BILL REQ. #:  S-1807.1 

Read first time 02/25/11.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Marine Waters.

     AN ACT Relating to department of fish and wildlife-owned land used for agricultural purposes; amending RCW 77.12.210; and adding a new section to chapter 77.12 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 77.12 RCW to read as follows:
     The state wildlife land management trust account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from moneys received from the sale of surplus lands owned by the department must be deposited into the account. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only as directed by the legislature.

Sec. 2   RCW 77.12.210 and 2009 c 333 s 33 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The director shall maintain and manage real or personal property owned, leased, or held by the department and shall control the construction of buildings, structures, and improvements in or on the property. The director may adopt rules for the operation and maintenance of the property.
     (2) The commission may authorize the director to sell, lease, convey, or grant concessions upon real or personal property under the control of the department. This includes the authority to sell timber, gravel, sand, and other materials or products from real property held by the department, and to sell or lease the department's real or personal property or grant concessions or rights-of-way for roads or utilities in the property. Oil and gas resources owned by the state which lie below lands owned, leased, or held by the department shall be offered for lease by the commissioner of public lands pursuant to chapter 79.14 RCW with the proceeds being deposited in the state wildlife account created in RCW 77.12.170: PROVIDED, That the commissioner of public lands shall condition such leases at the request of the department to protect wildlife and its habitat.
     (3) If the commission determines that real or personal property held by the department cannot be used advantageously by the department, the director may dispose of that property if it is in the public interest.
     (4)(a) The legislature finds that department-owned land used for agricultural purposes is surplus. The director must create an inventory of such land and report the results of that inventory to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2011. The director must dispose of this land by June 30, 2017. In disposing of the land, the director must retain the development rights of the property to ensure that the land remains in agricultural use. If such agricultural land was acquired with grants, gifts, or donations that restrict the disposal of the lands, the inventory must include the actual language that restricts disposal. For the purposes of this subsection, agricultural land includes land used to graze domestic animals or raise commercial agricultural crops either as a direct agency operation or through a lease or other agreement with a private operator.
     (b) The director shall also prepare an inventory of departmental lands with potential for active management as commercial timber lands and report the results of that inventory to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2011.
     (5) If the state acquired real property with use limited to specific purposes, the director may negotiate terms for the return of the property to the donor or grantor. Other real property shall be sold to the highest bidder at public auction. After appraisal, notice of the auction shall be published at least once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the county where the property is located at least twenty days prior to sale.
     (6) Proceeds from the sales shall be deposited in the state wildlife land management trust account created in ((RCW 77.12.170)) section 1 of this act.