TIMBER MANAGEMENT LEASES

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SENATE BILL NO. 75

IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA

THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION

BY THE SENATE RULES COMMITTEE BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR

Introduced: 1/27/25
Referred: Resources, Finance

A BILL

FOR AN ACT ENTITLED

"An Act relating to timber on state lands; relating to timber m anagement leases; and 1
providing for an effective date." 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
* Section 1. AS 36.30.850(b) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 4
(52) timber management leases under AS 38.05.124. 5
* Sec. 2. AS 38.05.035(e) is amended to read: 6
(e) Upon a written finding that the interests of the state will be best served, the 7
director may, with the consent of the commissioner, approve con t r a c t s f o r t h e s a l e , 8
lease, or other dispos al of available land, resources, property , or interests in them. In 9
approving a contract under this subsection, the director need o nly prepare a single 10
written finding. In addition to the conditions and limitations imposed by law, the 11
director may impose additional conditions or limitations in the contracts as the director 12
determines, with the consent of the commissioner, will best ser ve the interests of the 13
state. The preparation and issuance of the written finding by t he director are subject to 14
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the following: 1
(1) with the consent of the commissioner and subject to the di rector's 2
discretion, for a specific proposed disposal of available land, resources, or property, or 3
of an interest in them, the director, in the written finding, 4
(A) shall establish the scope of the administrative review on 5
which the director's determination is based, and the scope of t he written 6
finding supporting that determination; the scope of the adminis trative review 7
and finding may address only reasonably foreseeable, significan t effects of the 8
uses proposed to be authorized by the disposal; 9
(B) may limit the scope of an administrative review and finding 10
for a proposed disposal to 11
(i) applicable statutes and regulations; 12
(ii) the facts pertaining to the land, resources, or 13
property, or interest in them, th at the director finds are mate rial to the 14
determination and that are known to the director or knowledge of which 15
is made available to the director during the administrative review; and 16
(iii) issues that, based on the statutes and regulations 17
referred to in (i) of this subparagraph, on the facts as described in (ii) of 18
this subparagraph, and on the nature of the uses sought to be authorized 19
by the disposal, the director finds are material to the determi nation of 20
whether the proposed disposal will best serve the interests of the state; 21
and 22
(C) may, if the project for which the proposed disposal is 23
sought is a multiphased development, limit the scope of an admi nistrative 24
review and finding for the propos ed disposal to the applicable statutes and 25
regulations, facts, and issues identified in (B)(i) - (iii) of this paragraph that 26
pertain solely to the disposal phase of the project when 27
(i) the only uses to be authorized by the proposed 28
disposal are part of that phase; 29
(ii) the disposal is a disposal of oil and gas, or of gas 30
only, and, before the next phase of the project may proceed, pu blic 31
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notice and the opportunity to comment are provided under regula tions 1
adopted by the department; 2
(iii) the department's approval is required before the 3
next phase of the project may proceed; and 4
(iv) the department describes its reasons for a decision 5
to phase; 6
(2) the director shall discuss in the written finding prepared and issued 7
under this subsection the reasons that each of the following wa s not material to the 8
director's determination that the interests of the state will be best served: 9
(A) facts pertaining to the land, resources, or property, or a n 10
interest in them other than those that the director finds material under (1)(B)(ii) 11
of this subsection; and 12
(B) issues based on the statutes and regulations referred to i n 13
(1)(B)(i) of this subsection and on the facts described in (1)( B)(ii) of this 14
subsection; 15
(3) a written finding for an oil and gas lease sale or gas onl y lease sale 16
under AS 38.05.180 is subject to (g) of this section; 17
(4) a contract for the sale, lease, or other disposal of avail able land or 18
