BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 417
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
417 (Dahle) - As Introduced February 19, 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Natural Resources |Vote:|9 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable:
SUMMARY:
This bill 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.
AB 417
Page 2
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor, absorbable costs for the Board to include new standards
in their ongoing regulatory process.
COMMENTS:
1)Rationale. 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
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).
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.
As the survival rate of seedlings has improved and concerns
about fire risk and forest health have increased, there is a
growing need 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.
AB 417
Page 3
2)Background. The Forest Practices Act prohibits timber
operations unless a timber harvest plan (THP) is prepared by a
registered professional forester and approved by the Director
of CALFIRE or the Board. Within five years after completion
of timber operations, the area covered by the THP is required
to be stocked according to minimum stocking standards provided
by law. The Board may adopt higher minimum stocking
standards if the Board determines the standards are necessary
to address specific resource and environmental quality issues.
In order to adopt higher standards, the Board must adopt
standards for each district, after a public hearing. The
Board is not currently authorized to adopt standards lower
than the minimum provided by law.
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. This bill provides an alternative stocking standard
to allow the removal of Douglas-fir and encourage oak
regeneration.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 417
Page 4