Brief Description: Protecting ancestral trees.

Sponsors: Representatives Hunt, Chase, Upthegrove, Dunshee, Dickerson, Hasegawa, McDermott, B. Sullivan, Appleton, Williams, Morrell, Murray, Simpson, Linville, Roberts, Ormsby, McCoy and Kagi.

Hearing Date: 2/1/05

Staff: Jason Callahan (786-7117).

Background:

The state is the trustee of nearly three million acres of upland properties. Roughly two-thirds of these properties are forested, with the majority of the other parcels managed for agriculture or commercial development. The Legislature has vested specific authority for the Department of Natural Resources (department) to sell timber and other valuable resources from these state lands. The department sells a variety of resources from state lands, including timber, stone, gravel, and geoducks. The department sells timber from state forest lands by putting tracts of timber up for bid. The department establishes an appraised value for the timber, and this value becomes the minimum bid for the timber sale. The successful bidder who is awarded the contract generally has three years to harvest the timber from the sale.

Summary of Bill:

The department is prohibited from offering for sale or harvesting most trees located on public lands that are 150 years old or older and that exist in a forest community with large standing trees, large snags, and large logs on the ground and in streams. These trees are known as ancestral trees.

Ancestral trees may be harvested by the department only when the Board of Natural Resources makes a formal finding that their sale or harvest is necessary to preserve the health and safety of other ancestral trees.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Requested on 1/19/05.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.