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Committee hears testimony supporting expansion of Tanana Valley State Forest
Summary
Witnesses, including local timber operators and the citizens advisory committee, urged the House State Affairs Committee to pass HB 218 to add parcels to the Tanana Valley State Forest, arguing the change would reduce conflicting uses, support local markets and wildfire response, and provide long-term certainty for the timber industry.
The House State Affairs Committee on April 30 heard continued testimony on House Bill 218, a governor-sponsored proposal to expand the Tanana Valley State Forest by adding parcels currently classified for forestry but managed as general state land. Director Jeremy Dows of the Division of Forestry and Fire Protection told the committee a letter from Fort Wainwright requested some parcels be added to the state forest because state forest management is a compatible use adjacent to the installation and reduces risk from private sale in the event of fire or training impacts.
Committee members pressed agency staff on technical concerns. Representative St. Clair asked about unexploded ordnance; Dows replied the parcels in the bill lie north of the installation and the impact area where UXO is likely is farther south, so the division does not expect UXO on the parcels covered by the proposal. Members also asked about carbon-law interactions, timber exports, access and roads. Dows said the parcels are already classified for forestry and that current markets in the Tanana Valley are local rather than export-oriented.
Public testimony supported the expansion. Tom Malone, chair of the Tanana Valley State Forest Citizens Advisory Committee, said the committee voted unanimously to support the expansion and that adding these lands to the state forest would reduce conflicts with other land uses such as subdivisions and would improve wildfire response and recreational access. "Adding these lands to the state forest will provide certainty for the forest products industry," Malone said.
Joe Young, owner of Young's Timber Inc. in Tok, told the committee that the expansion would protect boreal forest from development, increase the long-term timber base for private investment, and save state resources by consolidating timber administration. Young described a diversified mill operation and said logging operators generally construct roads under Division of Forestry supervision; whether roads remain open is a Division decision and maintenance after operators leave is a common concern.
Chair Kerrick closed public testimony and set an amendment deadline for HB 218 of Monday, May 4 at 5 p.m.; no committee vote was taken. The committee plans to consider HB 218 again at its next scheduled hearing on May 5.
