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Alaska Statutes.

Title 41. Public Resources

Chapter 17. Forest Resources and Practices

Section 116. Riparian Standards For Private Land.

AS 41.17.116. Riparian Standards For Private Land.

(a) Private forest land adjacent to the following types of waters and located in Region I is subject to the riparian protection standards established in this subsection:

(1) along a Type I-A water body,

(A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; and

(B) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of the water body;

(2) along a Type I-B water body,

(A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; and

(B) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller;

(3) along a Type I-C water body,

(A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; and

(B) the operator shall, where prudent, retain low value timber within 25 feet of the water body or to the limit of the area described in (A) of this paragraph, whichever area is greater, where the width of the water body is

(i) greater than 13 feet at the ordinary high water mark; or

(ii) greater than eight feet at the ordinary high water mark if the channel is incised;

(4) along a Type I-D water body,

(A) operations within 50 feet of the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; and

(B) the operator shall, where prudent, retain low value timber within 25 feet of the water body or to the limit of the area described in (A) of this paragraph, whichever area is greater, where the width of the water body is

(i) greater than 13 feet at the ordinary high water mark; or

(ii) greater than eight feet at the ordinary high water mark if the channel is incised.

(b) Private forest land adjacent to the following types of waters and located in Region III is subject to the riparian protection standards established in this subsection:

(1) along a Type III-A water body, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of the water body;

(2) along a Type III-B water body, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 33 feet of the water body; between 33 feet and 66 feet from the water body, up to 50 percent of standing white spruce trees having at least a nine-inch diameter at breast height may be harvested without requiring a variation;

(3) along a Type III-C water body, harvest of timber within 100 feet of the water body must be located and designed primarily to protect fish habitat and surface water quality as determined by the state forester with due deference to the deputy commissioner.

(c) The state forester shall adopt regulations for private land in Region II that designate the areas that are subject to riparian protection standards and the restrictions on timber harvesting operations within those areas that are necessary for their protection under the management goals established in AS 41.17.115 .

(d) In this section,

(1) "low value timber" means timber that the owner or operator determines, at the time of harvest, to be uneconomic to harvest and market;

(2) "prudent" means that the requirement can be met using reasonably available means or technology, that complying with the requirement is not likely to create significant impairment of the productivity of the land and water, and that the cost of achieving the requirement is not out of proportion to the benefits that can reasonably be expected to be achieved in the particular situation.

Note to HTML Version:

This version of the Alaska Statutes is current through December, 2004. The Alaska Statutes were automatically converted to HTML from a plain text format. Every effort has been made to ensure their accuracy, but this can not be guaranteed. If it is critical that the precise terms of the Alaska Statutes be known, it is recommended that more formal sources be consulted. For statutes adopted after the effective date of these statutes, see, Alaska State Legislature If any errors are found, please e-mail Touch N' Go systems at E-mail. We hope you find this information useful.

Last modified 9/3/2005