HOUSE BILL NO. 395 An Act extending the period of the fire season. KONRAD JACKSON, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE KURT OLSON, testified that the spruce bark beetle kill on the Kenai Peninsula has created an enormous amount of dry grass and that the dead trees are susceptible to lightning strikes and man made fires. The threat grows greater every year. Gradually over the past several years, the climate in that area has been warming earlier, leaving wild areas dry and increasing the risk of major wildfires. Mr. Jackson pointed out that the largest uncontained fire on the Southern Kenai Peninsula was the Tracy Avenue fire, st starting before May 1, 2005, threatening residents and property. The fire might have been contained had the equipment and personnel been available the first day it started. Mr. Jackson discussed that by moving the fire season start st date to April 1, allows the State to become actively involved in the fire prevention and control earlier in the season. 2:58:45 PM Representative Weyhrauch questioned if an extra month would add additional expense and asked why the Legislature should decide rather than the Commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources. Mr. Jackson reported that the intention was to provide the Commissioner with the authority to bring people online earlier. Representative Weyhrauch repeated his question. Mr. Jackson noted it is at the request of the firefighters to be able to be better prepared, earlier in the season. He pointed out that in some instances, the State has to pay for firefighters brought up from the lower '48. Representative Foster commented that over 1,000 fires are man made and questioned the relief that comes from arson fires. Mr. Jackson said that they had not considered arson set fires. It is the early season fires that are the main concern. He did not know how those fires were started, but the intent is to guarantee that they are put out as quickly as possible with available resources. 3:04:17 PM Representative Holm voiced concern that bills like this set the entire State into a poor situation. He asked if using "fire season" would provide the Commissioner more power for all the State. Mr. Jackson said it would. He added that the Commissioner "may" designate periods other than the fire season to prohibit the setting of fires that would unduly increase fire danger. The legislation only puts it into effect, one month earlier. Representative Holm voiced concerned with the snow melting at different times in various parts of the State, making the fire potential different statewide. He believed that a "blanket statement" could negatively affect different parts of the State not at danger. Mr. Jackson pointed out that currently, local authorities determine the local danger. The local municipalities deter regionally. 3:08:18 PM CRAIG GOODRICH, (TESTIFIED VIA TELECONFERENCE), FIRE CHIEF, CITY OF ANCHORAGE, testified that the purpose of the legislation requests to bring on air crews and part time membership one month earlier. That action would help fight campaign fires. He advised the structural component of having the crews on one month earlier. Mr. Goodrich stressed that this is a crucial issue. A campaign fire costs the State about $1 million dollars per day. He noted what the fiscal costs represent. 3:10:15 PM Representative Weyhrauch inquired why the bill does not indicate that the Commissioner designate the fire season each year. Mr. Goodrich explained that would require a guess to determine when the fires will occur. The intent is to have the seasonal employees back to work and equipment ready to go on fire alert. He emphasized that the training and the equipment should be ready beforehand. It would be better to move it up one month in statute. Representative Weyhrauch reiterated why the first sentence could not say that the Commissioner designates the first day. Mr. Goodrich replied that language would ask the Commissioner to imagine when to suspect a fire season starts. There is an ecological change in conditions now happening and the fire seasons are simply starting a month earlier. 3:12:08 PM Representative Kelly was concerned about the fiscal note accompanying the bill and spoke to the relentless pressure of employees in every field wanting to go to work earlier. He asked about exchanging the month up front, giving up the back end. Mr. Goodrich deferred to the Department of Natural Resources. Representative Kelly reiterated his concern with the fiscal note. Co-Chair Meyer agreed. 3:14:27 PM Representative Hawker disagreed with the manner in which the bill had been presented. He requested to question Mr. Bus from the Department. SCOTT WALDEN, (TESTIFIED VIA TELECONFERENCE), COORDINATOR, KENAI PENINSULA BOROUGH EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICE, KENAI, spoke in support of the legislation. He provided members a handout of the major Kenai Peninsula fires since 1996+. [Copy on File]. He stressed that prevention is very important. Mobilization is a reaction and an expense itself. Having the resources prepared comes with costs - it is proactive. He urged support for the bill. 3:19:00 PM Representative Kelly referenced the beetle kill spruce concern and asked if that area was being logged to the maximum. Mr. Walden did not know the logging level. There is mitigation process preparation going on daily. They are concentrating on the egress points, preparing for the large fires. The Northern areas will benefit from passage of the legislation. The staging areas are generally in Palmer and Kenai. Having the operations one month early will benefit the entire region. Representative Kelly asked about the coordinated approach. He thought it was "insane" not to maximize logging when it serves as the base of the problem. 3:21:00 PM Mr. Jackson advised that in the House Resource Committee, testimony was heard indicating there has been a significant amount of logging in the region, which has helped with the mitigation effort. He understood that since the majority of the trees have been dead for a long time, the value of that timber is rapidly decreasing. 3:22:18 PM NICO BUS, ACTING DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, offered to answer questions of the Committee. He noted queries proposed by Representative Weyhrauch, regarding the statutes, stating that the proposed date of April through September has been offered because the Department of Natural Resources prefers to provide fire protection in a cost effective manner. The easiest way to do that would be to provide long-term contracts. The standard fire season used to be through late May to middle July. The contracts were written and ready by that time; however, currently, the aviation contracts are May through September. As history has indicated and climates have changed, the fires are happening earlier, which is part of the reason for the fiscal request - $395 thousand dollars contractual services. He addressed the five-year contracts. Mr. Buss responded to comments made by Representative Kelly regarding employee's pressure to come back to work earlier. The Department only has 32 full time employees in the fire preparedness program and 179 seasonal employees, which remain four to seven months. The season is limited. He recommended that what should be focused upon are determining the needs and the best utilization of that staff. If the State waits until May to train, they might not be ready or fully trained when the fires start. 