Board of Forestry Meeting, December 13, 2016

The public is invited to participate in a Board of Forestry teleconference meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 13 to discuss statewide forestry issues. The meeting will run from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and a draft agenda is posted at http://forestry.alaska.gov/whatsnew.htm.


Topics for the board meeting will include:

• FY2017-18 forestry, forest practices, and monitoring budgets and options for alternative funding sources for Forest Resources and Practice Act implementation;

• Opportunities for cooperative forestry-wildlife projects with Pittman-Robertson funding;

• State and federal statutory and regulatory proposals related to forest operations in Alaska, including regulations for small negotiated sales under 11 AAC 71.045(e), state fees, and reforestation standards in Interior and Southcentral Alaska;

• Coastal forest management issues including reports on national forest planning, federal timber sales, Roadless Rule implementation, the Mental Health Trust land exchange, The Working Forest Group, the Conversion to Young Growth project, and proposed federal legislation to transfer up to two million acres of land in the Tongass National Forest to the State of Alaska;

• Forest management planning and timber sale planning and appeals on state land;

• Wood energy projects in Alaska;

• Research and cooperative planning recommendations regarding reforestation in Interior and Southcentral Alaska;

• Forest sustainability verification;

• Final report on Willer-Kash effectiveness monitoring study;

• The U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis program in Alaska; and

• Status of forestry research and education programs at the University of Alaska.

   

  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 1:15 p.m. 

  Teleconference call-in locations will be available in four communities as listed below:

• Juneau:  DEC 2^nd floor conference room, 410 Willoughby Ave

• Anchorage:  Division of Forestry conference room, 550 W. 7^th Avenue, Suite 1450 

• Fairbanks:  Department of Natural Resources large conference room, 3700 Airport Way

• Ketchikan:  Legislative Information Office, 1900 1^st Ave., Suite 310

  Anyone outside of Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, or Ketchikan who would like to participate in the teleconference should contact Marty Freeman at the Division of Forestry in Anchorage at marty.freeman@alaska.gov or call at 907-269-8467 no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9. If no one has contacted Marty and no one is present at a teleconference site by 9 a.m., the teleconference may be terminated at that site.

A copy of the agenda, is attached below.  For additional information about the meeting, or for special accommodations due to audio or visual impairment, contact Marty Freeman at marty.freeman@alaska.gov or 907-269-8467. Any individuals wishing to receive announcements of future Board of Forestry meetings by e-mail or in hard copy should contact Marty to be added to the mailing list.  

CONTACT: Marty Freeman, 269-8467, marty.freeman@alaska.gov