Opinion ID: 1359921
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Allowable Cut Calculation New-Growth Volume.

Text: The DNR is statutorily required to manage state-owned timber land in a manner which ensures production of a sustained yield of merchantable timber from that area. AS 41.17.060(c)(4) SEACC correctly questions Saupe's assumption that a new growth volume of 7 inches dbh is sufficient to satisfy this requirement. Presently, only timber of 12 inches dbh is merchantable in the Haines area, since this size is necessary for the production of lumber. Trees 7 inches dbh are useful only for pulpwood. Such trees are not merchantable at present in Haines, and Saupe admitted there was no basis for his assumption that they would be in the future. SEACC elicited expert testimony indicating that a pulp mill located in Haines drawing on that forest area alone would be uneconomical. Even if one assumes that pulp wood would be merchantable in Haines within the next century, it is necessary to reconcile this premise with the dictates of AS 41.17.060(c)(1), which requires that forest lands be administered in the manner which best provides for the present needs and preserves the future options of the people of Alaska. It seems to me that future generations will enjoy fewer options if they inherit forests of 7 inches dbh rather than 12 inches dbh timber. Admittedly, the present needs of the Haines population dictate that the sawmill be revitalized. However, SEACC argues that the quantity of timber sold to Schnabel should not be of a magnitude which reduces the quality of timber available to future generations. I view this question as raising important issues of statutory and constitutional construction, leaving us free to exercise our independent judgment in reviewing the appeal. Implicit in Saupe's calculation is the premise that the Forest Practices Act and article VIII, § 4 of the Alaska Constitution do not require that future generations be left with timber resources of the quality that are available now. [6] In my opinion, this result contravenes the purpose of these provisions. Quality as well as quantity of available resources must be considered in determining whether sustained yield requirements have been met. The framers and legislature must have intended that the level of timber available to future generations for sawmills as well as pulp mills be undiminished. Thus, I believe Saupe's assumption regarding acceptable new growth volume should have been rejected.