(SitNews) Juneau, Alaska - The Alaska State Senate unanimously approved a measure Thursday allowing for a land exchange between the state and federal government to make 20,000 acres available for timber harvesting.   

Senate Bill 88, sponsored by Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka), would facilitate a land trade between the Alaska Mental Health Trust (AMHT) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), in which the state of Alaska would receive nearly 20,000 acres available for timber harvesting in exchange for approximately 18,000 acres near and adjacent to several Southeast communities.

“I applaud my Senate colleagues for supporting this win-win-win proposal,” said Sen. Stedman. “The mental health trust will raise revenue for the services they provide to disadvantaged Alaskans, our logging industry will have access to timber supply, and our communities will not have logging occur in their viewsheds. Providing for a timber supply is critical to job creation and the economy of Southeast Alaska.”

Completing the transfer requires legislation from both the Legislature and the Congress. SB 88, in conjunction with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s S. 131 and U.S. Rep. Don Young’s H.R. 513 details the process of the land exchange, including maps of land parcels, costs that must be paid by the AMHT and other involved parties, the timeline and order of priority for the exchange and how to handle potential differing value of the final appraisal.

“The revenue gained by the Mental Health Trust will fund programs that serve some of the most vulnerable Alaskans, those who live with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injuries, and substance abuse disorders.” said Sen. Stedman.

Senate Bill 88 is now on its way to the Alaska House of Representatives for consideration. 

Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Senate Majority - Office of Sen. Bert Stedman
www.akleg.gov

 

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2017
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.