BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 417
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 417
(Dahle) - As Introduced February 19, 2015
SUBJECT: Forest practices: resource conservation standards
SUMMARY: Expands the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
(Board) authority to develop alternative stocking standards,
when necessary, to include the average residual basal area
approach of stocking.
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act
of 1973 (FPA):
1)Requires the Board to adopt rules and regulations such as the
Forest Practice Rules (FPR) to assure the continuous growing
and harvesting of commercial forest tree species and to
protect the soil, air, fish and wildlife, and water resources,
including but not limited to, streams, lakes, and estuaries.
2)Requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL
FIRE) to oversee the FPA and the FPR in consultation with
other public agencies and the interested public. The FPA and
FPR specifically govern, among other things; timber harvest
plans (THPs), Nonindustrial Timber Management Plans (NTMPs),
Program Timber Harvesting Plans (PTHPs), and other types of
plans related to timber operations on private lands in
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California.
3)Within five years after completion of timber operations,
requires either of the following minimum stocking standards
for an area covered by a THP:
a) An average point count of 300 per acre, except for site
IV classification or lower (i.e., sites with the lowest
productivity potential), which shall have an average point
count of 150 per acre. (The point count of a tree is
determined by tree size. For example, a tree that is less
than four inches in diameter at breast height counts as one
point. A tree over 12 inches in diameter counts as six
points.);
b) An average residual basal area (i.e., the sum of tree
diameter for an acre) of at least 85 square feet per acre,
except for site II classification (i.e., sites with
intermediate productivity potential) or lower, which shall
have the minimum average residual basal area of 50 square
feet per acre.
4)Authorizes the Board to develop alternative stocking standards
for the average point count method of stocking if those
standards address the variables in forest characteristics and
achieve suitable resource conservation, but does not authorize
alternative stocking standards for average residual basal area
method.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Stocking. After timber has been harvested in an area,
stocking standards ensure that the area is restocked with
trees so that the timberland can be maintained. Stocking
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standards set the requirement for how many trees (point count)
must be replanted or, accounting for large and small trees,
the aggregate of tree diameters for an area (the basal area).
As the survival rate of seedlings has improved and concerns
about overstocking's impact on fire risk and forest health has
increased, there has been a desire to tailor stocking
standards to meet the forest's characteristics.
According to the Board, allowing alternative stocking
standards for the basal area will assist in restoring oak
woodlands. Douglas-fir can become established in oak woodland
stands, which jeopardizes the growth and regeneration of oaks.
Douglas-fir can quickly overtop oak trees, shade them out, and
suppress oak regeneration. Conifer encroachment threatens the
future of many oak woodlands in Northern California and is a
primary factor driving the loss of oak woodlands in Humboldt
County. An alternative stocking standard will allow for the
removal of Douglas-fir to encourage oak regeneration.
2)Prior legislation. AB 2082 (Dahle), Chapter 212, Statutes of
2014, allowed the Board to develop alternative stocking
standards for the point count approach to stocking, but not
the basal area. The Board has gone on record saying "under the
current construct of PRC § 4561.2 the Board cannot develop a
residual basal area standard to facilitate the management of
oak woodlands."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 417
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Support
Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
California Forestry Association
Humboldt Redwood Company and Mendocino Redwood Company
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092