BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 904
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Date of Hearing: May 24, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 904 (Chesbro) - As Amended: April 22, 2013
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill creates the Working Forest Management Plan (WFMP)
program for nonindustrial landowners with less than 15,000 acres
of timberland. Specifically, this bill:
1)Creates the MFMP for nonindustrial timberland owners that
commit to uneven aged managed and sustained yield.
2)Allows landowners with Nonindustrial Timber Management Plans
(NTMP) to expand total timberland ownership to 2,500 acres or
more and transition into an expanded WFMP through an amendment
to the plan.
3)Creates a modified WFMP for landowners with 160 or fewer acres
of timberlands in the Coast Forest District and 320 or fewer
acres of timberlands in the Northern Forest District or
Southern Forest District.
4)Requires CalFire to adopt regulations to tailor the modified
WFMP to incentivize small landowners to develop modified small
working forest management plans.
5)Precludes denial of a restoration grant application submitted
by a WRMP or NTMP on the sole grounds that the restoration
work is a condition of an approved harvesting plan.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Absorbable costs to CalFIRE.
2)Unknown, likely absorbable, inspection costs to the Department
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of Conservation and the State Water Resources Control Board.
This bill applies to a small universe of nonindustrial
landowners, potentially under 80, who may be interested in this
program and are likely currently operating under timber harvest
plans (THPs).
COMMENTS
1)Background and Purpose . The NTMP was created in 1990 to allow
landowners with 2,500 acres or less to apply for a timber
harvesting document that would allow for long-term approval
pursuant to specified forest practice rules. The program
requires the use of uneven aged forest management and proof
that operations provide for sustained yield.
The cost of preparing this management plan is about 25% to 50%
more than a typical THP, much of which comes from the required
sustained yield analysis. However, unlike a THP, which is
limited to seven years, a NTMP lasts in perpetuity and the
additional cost is recaptured over time. The WFMP is modeled
after this program.
By relieving landowners of some of the costs and burdens of
meeting the regulatory requirements designed for industrial
timber companies, alternative plans will help keep ranches and
other non-industrial forest properties economically viable and
make them less likely to be subdivided for development.
2)A Multi-Stakeholder Process. In December 2011, the author and
Assemblymember Dickinson convened a multi-stakeholder timber
harvest working group to discuss various ways to address
timber harvesting issues in the state. The working group held
18 meetings, including a two-day workshop in the North Coast
focused solely on improving the NTMP program. This bill is a
product of these working group meetings. The bill includes
provisions suggested by landowners, foresters, agency staff,
and members of the environmental community.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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