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            ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2004

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State of Washington      54th Legislature     1995 Regular Session

By House Committee on Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Thompson, Fuhrman, Goldsmith, Buck, Elliot, Cairnes and Sheldon)

Read first time 03/06/95.

Taking emergency measures to protect the health of the Loomis state forest.

    AN ACT Relating to necessary emergency measures for the Loomis state forest; adding new sections to chapter 76.06 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that an extremely serious forest health situation exists in the Loomis state forest.  Thousands of acres of school trust lands are infested or are at risk of infestation by mountain pine beetle.  This major infestation, combined with the presence of other insect and disease problems, clearly indicates the need for implementation of a decisive plan to address the health and productivity of the Loomis state forest.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  (1) The legislature directs the department of natural resources to adopt and to immediately begin to implement a long-range management plan for the Loomis state forest that will result in a much healthier and more productive forest.  The legislature further directs the department to act in the immediate future to recover as much value as operationally and economically feasible from timber at-risk or killed by mountain pine beetle.  In designing and implementing this long-range management plan and when recovering the value from this dead and at-risk timber, the department shall comply with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations and shall conduct itself in a manner consistent with its obligations only to the trust beneficiaries.

    (2) The legislature declares its intent to remain actively involved in the oversight of the department's efforts to address the forest health problems in the Loomis state forest.  The department shall carefully monitor the impacts to the forest of implementation of the long-range management plan and shall report on the condition of the forest at least annually for the next five years to the house of representatives and senate committees on natural resources.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  (1) In an action seeking review under chapter 76.09 RCW from the appeals board of a forest practice that implements the purposes of section 2 of this act, and as part of that review the appeals board grants a stay of the implementation action, the appeals board shall require the person requesting the stay to provide security to cover the amount of damages potentially resulting from the stay, but in no case shall the security be less than one hundred thousand dollars.

    (2)  In any judicial review of a decision under chapter 76.09 RCW of the appeals board involving a forest practice that implements the purposes of section 2 of this act, and as part of that review the court grants a stay of the implementation action, the court shall require the person requesting the stay to provide security to cover the amount of damages potentially resulting from the stay, but in no case shall the security be less than one hundred thousand dollars.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Sections 2 and 3 of this act are each added to chapter 76.06 RCW.

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