The public is invited to participate in a Board of Forestry teleconference on Wednesday, August 28 from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Palmer to discuss statewide forestry issues.

The meeting will be at the Division of Forestry’s Coastal Region Office, at 101 Airport Road in Palmer, to discuss statewide forestry issues. It will also be available by teleconference at three locations statewide for both participants and observers.

The nine-member Board of Forestry advises the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources on forestry regulations, provides a forum for those interested in forestry to discuss and seek resolution to issues concerning Alaska’s forest resources, and makes recommendations to the governor and Legislature on research needs.

Topics on the Board’s agenda for the August 28 meeting include:

• Annual resource agency and Board of Forestry reports on the effectiveness of the federal Forest Resources and Practices Act
• Forestry and forest practices budgets for the 2020 fiscal year, starting July 1
• Education campaign on new wildland fire prevention laws
• Coastal forest management issues, including reports on Tongass Roadless Rule litigation, the Mental Health Trust land exchange, timber sales under the state-federal Good Neighbor Agreement, and salvage harvest potential of beetle-killed spruce in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough
• Statewide forest management issues, including reports on Division of Forestry timber sales and Forest Resources and Practices Act implementation
• Presentations on a blowdown prediction/reduction modeling and a trails/outdoor recreation initiative

Other forestry matters may be included on the agenda. The meeting is intended to comply with the requirements of AS 41.17.047(b) and (d). Public comment is scheduled for 10 a.m.

The board meeting will be accessible via both teleconference and webinar.  Teleconference call-in locations will be available in:

• Juneau, at DNR’s fourth floor Conference Room A at 400 Willoughby Ave.
• Anchorage, at DNR’s offices at 550 W. Seventh Ave., Suite 1450
• Fairbanks, at DNR’s large conference room at 3700 Airport Way

Those outside of Anchorage, Fairbanks, or Juneau seeking to participate in the teleconference should contact Alison Arians at the Division of Forestry in Anchorage at alison.arians@alaska.gov or at 907-269-8467 no later than 12 p.m. on Monday, August 26. If no one has contacted her and no one is present at a teleconference site by 9 a.m., the teleconference at that site may be terminated.

The agenda is attached below. Contact Arians for additional information, for special accommodations due to audio or visual impairment, or to get on the mailing list for announcements of future Board of Forestry meetings.

CONTACT: Alison Arians, 907-269-8467, alison.arians@alaska.gov