Sec. 41.21.625. Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council.

(a) A 12-member Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council is established. The members of the advisory council shall be selected under this section.

(b) The governor shall appoint individuals to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council representing the following interests for a two-year term:

(1) a resident of the Haines Borough representing a conservation organization;

(2) a representative of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; and

(3) a member of the Upper Lynn Canal fish and game advisory committee.

(c) The mayor of the City of Haines, the mayor of the Haines Borough, the president of Klukwan, Inc., the chairman of the Council of the Chilkat Indian Village, and the chairman of the Chilkoot Indian Association are ex officio members of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council. The mayor of the Haines Borough may recommend to the governor for appointment to the advisory council the name of a resident of the Haines Borough for the representation of commercial or industrial interests.

(d) The commissioner of fish and game, the director of the division of parks, and the director of the division of forestry, or their designees, serve ex officio as members of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council.

(e) The Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council shall assist the department in the development and monitoring of a management plan for the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. The management plan shall be presented at public hearings in Haines and Klukwan before approval and implementation by the department.

(f) Members of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council selected under (b) - (d) of this section may select alternates to act as members of the advisory council in their absence.

Sec. 41.21.630. Existing rights.

The establishment of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve under AS 41.21.610 - 41.21.630 does not enlarge, diminish, add to, or waive a requirement of law otherwise applicable to the management or use of the state land of the Haines State Forest Resource Management Area (AS 41.15.300 - 41.15.330) or private land. An activity allowed under law on land not described in AS 41.21.611 (b), including but not limited to an activity described in AS 41.21.618 , timber harvest, mining, resource development, and recreation, is permitted so long as the activity is conducted in compliance with law.

Sec. 41.21.800. Selection of sites.

The department and the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall jointly select sites of ten acres or less for their historic or scenic value, or for recreation beaches along waterways, roadside rests for travelers resting, camping, or parking, and determine what facilities are necessary or desirable at these sites. Selection of the sites for roadside rests and recreation beaches shall be based upon the flow of traffic and distances to and between facilities otherwise provided. Insofar as possible, sites shall be located on, or adjacent to, highway rights-of-way and small boat waterways. The department may acquire the sites jointly selected by grant, gift, purchase, lease, dedication or prescription and hold them in the name of the state.

Sec. 41.21.805. Construction and maintenance of facilities.

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities may construct and maintain facilities at scenic sites, recreation beaches or roadside rests as are determined to be necessary and desirable. Facilities may include, but are not limited to, access roads, camp facilities, including picnic tables, fireplaces and toilets, camping areas or other facilities that are considered necessary and desirable for the convenience and benefit of travelers and small boat operators.

Sec. 41.21.850. Wilderness trails and campsites.

There is established in the state a system of wilderness trails and campsites.

Sec. 41.21.852. Selection.

The department, in consultation with the Departments of Fish and Game and Transportation and Public Facilities, shall designate a system of wilderness trails and campsites throughout the state. Significant in the selection shall be the scenic, historic, natural, or cultural qualities of the areas through which the trails may pass. The department may acquire the trail sites jointly selected by grant, gift, purchase, lease, dedication or prescription and hold them in the name of the state.

Sec. 41.21.854. Uniform marker.

The commissioner shall establish a uniform marker for the wilderness trails system.

Sec. 41.21.856. Regulations.

The commissioner shall adopt regulations concerning the use, management, development, and administration of the trails.

Sec. 41.21.858. Campsites; work by prisoners.

(a) The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities may construct and maintain campsites throughout the wilderness trails system. Campsites may include any type of shelter or camp facility considered necessary and desirable for the benefit and convenience of travelers.

(b) As an aid to the construction and maintenance of trails and campsites under (a) of this section, the commissioner of corrections is authorized to establish a program that would allow prisoners to volunteer for work on the trails and campsites. The commissioner is authorized to grant remuneration for the work, either in money or reduction of sentence, which the commissioner considers sufficient.

Sec. 41.21.860. Federal financial assistance.

The commissioner is authorized to consider the feasibility of any form of financial assistance available to the state for the planning, acquisition or development of trails under 16 U.S.C. 460d, 460l-4 to 460l-11 and 23 U.S.C. 120 (note) (P.L. 88-578, Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965).

Sec. 41.21.864. Grants for the establishment of trails and footpaths.

(a) Within the limits of available appropriations, a city or borough of any class is entitled to state grants for the purpose of acquiring land or rights-of-way over land and establishing and maintaining trails and footpaths on that land or those rights-of-way.

(b) Within the limits of available appropriations, the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is entitled to state grants for the establishment and maintenance of footpaths and trails along certain designated existing highways or when a highway, road or street is being constructed, reconstructed or relocated after June 7, 1972.

(c) Before a grant is awarded under this section, application shall be submitted to the commissioner of natural resources, accompanied by a comprehensive plan for the establishment of trails and paths. The plan may provide for ski trails, dog sled trails, motorized vehicle trails, bicycle paths, bridle paths, footpaths and other trails and paths, and designate separate and incompatible uses of these trails and paths.

