An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Study the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1629
Committee Amendment CA_A_H648 (House)
Amends: 12 MRSA §1807, 12 MRSA §1808, 12 MRSA §1853

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1106, L.D. 1629, Bill, "An Act To 
Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Study the Public Reserved 
Lands Management Fund" 
Amend the bill in Part A by inserting before section 1 the following: 
'Sec. A-1. 12 MRSA §1807, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 267, Pt. FF, §1, is amended 
to read: 
§1807. Sustainable harvest level 
Except as provided in this section, timber harvesting on public reserved lands and 
nonreserved public lands may not exceed in total an average of 160,000 cords per year 
over any 3-year period. If an independent timber inventory conducted after July 1, 2015 
establishes a different sustainable harvest, the department, upon recommendation from 
staff within the bureau based on opinions of silvicultural experts in public reserved lands 
management and data from the most recent physical forest inventory, may adopt by rule a 
different harvesting level consistent with that the most recent physical forest inventory ...1!§. 
long as the harvesting level is also consistent with multiple use objectives, existing 
management plans and the department's most recent integrated resource policy for public 
reserved and nonreserved lands, state parks and state historic sites. 
Rules adopted 
pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A and must be reviewed by the joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over public reserved and nonreserved lands matters. 
Sec. A-2. 12 MRSA §1808 is enacted to read: 
§1808. Forest inventory timeline established 
The department shall conduct a detailed forest inventory of the State's public reserved 
lands and public nonreserved lands by March 15, 2017 and every 5 years thereafter.' 
Amend the bill in Part A by striking out all of section 2. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1106, L.D. 1629 
Amend the bill in Part A by striking out all of section 5 (page 1, lines 30 to 34 in 
L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'Sec. A-5. 12 MRSA §1853, sub-§1, -,rH is enacted to read: 
H. A breakdown of growth based on the most recent physical forest inventory and of 
harvest in each region of any public reserved lands units established by the bureau, 
identifying any harvesting that occurred during the preceding fiscal year in individual 
management units where harvest exceeds annual growth.' 
Amend the bill in Part A in section 6 in § 1859 by inserting before subsection 1 the 
following: 
'1. Legislative findings. Whereas expenditures from the Public Reserved Lands 
Management Fund established under section 1849, subsection 2 must be consistent with 
the public trust limitations embodied in the Constitution of Maine, Article X; and the 
Constitution of Maine, Article X designates the public lots for the benefit of the schools 
in this State; and educating new loggers in the State will help to ensure that the public 
reserved lands continue to be managed to demonstrate exemplary land management 
practices, the Legislature declares that authorizing grants under this section is consistent 
with the Legislature's responsibility as trustee.' 
Amend the bill in Part A in section 6 in § 1859 by renumbering any nonconsecutive 
subsection number to read consecutively. 
Amend the bill in Part A by inserting after section 6 the following: 
'Sec. A-7. Identification of areas of insufficient access to public reserved 
lands. 
The Bureau of Parks and Lands within the Department of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry shall identify areas where the State does not currently have 
deeded access to the State's public reserved lands. The bureau shall direct regional 
foresters in the bureau who are familiar with the physical landscape of the identified areas 
and with the landowners involved to develop goals and priorities regarding increased 
access to the State's public reserved lands, and the bureau shall submit their findings to 
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over public reserved 
lands matters by March 1, 2018 in the annual report dealing with public reserved lands 
submitted pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 1853. 
Sec. A-8. Statewide priority lists of recreational infrastructure projects 
and Americans with Disabilities Act projects. The Bureau of Parks and Lands 
within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry shall develop a 
statewide priority list of recreational infrastructure projects for the State's public reserved 
lands and a statewide priority list of projects under the federal Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990 for the State's public reserved lands. The bureau shall present the 
priority lists to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
public reserved lands matters by March 1, 2018 in the annual report dealing with public 
reserved lands submitted pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 1853. 
After receipt of the lists, the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over public reserved lands matters shall hold a meeting for the purpose of 
obtaining public input on the statewide priority lists. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"!+" to H.P. 1106, L.D. 1629 
Sec. A-9. Review of bid process. The Bureau of Parks and Lands within the 
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry shall review its bid process for 
timber harvesting and road construction projects, including any liability concerns related 
to the bid process. 
The bureau shall report to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over public reserved lands matters with any recommended 
changes to the bid process by March 15, 2017. 
