HRES - 02/06/95 HB 121 - SALVAGE TIMBER SALES SARA HANNAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL LOBBY, stated she is a property owner in Cooper Landing and over the past 30 years has seen the devastation the spruce bark beetle brings to forests. As a property owner, she has concerns about fire and timber damage and how the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has managed the dying timber in Southcentral Alaska. MS. HANNAN stressed there are two things HB 121 does not do which it needs to do. She stated HB 121 needs to address salvage timber that is dead or dying trees. She noted the intention of HB 121 is to address the dead and dying timber in Southcentral and Northern Alaska but HB 121 does not limit it to that. HB 121, as written, opens up any negotiated sale to 25 years. She pointed out if the state waits 25 years to address the beetle problem in Southcentral Alaska, the next cycle of beetle kill will have already begun. Beetles are not brought on by current suppression techniques but rather are brought on as a natural cycle in a normal forest of uniform age. She added the spruce bark beetle thrives in a forest that has a uniform age and the beetle corridor follows the road corridor, which is an area which was harvested approximately seven years ago. MS. HANNAN said it is important now to address what the ongoing problem is from a legislative perspective. She stated she was outraged to hear DNR say it does have a tool to manage harvesting if the harvesting could happen within 366 days but there was not a tool available if the harvest was going to take 367 days, and that a five year sale is too long to negotiate, and a one year sale is too short. She felt it was an outrageous problem but is not a statutory problem. She said the current management available to DNR allows for them, the regional managers, the borough, and private land owners to negotiate sales to harvest spruce bark beetle kill, fire threatened timber anywhere in the state which needs harvesting. MS. HANNAN noted the morning's Anchorage Daily News talked about habitat concerns on the Kenai. She said the area wildlife biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) said the current timber sale harvest rates on the Kenai Peninsula are going to, in the next couple of years, provide a crisis in habitat management for big game. She wondered if a situation is going to be created where the bear corridor is going to be driven back into the resident population because the only trees left standing are those on private property. She urged committee members to look cautiously at the future of a complicated ecosystem and not to respond to people's concerns when a timber company has not been able to negotiate a timber sale they desire. She pointed out there are a lot of timber harvesters who are currently cutting trees on Southcentral Peninsula where the beetle infestation is the biggest. She stressed it is not necessary for a statutory change to accomplish the intent of HB 121 which is to salvage dead and dying trees. Number 068 JACK PHELPS, AIDE, REPRESENTATIVE BILL WILLIAMS, PRIME SPONSOR, stated HB 121 addresses a problem in the state and specifically allows the state to begin the public process of examining timber sales, under the circumstances described, more quickly than it currently can. Currently, the state is required to list those timber sales in two five-year schedules, meaning there is a minimum of 24 months of scheduling before the sales can begin. He felt it was important for the committee to note that HB 121 does not set aside any of the requirements of the Forest Practices Act (FPA) in terms of how the timber is harvested. He said it was also important for the committee to note that HB 121 does not set aside any public comments. He pointed out that HB 121 does require a time for both agency and municipal comment, as well as public comment before the state goes forward. MR. PHELPS explained the second section of HB 121 adds an additional element to those situations in which the state can negotiate a sale. He noted that these negotiated sales are currently in statute and require all three of the elements listed on page 2, lines 2-4, before a salvage sale can go forward. He stated what HB 121 adds to that requirement is the timber which is being referred to as salvageable. He pointed out the provisions of HB 121 are in harmony with current regulations that indicate when there is timber endangered by insects or disease epidemics, it should be harvested quickly REPRESENTATIVE PETE KOTT stated based on testimony he heard, there are a lot of positives to be gained by HB 121. REPRESENTATIVE KOTT made a MOTION to MOVE HB 121 out of committee with individual recommendations. CO-CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS asked if there were any objections. Hearing none, the MOTION PASSED.