an interest in land is not legally binding on the state until t he commissioner approves 19
the contract, but if the appraise d value is not greater than $5 0,000 in the case of the 20
sale of land or an interest i n land, or $5,000 in the case of t he annual rental of land or 21
interest in land, the director m ay execute the contract without the approval of the 22
commissioner; 23
(5) public notice requirements relating to the sale, lease, or o t h e r 24
disposal of available land or an interest in land for oil and g as, or for gas only, 25
proposed to be scheduled in the five-year oil and gas leasing p rogram under 26
AS 38.05.180(b), except for a sale under (6)(F) of this subsection, are as follows: 27
(A) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 28
180 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an interest 29
in land, the director shall make available to the public a prel iminary written 30
finding that states the scope o f the review established under ( 1)(A) of this 31
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subsection and includes the applicable statutes and regulations , the material 1
facts and issues in accordance with (1)(B) of this subsection, and information 2
required by (g) of this section, upon which the determination t hat the sale, 3
lease, or other disposal will serve the best interests of the s tate will be based; 4
the director shall provide opport unity for public comment on th e preliminary 5
written finding for a period of not less than 60 days; 6
(B) after the public comment period for the preliminary writte n 7
finding and not less than 90 days before the sale, lease, or ot her disposal of 8
available land or an interest in land for oil and gas or for ga s only, the director 9
shall make available to the public a final written finding that states the scope of 10
the review established under (1)(A) of this subsection and incl udes the 11
applicable statutes and regulations, the material facts and iss ues in accordance 12
with (1) of this subsection, and information required by (g) of this section, 13
upon which the determination that the sale, lease, or other dis posal will serve 14
the best interests of the state is based; 15
(6) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 21 days 16
before the sale, lease, or othe r disposal of available land, pr operty, resources, or 17
interests in them other than a s ale, lease, or other disposal o f available land or an 18
interest in land for oil and gas or for gas only under (5) of t his subsection, the director 19
shall make available to the public a written finding that, in a ccordance with (1) of this 20
subsection, sets out the material facts and applicable statutes and regulations and any 21
other information required by statute or regulation to be consi dered upon which the 22
determination that the sale, lease, or other disposal will best serve the interests of the 23
state was based; however, a written finding is not required before the approval of 24
(A) a contract for a nego tiated sale authorized under 25
AS 38.05.115; 26
(B) a lease of land for a shore fishery site under AS 38.05.082; 27
(C) a permit or other authorization revocable by the 28
commissioner; 29
(D) a mineral claim located under AS 38.05.195; 30
(E) a mineral lease issued under AS 38.05.205; 31
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(F) an exempt oil and gas lease sale or gas only lease sale under 1
AS 38.05.180(d) of acreage subject to a best interest finding i ssued within the 2
previous 10 years or a reoffer oil and gas lease sale or gas only lease sale under 3
AS 38.05.180(w) of acreage subject to a best interest finding i ssued within the 4
previous 10 years, unless the commissioner determines that subs tantial new 5
information has become available that justifies a supplement to the most recent 6
best interest finding for the exe mpt oil and gas lease sale or gas only lease sale 7
acreage and for the reoffer oil and gas lease sale or gas only lease sale acreage; 8
however, for each oil and gas lease sale or gas only lease sale described in this 9
subparagraph, the director sha ll call for comments from the pub lic; the 10
director's call for public comme nts must provide opportunity fo r public 11
comment for a period of not less than 30 days; if the director determines that a 12
supplement to the most recent be st interest finding for the acr eage is required 13
under this subparagraph, 14
(i) the director shall issue the supplement to the best 15
interest finding not later than 90 days before the sale; 16
(ii) not later than 45 days before the sale, the director 17
