H-4210.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2992
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State of Washington 56th Legislature 2000 Regular Session
By Representatives Dunshee and McIntire
Read first time 01/25/2000. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to studying road use areas; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that increased public demand for recreation, fish and wildlife conservation, and protection of water quality has complicated public lands management and created new challenges for the department of natural resources. These pressures can conflict with the ability and demand to generate near term revenue for the trust beneficiaries and recipients of forest board land revenues, and can also increase management costs.
(2) The legislature finds that roadless areas are a valuable resource in providing important public benefits such as recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, and protection of water quality.
(3) The legislature further finds it to be in the public interest to protect certain state public lands that are difficult to manage for revenue production because these lands are extensively and intensively used for either recreational, or important ecological purposes, or both.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 3 and 4 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "State public lands" means all granted or trust lands, and all forest board lands, including both transfer and purchase lands.
(2) "Roadless area" means any portion of state public land in which (a) more than one thousand contiguous acres of the state public land contains no roads, or (b) more than five hundred contiguous acres of the state public land contains no roads and such acreage is adjacent to a federal wilderness area or other federal forest land not managed for timber harvest, such as a late successional reserve under the northwest forest plan.
(3) "Road" means any right-of-way maintained by the state that is capable of being traveled on by a high-clearance vehicle.
(4) "Department" means department of natural resources.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The department is directed to commence a study of state public lands to determine the existence of, and map exact locations of, all roadless areas. The study must also name each roadless area so identified, and describe its characteristics. The description for each area shall include its natural features, the value of timber or other merchantable resources, exceptional ecological functions including habitat for rare and protected species, present public uses, and any department plans to sell or lease rights to any of these resources. The department must notify interested parties of this process and solicit information and comment from the public. The department is to report its findings to the house of representatives natural resources committee by February 2001.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Before July, 2001, the department may not (1) sell any rights nor issue any permits in roadless areas with respect to resources in roadless areas; or (2) permit the building of roads across such roadless areas in order to reach adjacent state public lands if other reasonable access routes exist.
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