S-4157.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6731
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State of Washington 56th Legislature 2000 Regular Session
By Senators Spanel and Gardner
Read first time 01/25/2000. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation.
AN ACT Relating to Lake Whatcom; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The Lake Whatcom landscape management pilot project is created.
The department of natural resources, in cooperation and consultation with local citizens who have knowledge of the issues, shall develop a management plan regarding state-owned forest lands in the Lake Whatcom watershed area. The management plan shall address at least the following topics:
(1) Procedures for coordinating management activities with other major forest land owners in the watershed and involving watershed residents in management activities;
(2) Establishing riparian management zones along all type five streams, as classified under chapter 5, Laws of 1999 sp. sess. The department shall manage lands within such zones to protect water quality and riparian habitat, and include restrictions upon timber harvest and yarding activities;
(3) Harvest and road construction upon unstable slopes should be carefully regulated, including limiting new road construction on unstable slopes and providing windthrow buffers during harvest; and
(4) Creating and implementing a sustainable yield model specific to the Lake Whatcom watershed that encompasses the revised management standards.
The management plan shall be completed and implementation initiated by June 30, 2001.
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