shall issue a notice describing the interests to be offered, th e location 18
and time of the sale, and the terms and conditions of the sale; and 19
(iii) the supplement has the st atus of a final written best 20
interest finding for purposes of (i) and (l) of this section; 21
(G) a surface use lease under AS 38.05.255; 22
(H) a permit, right-of-way, or easement under AS 38.05.850; 23
(I) a timber management lease under AS 38.05.124; 24
(7) the director shall include in 25
(A) a preliminary written finding, if required, a summary of 26
agency and public comments, if any, obtained as a result of con tacts with other 27
agencies concerning a proposed disposal or as a result of infor mal efforts 28
undertaken by the department to solicit public response to a pr oposed disposal, 29
and the department's preliminary responses to those comments; and 30
(B) the final written finding a summary of agency and public 31
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comments received and the department's responses to those comments. 1
* Sec. 3. AS 38.05.075(a) is amended to read: 2
(a) Except as provided in AS 38.05.035, 38.05.070, 38.05.073, 38.05.081, 3
38.05.082, 38.05.083, 38.05.087, 38.05.102, 38.05.124, 38.05.565, 38.05.600, 4
38.05.810, and this section, when competitive interest has been demonstrated or the 5
commissioner determines that it is in the state's best interest s, leasing shall be made at 6
public auction or by sealed bid, at the discretion of the director, to the highest qualified 7
bidder as determined by the commissioner. A bidder may be repre sented by an 8
attorney or agent at a public a uction. In the public notice of a lease to be offered at 9
public auction or by sealed bid, the commissioner shall specify a minimum acceptable 10
bid and the lease compensation method. The lease compensation m ethod shall be 11
designed to maximize the return on the lease to the state and s hall be a form of 12
compensation set out in AS 38.05.073(m). An aggrieved bidder ma y appeal to the 13
commissioner within five days for a review of the determination . The leasing shall be 14
conducted by the commissioner, a nd the successful bidder shall deposit at the public 15
auction or with the sealed bid the first year's rental or other lease compensation as 16
specified by the commissioner, or that portion of it that the c ommissioner requires in 17
accordance with the bid. The commissioner shall require, under AS 38.05.860, 18
qualified bidders to deposit a su m equal to any survey or appra isal costs reasonably 19
incurred by another qualified bidder acting in accordance with the regulations of the 20
commissioner or incurred by the department under AS 38.04.045 and AS 38.05.840. If 21
a bidder making a deposit of surve y or appraisal costs is deter mined by the 22
commissioner to be the highest qualified bidder under this subsection, the deposit shall 23
be paid to the unsuccessful bidde r who incurred those costs or to the department if the 24
department incurred the costs. All costs for survey and apprais al shall be approved in 25
advance in writing by the commissioner. The commissioner shall immediately issue a 26
receipt containing a description of the land or interest leased , the price bid, and the 27
terms of the lease to the succe ssful qualified bidder. If the r eceipt is not accepted in 28
writing by the bidder under this subsection, the commissioner m ay offer the land for 29
lease again under this subsection. A lease, on a form approved by the attorney general, 30
shall be signed by the successful bidder and by the commissioner. 31
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* Sec. 4. AS 38.05 is amended by adding a new section to article 4 to read: 1
Sec. 38.05.124. Timber management leases. (a) If it is in the interest of the 2
state, the commissioner may issue a timber management lease to a person for the 3
harvest and management of timber on state forest land. So as to result in a sustained 4
yield of merchantable timber, a lessee shall manage timber on s tate forest land in 5
accordance with the standards of AS 41.17.060 and, at a minimum, provide for 6
(1) the harvest and sale of merchantable timber; 7
(2) afforestation and reforestation of state land; 8
(3) fire prevention and pest control; and 9
(4) construction and maintenance of roads and other facilities 10
necessary for the processing and removal of harvested timber. 11
(b) A timber management lessee shall manage timber located in the Haines 12
State Forest Resource Management Area described in AS 41.15.305 (a) or in a state 13
forest established under AS 41.17.200 - 41.17.230 consistent with the applicable forest 14