Sec. A-10. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF 
Land Management and Planning Z239 
Initiative: Provides an allocation for educational grants to programs related to logging at 
public secondary or public postsecondary educational institutions. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
Land Management and Planning Z239 
Initiative: Provides an allocation for STA-CAP costs. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
Land Management and Planning Z239 
2015-16 
$0 
$0 
2015-16 
$0 
$0 
2016-17 
$300,000 
$300,000 
2016-17 
$3,250 
$3,250 
Initiative: Provides an allocation to develop infrastructure projects to comply with the 
federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for the State's public reserved lands. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOT AL 
Land Management and Planning Z239 
2015-16 
$0 
$0 
2016-17 
$50,000 
$50,000 
Initiative: Provides an allocation to conduct a detailed forest inventory of the State's 
public reserved lands and public nonreserved lands. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1106, L.D. 1629 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND 
FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS 
2015-16 
$0 
$0 
2015-16 
$0 
$0 
2016-17 
$65,000 
$65,000 
2016-17 
$418,250 
$418,250 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment implements additional recommendations of the Commission To 
Study the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund that were not included in the bill. 
These recommendations include: 
1. Directing the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to conduct a 
detailed forest inventory of the State's public reserved lands and public nonreserved lands 
by March 15, 2017 and every 5 years thereafter; 
2. Establishing additional guidelines that must be followed by the Department of 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry before it may adopt any rule that would make 
changes to the annual allowable harvesting level for public reserved lands; 
3. Directing the Bureau of Parks and Lands within the Department of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry to identify areas where the State does not currently have 
deeded access to the State's public reserved lands. This amendment also requires the 
bureau to direct regional foresters in the bureau who are familiar with the physical 
landscape and landowners to develop goals and priorities regarding increased access to 
the State's public reserved lands and requires the bureau to submit their findings to the 
joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over public reserved lands 
matters by March 1, 2018; 
4. Directing the Bureau of Parks and Lands within the Department of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry to develop a statewide priority list of recreational 
infrastructure projects for the State's public reserved lands and a statewide priority list of 
projects under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for the State's public 
reserved lands. The priority lists must be presented to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over public reserved lands matters by March 1, 2018. 
After receipt of the lists, the joint standing committee is required to hold a meeting for the 
purpose of obtaining public input related to the lists; and 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
~Fl-~ 
/ 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1106, L.D. 1629 
5. Directing the Bureau of Parks and Lands within the Department of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry to review its bid process for timber harvesting and road 
construction projects, including any liability concerns related to the bid process. The 
bureau is directed to report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over public reserved lands matters with any recommended changes to the bid 
process by March 15, 2017. 
In addition, this amendment strikes the section of the bill that provides the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over public reserved lands 
matters the authority to approve all expenditures from the Public Reserved Lands 
Management Fund. 
This amendment includes a legislative findings section that addresses the consistency 
of the educational grant program's providing one-time grants to eligible public secondary 
and postsecondary institutions for educational programs related to logging with the 
permitted uses of the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund and finds that the 
Legislature, in permitting such transfers, is acting pursuant to their authority as trustee of 
the State's public reserved lands. 
Finally, this amendment adds an appropriations and allocations section. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
• 
Revised: 04/04/16 ;t;?ae. 
LD 1629 
LR 2688(02) 
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Study the Public Reserved Lands 
Management Fund 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment •fJr• [ /-1-bl.f-8 \ 
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
J 
Appropriations/ Allocations 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
Legislative Cost/Study 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Legislative Cost/Study 
FY 2015-16 
FY 2016-17 
$0 
$418,250 
Projections 
FY 2017-18 
$50,000 
Projections 
FY 2018-19 
$50 
The general operating expenses of this study are projected to be $1,500 in fiscal year 2016-17. The Legislature's 
budget includes $10,000 in in fiscal year 2016-17 for legislative studies. Whether this amount is sufficient to fund all 
studies will depend on the number of studies authorized by the Legislative Council and the Legislature. The 
additional costs of providing staffing assistance to the study during the interim can be absorbed utilizing existing 
budgeted staff resources. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
The bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (ACF) to conduct a detailed forest 
inventory of the State's public reserved lands and public nonreserved lands, provide educational grants to certain 
educational programs related to logging and to develop a statewide priority list of projects under the federal 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for the State's public reserved lands. This bill includes Other Special 
Revenue Funds allocations to the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund within ACF in fiscal year 2016-17 of 
$65,000 for the forest inventory, $300,000 for educational grants, $50,000 for conducting recreational infrastructure 
projects related to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and $3,250 for other related costs. The Public 
Reserved Lands Management Fund has sufficient resources to cover these expenditures. 
LR2688(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1