BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to transfer of state forest lands back to counties; and adding a new section to chapter 76.12 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 76.12 RCW to read as follows:

(1) A county legislative authority may file an application with the board of natural resources for the transfer of forest lands that were acquired from the county by the state pursuant to RCW 76.12.030 and that are under the administration of the department of natural resources. Upon the filing of an application by the county legislative authority, the board of natural resources shall direct the department of natural resources to reconvey the forest lands to the requesting county.

(2) Once land has been reconveyed to a county, it must be kept in commercial forest status, and may not be sold. The land must be managed on a sustained yield basis and consistent with, but not in excess of, current forest practices board rules.

(3) The lands must be managed to maximize the financial benefit to the trust beneficiaries in the respective counties.

(4) Upon formal notification to the department by the respective county that they desire their state forest board transfer lands reconveyed, the department must transfer all data and documents concerning those lands back to the respective county within ninety days.

(5) Upon formal notification by the county to the department for the reconveyance of the land, the department must halt all proposed sale activity on the state forest board transfer land within the respective county.

(6) The reconveyance of the state forest board transfer land within the county must be done by quitclaim deed, and the term of the reconveyance must be for a period of not less than twenty years. Revenues from the land will continue to be dispersed as it currently is done, unless altered by the Washington state legislature. A maximum management fee of twenty percent may be charged by the counties. The department is required to replant all lands where there is an active sale occurring at the time a county gives formal notice to the department for reconveyance of the land.

(7) All existing contracts for state forest board transfer land will be honored until the completion of the contract, but no extensions may be granted. Existing memorandum of agreement, memorandum of understanding, landscape plans, habitat conservation plans, and similar agreements may be continued at the discretion of the respective county. Any proposed habitat conservation plan use of transferred lands is not permitted unless the county legislative authority agrees to the use by resolution after public hearings and a full fiscal analysis. Public access to the land must be allowed whenever possible, subject to the discretion of the local legislative authority.

(8) The respective county assumes liability for those lands not under contract for harvest by the purchaser at the date of the transfer of the quitclaim deed. Those lands under contract transfer to the county on the expiration date of the original contract. No extensions shall be granted. The respective county will have the option of either having the department replanting those lands, or having the lands replanted, and billing the department for that activity. When billed, the department must make payment within sixty days.

(9) Lands shall be open for public recreation consistent with timber management goals. Lands that have recreational use funded by the interagency committee for outdoor recreation, or other similar source, shall remain in recreational use as dictated by agreement, contract, rule, or statute.

(10) All counties that exercise their option of reconveyance must make an annual report to the senate and house of representatives natural resources committees, or their successor committees, and to the board of natural resources, by February 1st of each year, as to the activities on those lands. The report must include, but is not limited to: The number of acres harvested; the volume of the harvest from those acres; the number of acres replanted; the number of acres precommercially thinned; the annual cost on a per acre basis; the age of those acres harvested; and the number of acres not designated for harvest, and the reason why such a designation was made.