HB 212 - TIMBER MANAGEMENT; STATE LAND CO-CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS announced that the agenda was a continuation of the Wednesday, January 17, 1996, meeting on HB 212. He added that committee members had been requested to submit any amendments, in writing, so the committee could address them at this meeting. Number 120 REPRESENTATIVE JOHN DAVIES read his proposed amendment for CSHB 212, version "M." He referred to page 3, line 20, and said delete the words "sales of 160 acres or less" and insert "sales under 500,000 board feet." Number 165 CO-CHAIRMAN JOE GREEN objected for the purposes of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES said his purpose in offering this amendment is based on the different productivity rates in different forests of the state. He said in the Tanana Valley State Forest a sale of 160 acres is not a small sale, it is a large one. He added that currently, 80 percent of the timber sales in the Tanana Valley would be less than 160 acres. The productivity of the forest in the Tanana Valley is different from the productivity in the Susitna area. Representative Davies said that if HB 212 were to use "500,000 board feet" instead of "160 acres" it would reduce the amount of acreage sold in the Tanana Valley State Forest to approximately 50 acres. He said the impact in the Susitna area, because the productivity factor is about 3,000 board feet per acre, the acreage would increase to about 166 acres. He concluded that the value of having a number that has to do with the quantity of board feet as opposed to acres is that it will accommodate the different productivity of forests around the state. In the Tanana Valley State Forest, a sale of 160 acres would be tantamount to getting rid of the whole Five Year Schedule; 80 percent of the sales would not be required to be on the schedule. Number 348 REPRESENTATIVE JEANETTE JAMES objected to the proposed amendment to HB 212. She said the wording of "160 acres" is a management tool that is effective because when a sale of 160 acres is announced the public can conceptualize that amount which they can not do with 500,000 board feet. She said the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) gave testimony stating that they will put all sales, even those under 160 acres on the five year schedule, even though they are not required to do so. Number 451 REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES said that he does not believe that there was a strong consensus as to the wording of HB 212. He added that the Board of Forestry is on record, with a unanimous recommendation that if the committee leaves the wording of "160 acres" in HB 212, the board requires that it be on the five year schedule at least once. Number 513 A roll call vote was taken on the proposed amendment to HB 212. Representatives Davies and Long voted in favor of the amendment. Representatives Williams, Green, Ogan, Barnes, Austerman and Kott voted against the amendment. Representative Nicholia was absent for the vote. The motion to adopt Representative Davies amendment to HB 212 failed. Number 536 REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES offered an additional amendment to HB 212. On page 4, line 13, delete the word "management". The wording and the purpose of the state forest would be, "the primary purpose in the establishment of state forests is multiple use that provides for production utilization and replenishment," et cetera. Representative Davies said his primary purpose in deleting the word "management" is to eliminate the connotation that the primary purpose of the forest is bureaucracy, rather than multiple use. Number 587 REPRESENTATIVE JAMES objected to the proposed amendment. Number 625 A roll call vote was taken on Representative Davies proposed amendment. Representatives Davies and Long voted in favor of the amendment. Representatives Williams, Green, Ogan, Barnes, Austerman, and Kott voted against the amendment. Representative Nicholia was absent for the vote. The motion to adopt the proposed amendment to HB 212 failed. Number 638 REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES said he had one last proposed amendment to HB 212. On page 5, lines 20 to 24, delete Section 11 and renumber accordingly. He said Section 11 is redundant with the list that is provided on page 2. Number 713 REPRESENTATIVE JAMES objected. She said the classifications listed on page 2 are in relationship to the forest management plan and Section 11 restates the objective of wildlife management within the Tanana Valley State Forest. REPRESENTATIVE NICHOLIA joined the committee meeting. A roll call vote was taken on the proposed amendment to HB 212. Representatives Davies, Long and Nicholia voted in favor of the amendment. Representatives Kott, Austerman, Barnes, Ogan, Green, Williams voted against the amendment. The motion to adopt the proposed amendment to HB 212 failed. Number 778 CO-CHAIRMAN GREEN moved that committee substitute for HB 212, Resources version, 9LSO695-M, be moved from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. Number 796 REPRESENTATIVE IRENE NICHOLIA asked if the committee received any fiscal notes for the new version from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). CO-CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS said affected agencies can submit fiscal notes to the House Finance Committee when it hears CSHB 212(RES). A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Williams, Green, Ogan, Barnes, Austerman, Kott and Nicholia voted in favor of moving the bill from committee. Representatives Davies and Long voted against moving the bill. The motion to pass committee substitute for HB 212, Resources 9LSO695-M, out of the House Resources Committee succeeded. So HB 212(RES) moved from committee.