3:25:29 PM Representative Hawker observed that the bill changes the definition of "fire season". The only operative effect defining fire season, the Commissioner may offer preventive activities. He admitted that the additional authority should provide that and understood that extending the date was the entire consequence of the bill. Representative Hawker asked if the State was mandated to have the definition of the fire contracts in place during the fire season. He believed there were two separate policy calls being proposed and was troubled with the fiscal note. He proposed it be zeroed out and run through the Department of Natural Resources' subcommittee budget. 3:29:00 PM Mr. Bus agreed it was a policy call, noting that the Department was requesting the funding. Co-Chair Meyer indicated he would not be "comfortable" letting the bill leave Committee with the accompanying fiscal note because of the impacts that would have on the operating budget. Representative Holm applauded Representative Hawker's st assessment. He asked why April 1 had been chosen. He remembered the huge fire in Fairbanks, which the State did not fight. Mr. Bus responded that the proposed legislation would not impact actually the fighting of fires. 3:31:32 PM LYNN WILCOCK, (TESTIFIED VIA TELECONFERENCE), CHIEF OF FIRE AND AVIATION, DIVISION OF FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL st RESOURCES, ANCHORAGE, stated that the April 1 date was set th because often fires begin by April 15. Representative Holm commented on the nature of his "seasonal business", proactively preparing in the autumn for the upcoming spring. He pointed out he attempts to rehire as many workers as possible from the previous year, so that they do not need to be trained. Mr. Wilcock said they do a lot of preparatory work in the fall for fire fighting in the spring; however, pointed out that they are subject to the national standard for fighting fires, which calls for annual recertification for the safety of the fire fighters. Also, there is extensive work, which needs to be done in the spring for the fire-fighting season. 3:35:04 PM Representative Joule inquired if there were other types of trees being impacted by the spruce type beetle. Mr. Wilcock replied that spruce bark beetle was the biggest influence. He knew there were others, affecting hardwoods but not nearly with the same impact. He mentioned the aspen fluff. Representative Joule asked if there was an insect affecting the birch trees. Mr. Wilcock replied that they have seen birch pathogens, mostly defoliators, which cause leave fall later in the summer. Typically, hardwood stands are not the problem in Alaska. It is controlling grass in the spring and later on in the summer, switching to black spruce. 3:37:14 PM Representative Joule inquired if the State was experiencing a reduced annual precipitation. Mr. Wilcock replied he is not a climitologist. He indicated that two years of reduced rainfall is not an indication of a climate change and he did not know if there was a new trend. Representative Kelly read from the bill regarding the Commissioner making the declaration. He did not want to experience pressure to bring employees on for longer periods of time. He thought that the bill's language would provide plenty of flexibility to the Commissioner. 3:39:31 PM Mr. Wilcock responded that the Commissioner's authority was exercised in 2003, the spring in which there were many fires. A fire must occur before the Commissioner can declare a fire season early-start. It only takes one full day of sunshine before the fire season starts and that is difficult to predict. Representative Kelly commented, "flexibility is relative to weather conditions". He recommended extending it back by a couple weeks and leaving the budget alone. 3:43:00 PM CHRIS MAISCH, (TESTIFIED VIA TELECONFERENCE), DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, ANCHORAGE, explained that the problem with the early fire season indication is that the budget is in two different BRU's. The suppression portion of the budget cannot be accessed until there is activity. To bring people on early in the season, they have to take the funds from the preparedness part of the budget. That part of the budget is currently funded at a level that allows bringing people back st at the May 1 date. It is not simple because of the financial resource restrictions. Representative Kelly thought it could be moved up a couple of weeks without further budget appropriation. Co-Chair Meyer asked if the bill were passed, would it guarantee no supplemental funding requests next year. Representative Hawker commented that previous testimony should not determine the budgeting process. He disagreed about the need. He recommended structuring a budget without the additional money and restructuring the BRU concerns. He emphasized that pushing the date back does not have a fiscal consequence. 3:46:45 PM Representative Kerttula asked the cost per day of combating a big fire. Mr. Bus responded anywhere between $1 thousand - $260 thousand dollars per day. Representative Kerttula questioned the problem between the two BRU's with the Department's budget. Mr. Bus explained that the history of the fire suppression budget is varied. The Department has tried a new approach in which they completely separate it from actually doing the suppression. By doing that, they attempt to approximate what an average fire year would cost. Then the preparedness aspect is used for aviation contracts and seasonal staff. The proposed legislation proposes to make those contracts longer. With the current allocations, the Department cannot extend the season. 3:49:01 PM Representative Kerttula stated that the bottom line is that the Department cannot take care of the fire season with the current budget. Mr. Bus replied that without the seasonal staff and the contracts, it becomes an efficiency issue. The contracts need to be in place to make the process more economical and is part of the speculation. Co-Chair Meyer referenced all the "unknowns". He recommended that the concerns be further discussed in the Department of Natural Resources Subcommittee with Representative Kelly, the Subcommittee Chair. HB 395 was HELD in Committee for further discussion.