management plan. 15
(c) A person may nominate state forest land for a timber manag ement lease. 16
The commissioner shall consider whether state forest land nomin ated under this 17
subsection is suitable for timber management leasing under (a) of this section. If the 18
commissioner determines that the nominated land is suitable for timber management 19
leasing, the commissioner shall prepare a written request for p roposals under (d) of 20
this section. 21
(d) If the commissioner identifies state forest land suitable f or timber 22
management leasing under (a) or (c) of this section, the commis sioner shall prepare a 23
written request for proposals that includes 24
(1) the specific location, description, and area of timber to be leased; 25
(2) the form of compensation th at the commissioner intends to require 26
for the lease; and 27
(3) the selection criteria that the commissioner will use to d etermine 28
the eligibility of an applicant and the suitability of a proposal. 29
(e) After preparing a request f or proposals under (d) of this section, the 30
commissioner shall issue the reque st to solicit proposals from persons who are 31
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interested in leasing the land for forest management by issuing a public notice seeking 1
competitive interest in the manner prescribed under AS 38.05.945. 2
(f) After soliciting proposals under (e) of this section, if t he commissioner 3
determines that only one proposal is acceptable, the commission e r m a y b e g i n 4
negotiations with the applicant to develop the terms and condit ions for the timber 5
management lease. If the commissi oner determines that two or mo re applicants are 6
acceptable, the commissioner shall consider reasonable factors in awarding the lease, 7
including 8
(1) benefits to the public, including the surrounding community; 9
(2) forest improvements and investments; 10
(3) impact on growing the forest management and timber industry; 11
(4) qualifications of the appli cant, including whether the app licant has 12
previous experience with forest management; 13
(5) revenue to the state; and 14
(6) any additional requirement e stablished by the department i n 15
regulation. 16
(g) After public notice, the commissioner may issue a timber m anagement 17
lease for a period of up to 55 years. The commissioner may rene w a lease only once 18
for a term not longer than the initial term of the lease. The c ommissioner may 19
terminate a lease at any time if the commissioner determines th at the lessee has failed 20
to manage the timber in accordance with the terms of the lease or has otherwise failed 21
to comply with the lease after being provided a reasonable opportunity to comply. 22
(h) The commissioner shall charge compensation for a timber ma nagement 23
lease so as to ensure a fair return to the state, considering t he benefits of the lessee's 24
activities to the state and the surrounding communities. 25
(i) Except as provided in this section or in a timber manageme nt lease, the 26
provisions of AS 41.17 and AS 38.05.110 - 38.05.120 do not appl y to state forest land 27
subject to a timber management lease. A lease must include provisions regarding 28
(1) the lease term and compensation; 29
(2) a timber management plan; 30
(3) public access and multiple use; 31
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(4) riparian management; 1
(5) easements and land use authorizations for improvements; 2
(6) compliance and department oversight; 3
(7) recordkeeping and auditing; 4
(8) notices of violation and termination; 5
(9) dispute resolution; 6
(10) insurance; and 7
(11) limitation of state liability. 8
(j) The commissioner shall a dopt regulations under AS 44.62 (A dministrative 9
Procedure Act) to implement this section. 10
(k) In this section, "forest land" has the meaning given in AS 41.17.950. 11
* Sec. 5. AS 41.15.300(b) is amended to read: 12
(b) The responsibility for the management, control, developmen t, and 13
maintenance of the Haines State Forest Resource Management Area established under 14
AS 41.15.300 - 41.15.330 is assigned to the department. The department may 15
delegate the management of timber located in the Haines State F orest Resource 16
Management Area in a timber management lease under AS 38.05.124. 17
* Sec. 6. AS 41.15.315(a) is amended to read: 18
(a) The Haines State Forest Resource Management Area shall be managed 19
under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield and, except as applicable to a 20
lease under AS 38.05.124, under AS 41.17. 21
* Sec. 7. AS 41.15.315(d) is amended to read: 22
