03/20/2023 01:00 PM House RESOURCES

                 HB 104-EXPEDITED TIMBER SALES                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:45:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCKAY announced that the next order of business would be                                                                  
HOUSE BILL NO. 104, "An Act relating to expedited timber sales."                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:45:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MIKE CRONK,  Alaska State  Legislature, as  prime                                                               
sponsor, presented  HB 104 and paraphrased  the sponsor statement                                                               
[included  in  the  committee  packet],  which  read  as  follows                                                               
[original punctuation provided]:                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     House  Bill- 104  is written  to  accomplish five  main                                                                    
     goals:                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     1.  To  increase  public safety  by  reducing  wildfire                                                                    
     risks.                                                                                                                     
     2. Provide  timber resources in abundance  for industry                                                                    
     growth.                                                                                                                    
     3. Reduce firefighting costs to the state.                                                                                 
     4.  Provide  fuel  for biomass  energy  production  and                                                                    
     expansion.                                                                                                                 
     5. Increase local job opportunities.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Alaska's  timber  resources  are plentiful  and  sorely                                                                    
     underutilized.  In   the  Interior   when  a   tree  is                                                                    
     harvested  it is  one less  tree for  mother nature  to                                                                    
     burn. When  insect infestation  occurs, timber  dies by                                                                    
     the millions of board feet.  Even so much of this dying                                                                    
     or  dead timber  is usable.  We must  aggressively make                                                                    
     this  fire ready,  and beetle  killed timber  available                                                                    
     before it deteriorates.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     This  legislation directs  our State  Forester and  the                                                                    
     Division to  focus on areas of  commercial timber where                                                                    
     fire dangers  are high  as well  as areas  under insect                                                                    
     infestation as a priority.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
        HB    104 has the support of: Governor Dunleavy,                                                                        
       Commissioner of Natural Resources, Alaska Forestry                                                                       
     Association, and other Industry users.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:46:56 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MEARS  expressed  her  interest  in  a  committee                                                               
substitute for a comparison.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
1:47:16 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE  asked if  the bill would  be added  to the                                                               
20-year timber sale.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE CRONK  replied that he  is working on  all options                                                               
in the CS.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   MCCABE    commented   that   he    had   several                                                               
conversations recently about timber sales,  and he urged that the                                                               
CS include  some sort of payment  schedule that is not  an entire                                                               
20 years up front.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE CRONK  offered his belief  that when the  CS comes                                                               
about,  it would  be a  very thorough  bill and  everyone in  the                                                               
industry would approve.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:48:17 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCKAY announced that HB 104 was held over.