HB 1095-S - DIGEST

(SUBSTITUTED FOR - SEE 2ND SUB)

Finds that chapter 4, Laws of 1999 sp. sess. strongly encouraged the forest practices board to adopt administrative rules that were substantially similar to the recommendations presented to the legislature in the form of the forests and fish report. The rules adopted pursuant to the 1999 legislation require all forest landowners to complete a road maintenance and abandonment plan, and those rules cannot be changed by the forest practices board without either a final order from a court, direct instructions from the legislature, or a recommendation from the adaptive management process.

Finds that, in the time since the enactment of chapter 4, Laws of 1999 sp. sess., it has become clear that both the planning aspect and the implementation aspect of the road maintenance and abandonment plan requirement may cause an unforeseen and unintended disproportionate financial hardship on small forest landowners.

Finds that it is in the state's interest to help small forest landowners comply with the requirements of the forests and fish report in a way that does not require the landowner to spend unreasonably high and unpredictable amounts of money to complete road maintenance and abandonment plan preparation and implementation.

Finds that the commissioner of public lands and the governor have explored solutions that minimize the hardship caused to small forest landowners by the forest road maintenance and abandonment requirements of the forests and fish law, while maintaining protection for public resources.

Declares that this act represents the bulk of the recommendations stemming from that process.