In 1996, the Board of Forestry established a science and technical committee, comprised of scientists from the timber, commercial fishing, and environmental communities as well as state and federal agencies, to review and assess expressed concerns about the adequacy of the act's protections. The committee's two-year study identified several opportunities to improve salmon habitat and water quality. A stakeholders committee then convened to incorporate these findings into recommendations to the Board. The Board subsequently endorsed these recommendations and requested legislative approval of the appropriate measures.

SB 12 affects only the spruce and hemlock forests in the Department of Natural Resources designated Region 1. This is the coastal area from Ketchikan to Kodiak.

Under current regulations, all anadromous streams are protected, although exceptions are allowed for marginal streams. SB 12 will eliminate all exceptions and provide additional protections. As a result, the bill accomplishes several goals:

1. It assigns a "type" classification that covers all streams, putting to rest concerns that some segments of anadromous streams were not included for protection.
2. It extends the no-harvest, riparian buffer zone to ALL anadromous fish streams, relative to "type.
3. It requires the retention of low-value timber along certain tributaries where prudent, so that trees may eventually fall into streams, forming natural pools downstream that are important for fish rearing.

I am pleased to sponsor this legislation that is a product of so much time, effort and deliberation by members of the timber, fishing, and environmental communities. It is a cooperative step forward in the protection and wise utilization of our resources.