(d) The state land and wate r described in AS 41.15.305(a) are closed to sale 23
under state land disposal laws. The commissioner may lease the land described in 24
AS 41.15.305(a) under AS 38.05.070 - 38.05.105 for a purpose co nsistent with 25
AS 41.15.300(a) and a municipality may select land in the Haine s State Forest 26
Resource Management Area under la w. The commissioner may manage the land and 27
water described in AS 41.15.305(a) for purposes consistent with AS 38.95.400 - 28
38.95.499. The commissioner may issue a lease under AS 38.05.124 for the 29
management of timber located on land described in AS 41.15.305(a). 30
* Sec. 8. AS 41.15.315(e) is amended to read: 31
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(e) A carbon offset project under AS 38.95.400 - 38.95.499 and a timber 1
management lease under AS 38.05.124 undertaken on land identified in 2
AS 41.15.305 must be consistent with the applicable management plan under 3
AS 41.15.320, and the management pla n must identify the land ap propriate for the 4
carbon offset project or timber management lease . The department may amend a 5
management plan under AS 41.15.320 to allow for a carbon offset project or timber 6
management lease. 7
* Sec. 9. AS 41.17.200(b) is amended to read: 8
(b) In managing a state forest, the commissioner shall, consis tent with the 9
primary purpose of a state fores t under (a) of this section, re strict the public use of the 10
land and its resources, including timber, fish and wildlife, an d minerals, only when 11
necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The commissioner may delegate 12
the management of timber located in a state forest through a timber management 13
lease under AS 38.05.124. 14
* Sec. 10. AS 41.17.220 is amended to read: 15
Sec. 41.17.220. Management of state forests. Land within a state forest or 16
within a unit of a state forest shall be managed under 17
(1) the sustained yield principle; 18
(2) this chapter, except as applicable to a lease under AS 38.05.124; 19
(3) a forest management plan prepared by the department; and 20
(4) if applicable, a carbon offs et project undertaken by the d epartment 21
under AS 38.95.400 - 38.95.499. 22
* Sec. 11. AS 41.17.230(a) is amended to read: 23
(a) The commissioner shall prepare a forest management plan co nsistent with 24
AS 38.04.005 and this chapter for each state forest and for each unit of a state forest to 25
assist in meeting the requireme nts of this chapter. An operatio nal level forest 26
inventory shall be completed before a forest management plan fo r the state forest or 27
the unit of a state forest is adopted. The forest management pl an shall be adopted, 28
implemented, and maintained within three years of the establish ment of a state forest 29
by the legislature. To the extent they are found to be compatib le with the primary 30
purpose of state forests under AS 41.17.200, the forest managem ent plan must 31
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consider and permit uses of forest land for other purposes, inc luding a carbon offset 1
project under AS 38.95.400 - 38.95.499, timber management leasing under 2
AS 38.05.124, recreation, tourism, mining, mineral exploration, mineral leas ing, 3
material extraction, consumptiv e and nonconsumptive uses of wil dlife and fish, 4
grazing and other agricultural activities, and other traditional uses. If the commissioner 5
finds that a permitted use is incompatible with one or more oth er uses in a portion of a 6
state forest, the commissioner shall affirmatively state in the management plan that 7
finding of incompatibility for the specific area where the inco mpatibility is anticipated 8
to exist and the time period when the incompatibility is antici pated to exist together 9
with the reasons and benefits for each finding. 10
* Sec. 12. AS 41.17.230(g) is amended to read: 11
(g) A carbon offset project undertaken under AS 38.95.400 - 38 .95.499 and a 12
timber management lease under AS 38.05.124 within a state forest must be 13
consistent with the applicable f orest management plan, and the applicable forest 14
management plan must identify th e land appropriate for the carb on offset project or 15
timber management lease. The department may amend a forest management plan to 16
allow for a carbon offset project or timber management lease. 17
* Sec. 13. AS 41.17.900(a) is amended to read: 18
(a) Except as provided in AS 38.05.124 or [UNL ESS] otherwise specified, 19
this chapter applies to forest land under state, municipal, or private ownership. 20
* Sec. 14. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 21