe
economical long-term solution to King Cove's access needs. So,
the state, the borough, the city and corporation met with the US
Fish and Wildlife Service to develop the land exchange that is
before them now.
MR. MYLIUS said the parties all recognize that the biggest
hurdle for such a land exchange would be securing approval of
the Congress, because it involves federal wilderness refuge
lands. The exchange legislation was introduced by Lisa Murkowski
and Representative Young in 2007; Governor Palin wrote letters
in support, the state testified before the House Committee on
Natural Resources and the land exchange which was originally a
separate piece of legislation was wrapped into the Omnibus lands
bill that was considered late in 2008, and passed in 2009 and
signed into law by President Obama in March.
In putting together the exchange, he said it was clear that due
to concerns over the unique wildlife and wilderness values of
the refuge that a simple fair market value would not adequately
address the public's and Congress' concerns for those values.
So, it was determine at the start that the package would require
state legislative approval. Statute already requires legislative
approval for exchanges for other than an equal appraised fair
market value.
The existing values of most of these parcels of land are
wilderness and wildlife values which are difficult to quantify
in a land appraisal, and similarly with health and safety
concerns of the local residents, the primary reason for the
road.
Acreage-wise the exchange is clearly skewed in favor of the US
Fish and wildlife Service. The state will acquire approximately
206 acres in the road corridor and about 1,600 acres on Sitkinak
Island; US Fish and Wildlife Service will acquire 43,000 acres
of state land that will be added to the National Wildlife
Refuge, 2,500 acres of Native corporation land and another 5,430
acres of Native corporation selections that will be
relinquished. In addition, the King Cove Native Corporation has
agreed that it will sell additional land to the US Fish and
Wildlife Service at fair market value should the service desire
to purchase that land.
In addition to the road corridor, the state will acquire a 1,600
acre parcel on Sitkinak Island which is located south of Kodiak
Island; the remainder of that island is already state or borough
land used for grazing. The 1,600-acre parcel is a former Coast
Guard facility. The value of the two townships the state would
trade to the US Fish and Wildlife Service primary is primarily
wildlife habitat for fish, caribou and brown bear. These lands
drain the western side of Pavlov Volcano and have been offered
for oil and gas leasing in previous state lease sales but have
received no bids. State geologists say that the likely oil and
gas resources lie further north or offshore of these parcels.
4:24:44 PM
MR. MYLIUS said the second provision requires approval by the
legislature for adding 3,000 acres of state tide and submerged
lands in Kinzarof Lagoon, at the head of Cold Bay, to the state
game refuge. These lands have resource values similar to Izembek
Lagoon including valuable eel grass beds, which are critical for
water fowl that migrate through or reside in the area. He said
the department and the governor support this legislation.
SENATOR FRENCH moved to adopt the proposed Senate committee
substitute (SCS) to CSHB 210, labeled 26-LS0788, Version E, as
the working document of the committee. There being no objection,
the motion carried and SCS CSHB 210() was before the committee.
TIM CLARK, staff to Representative Edgmon, explained the
differences. He said the SCS is comprised of three lines on page
5, line 27, that say: "The construction and operation of the
road described in (b)(1) of this section is authorized after the
state receives the land described in (b)(1) of this section in
accordance with PL11-11(Ombibus Public Land Management Act of
2009)."
The reason for this minor addition was to make it clear that
construction and use of the road is allowed if the exchange is
authorized. It is similar to access provisions in existing state
law affecting other state game refuges including the Mendenhall
Wet Lands State Game Refuge and the Goose Bay State Game Refuge.
What might not be immediately clear is that the Izembek National
Refuge is actually super-imposed over a state game refuge, so
while the corridor becomes state land, it also becomes arguably
state game refuge land. This being similar to other provisions
for access in state game refuges they thought it seemed prudent
to add it to the bill.
4:28:30 PM
MR. CLARK said it is rather complex for a seven-page bill,
mainly because this bill answers the three mechanisms in the
federal legislation that can render the exchange null and void:
a finding by the Secretary of the Interior that the exchange is
not in the public interest, a voluntary rendering of null and
void by the state or the Native Corporation made before
construction of the road commenced, and if permitting of the
road was not accomplished within seven years of the federal
act's passage. The clock began in March 2009 when the President
signed the legislation. The challenging structure is if for any
reason the exchange is voided, there is no need to revisit
statute to ensure that all involved lands are returned to their
original status. But if that is not the case, the legislature is
saved the trouble of having to convene to dismantle any of the
transactions.
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE, finding no further comments, closed public
testimony and set the bill aside.
4:31:54 PM
At ease from 4:31-4:33.
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