(d) Upon approval of the plan, funds shall be utilized and disbursed to cities and boroughs and to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities according to regulations adopted by the commissioner of natural resources.

(e) Before the distribution of funds by the commissioner, consideration shall be given to the extent of funding available under other federal, local and state aid programs.

(f) Nothing in AS 41.21.864 - 41.21.872 prohibits a city or borough for which a grant is authorized from entering into an agreement with the Department of Natural Resources for the establishment and maintenance of trails and footpaths outside cities and boroughs.

Sec. 41.21.866. Paths and trails along highways.

The commissioner of transportation and public facilities shall administer the plan and program providing for the establishment and maintenance of footpaths, bridle paths, bicycle paths, ski trails, dog sled trails, motorized vehicle trails and other paths and trails along certain designated existing highways, or when a highway, road or street is being constructed, reconstructed or relocated after June 7, 1972. Trails established under an approved plan submitted by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities may be used for those types of uses written into the plan. A uniform system of marking the paths and trails established under this section shall be established by the commissioner of transportation and public facilities.

Sec. 41.21.868. Authorization of funds.

(a) An amount of not less than three-eighths of one per cent nor more than one per cent of the total yearly state and federal matching sum combined, under the federal-aid highways program (23 U.S.C.), shall be appropriated annually from the general fund to the department for the purposes of providing grants to eligible cities and boroughs for trails, footpaths and shelter construction and maintenance in appropriate areas, including but not limited to existing park and recreation areas and for the purpose of providing grants to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities for developing the program specified in AS 41.21.864 (b) and 41.21.866.

(b) Except as provided in (c) of this section, the sums appropriated under this section shall continue to be available for expenditure by the departments or by eligible cities and boroughs for a period of three years after the close of the fiscal year for which the sums are authorized, unless they are obligated for expenditure, in which case they shall remain available until spent. Any amounts not obligated remaining unexpended at the end of the three-year period lapse.

(c) The amount expended by a city or borough under AS 41.21.864 (a) or by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities under AS 41.21.864(b) and 41.21.866, may not in any one fiscal year be less than 10 per cent of the total amount of the funds it receives in that year for the purposes authorized in AS 41.21.864 - 41.21.872.

Sec. 41.21.870. Use and marking of trails and footpaths.

Trails established under AS 41.21.864 (a) may be used for more than one type of transportation, motorized or nonmotorized, as considered appropriate by the commissioner. Except along highways within the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the department shall provide a uniform system of marking trails and footpaths.

Sec. 41.21.872. Reports.

Cities and boroughs receiving grants under AS 41.21.864 - 41.21.872 shall submit to the commissioner complete reports covering their expenditures relating to the establishment of trails and footpaths. Reports shall be submitted annually on projects extending over 12 months. Reports on shorter projects shall be submitted at the completion of the project.

Sec. 41.21.900. Purpose of AS 41.21.900 - 41.21.908.

The purpose of AS 41.21.900 - 41.21.908 is to provide avenues of action for youth in the state interested in the preservation of a healthy environment by establishing a volunteer corps to teach and practice conservation on all levels of activities which are environment related. The aim is to foster and supplement programs on the local and state level and provide some of the manpower needed to successfully accomplish the goal of a healthy and pleasant environment in which to live.

Sec. 41.21.902. Alaska Conservation Action Corps created.

There is created in the division of parks of the department the Alaska Conservation Action Corps.

Sec. 41.21.904. Activities of corps.

The corps may be assigned

(1) to provide staff services for public agencies involved in planning for the future of our environment;

(2) tasks of cleaning litter from city streets, highways, local parks, neighborhoods, beaches, natural forests, rivers, creeks, state and national parks on a continuing basis;

(3) to participate in neighborhood improvement programs including the creation of neighborhood parks and playgrounds, supplementing local government efforts on a voluntary basis on request;

(4) to fire prevention activities in forest land, including the cleaning of brush and deadfalls and the construction and maintenance of fire trails and firebreaks and firefighting in time of need;

(5) the task of building and maintaining hiking and riding trails and campsites, improving wildlife habitats and protection of wildlife refuges and wilderness areas under supervision of the Department of Fish and Game;

(6) to participate in drainage and erosion control improvements on public land and the reforestation of fire-devastated areas;

(7) the task of conducting conservation summer camp programs for youths to learn and practice conservation skills;

(8) monitoring duties in areas of environmental concern where control and enforcement are maintained such as the monitoring of air and water pollution levels or checking on how well developers are meeting subdivision regulations.

Sec. 41.21.906. Compensation.

(a) Part-time corps members shall be paid on an hourly basis, to be determined by the commissioner.

(b) Compensation for corps members who are involved in continuous service in an away-from-home situation shall be set on a weekly or monthly basis to be determined by the commissioner.

Sec. 41.21.908. Nonapplicability of child labor laws.

AS 23.10.325 - 23.10.370 do not apply to AS 41.21.900 - 41.21.908.