H-1603              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1984

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Representatives Hargrove, Belcher, Basich, Jones, Sayan, Raiter, Vekich, Beck, Brumsickle, Bowman, Doty, Winsley, Kremen, Cooper and H. Myers

Read first time 2/15/89 and referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Parks. Referred 3/1/89 to Committee on Appropriations.

AN ACT Relating to preparing a timber supply assessment; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     As Washington's economy develops into one oriented towards manufacturing more value-added product for the world markets, it must compete with the very best organizations in the world.  To compete the state requires a highly sophisticated inventory of available timber, both now and into the future.

          The last timber supply report for Washington is more than a decade old.  During that time the forest products industry underwent major changes; mills closed, mills modernized, the market for wood products became more and more international, and the land base for timber production shrank.

          Management decisions by the federal government, state government, and local government all benefit by having access to data describing the abundance of timber in Washington.  The United States forest service needs to understand the impact its proposed forest management plans may have on the economy of Washington.  As national and international firms seek to invest in Washington they require the best available inventory information.  The 1988 report by the state economic development board cited the need for a comprehensive forest resource information plan.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     The department of natural resources shall prepare a report on the timber supply in Washington state, identifying the quantity of timber present now and quantity of timber that may be available from forest lands in the future using various assumptions of landowner management, including changes in the forest land base, amount of capital invested in timber management, and expected harvest age.  This report shall categorize the results according to region of the state, land ownership, land productivity, and according to major timber species.  The report shall be submitted to the appropriate committees of the senate and the house of representatives by December 1, 1990.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     The sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the general fund to the department of natural resources for the purposes of section 2 of this act.