READ FIRST TIME 02/21/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to public lands management; adding a new section to chapter 79A.25 RCW; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 79A.25 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The habitat and recreation lands coordinating group is established. The habitat and recreation lands coordinating group must include representatives from the committee, the state parks and recreation commission, the department of natural resources, and the Washington state department of fish and wildlife. The members of the habitat and recreation lands coordinating group must have subject matter expertise with the issues presented in this section. Representatives from appropriate stakeholder organizations and local government must also be considered for participation on the habitat and recreation lands coordinating group, but may only be appointed or invited by the director.
     (2) To ensure timely completion of the duties assigned to the habitat and recreation lands coordinating group, the director shall submit yearly progress reports to the office of financial management.
     (3) The habitat and recreation lands coordinating group must:
     (a) Review agency land acquisition and disposal plans and policies to help ensure statewide coordination of habitat and recreation land acquisitions and disposals;
     (b) Produce an interagency, statewide biennial forecast of habitat and recreation land acquisitions and disposal plans;
     (c) Establish procedures for publishing the biennial forecast of acquisition and disposal plans on web sites or other centralized, easily accessible formats;
     (d) Develop and convene an annual forum for agencies to coordinate their near-term acquisition and disposal plans;
     (e) Develop a recommended method for interagency geographic information system-based documentation of habitat and recreation lands in cooperation with other state agencies using geographic information systems;
     (f) Develop recommendations for standardization of acquisition and disposal recordkeeping, including identifying a preferred process for centralizing acquisition data;
     (g) Develop an approach for monitoring the success of acquisitions;
     (h) Identify and commence a dialogue with key state and federal partners to develop an inventory of potential public lands for transfer into habitat and recreation land management status;
     (i) Review existing and proposed habitat conservation plans on a regular basis to foster statewide coordination and save costs.
     (4) The group shall revisit the committee's and Washington wildlife and recreation program's planning requirements to determine whether coordination of state agency habitat and recreation land acquisition and disposal could be improved by modifying those requirements.
     (5) The group must develop options for centralizing coordination of habitat and recreation land acquisition made with funds from federal grants. The advantages and drawbacks of the following options, at a minimum, must be developed:
     (a) Requiring that agencies provide early communication on the status of federal grant applications to the committee, the office of financial management, or directly to the legislature;
     (b) Establishing a centralized pass-through agency for federal funds, where individual agencies would be the primary applicants.
     (6) This section expires July 31, 2012. Prior to January 1, 2012, the committee shall make a formal recommendation to the appropriate committees of the legislature as to whether the existence of the habitat and recreation lands coordinating group should be continued beyond July 31, 2012, and if so, whether any modifications to its enabling statute should be pursued. The committee shall involve all participants in the habitat and recreation lands coordinating group when developing the recommendations.