HB 420-FOREST RESOURCES & PRACTICES STANDARDS  CHAIR WAGONER announced HB 420 to be up for consideration. MARTY WELBOURN FREEMAN, Forest Resources Program Manager, Division of Forestry, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), explained that HB 420 updates the riparian management standards in Region II in Southcentral Alaska. Specifically that is the area along streams, particularly salmon and other high-value fish streams. Riparian standards have already been updated for Regions I and III so this is the last in a long process. MS. FREEMAN said the process began with a science and technical committee composed of fisheries biologists, forest ecologists, soil scientists, and hydrologists that looked at relevant information and made recommendations. The recommendations were given to an implementation group, which was composed of representatives of the people potentially affected including forest land owners, the timber industry, the fishing industry, environmental groups, and the agencies that would implement the bill. The idea was to develop practical ways to make the scientists' recommendations work on the ground. Those recommendations are reflected in HB 420. MS. FREEMAN noted that the Board of Forestry worked on and endorses the broadly supported bill. Significant landholders in Region II have been contacted and have expressed a comfort level, she said. HB 420 is specifically tailored to Region II conditions, which are different than the other regions. In particular it has more dynamic rivers that overlap with areas that have potential for commercial forestry. In Region II the volume of timber is lower than other regions, but the fishery values are high. For instance, Region II represents just 11 percent of the land area in the state and it has between 30 percent and 50 percent of the recreational sport fishing. 3:47:10 PM MS. FREEMAN related that the bill broadens the buffers on large dynamic rivers and narrows the buffers on smaller streams. This was a concern to the timber industry because small streams are numerous and difficult to plan around. She described this as a specifically tailored balance. SENATOR BEN STEVENS recalled the rewrite for Region III and asked if the set backs are similar. MS. FREEMAN replied the buffers are different in each region to accommodate specific conditions. Region II is quite different from Region III because of the number of large rivers that overlap with timber that has commercial potential. She said wider buffers are needed on those stream types because the way they recruit wood into the stream to form islands and side channels is by eroding the banks as the channels shift. The side channels are particularly important for fish habitat. SENATOR BEN STEVENS asked if the percentage of wide buffers is greater in Region II than in Region III. MS. FREEMAN responded Region II has more large and small rivers, but it's an overall package that is reasonable in terms of protecting the resources and the impact that would have on landowners. 3:49:20 PM JAMES DURST, Office of Habitat Management (OHM), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Fairbanks, said DNR/OHM fully supports the process and the outcome. CHAIR WAGONER closed the public hearing. SENATOR BEN STEVENS asked where he could find definitions for the different stream and river types. MS. FREEMAN replied the last section of the bill contains the specific definitions for the water bodies that are specific to Region II. Each region has its own classification system based on the stream type, the topography, and the distribution of fish in the particular stream. SENATOR BEN STEVENS asked if she was referring to Section 6 on page 8. MS. FREEMAN said yes. 3:51:11 PM SENATOR BERT STEDMAN moved to report CSHB 420(FSH) from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. No objection was stated, and it was so ordered.