Legislation has been introduced in the state House of Representatives to fund a forester in Haines.
The forestry office, operated here since the 1960s and only seasonally staffed for the past two years, is set to close July 1.
Rep. Justin Parish, D-Juneau, proposed an amendment funding the job to House Bill 57, which deals with the state budget, at a Natural Resources Committee meeting on Feb. 17, said Rob Edwardson, a Parish aide.
Edwardson said there wasn’t much discussion of the legislation at the resource committee level, but the proposed amendment is being passed onto the House Finance Committee to be deliberated this week, without the recommendation of the resource committee co-chairs.
State Rep. Sam Kito, D-Juneau, whose district includes Haines, said he has already received emails from people in support of the amendment to sustain a long-term forester position in Haines.
“I’m supportive of (the amendment), and I appreciate that support is going to the Finance Committee,” Kito said.
Kito said Haines residents can write to Finance Committee co-chairs Neal Foster and Paul Seaton. Community members also can speak during public testimony on the budget from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, March 3 and 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, March 4. Call 907-465-4648 to speak.
Kito said it is important that the finance committee support funding for the position that’s sustainable. Kito said he personally supports tapping the general fund to pay for the job.
Haines resident and volunteer firefighter Cynthia “CJ” Jones visited the capitol twice in the past two months to advocate for a local forester, speaking with Kito and to officials in the Department of Natural Resources office.
“I think the main argument right now is abandoning the large timber sale,” Jones said. “The other thing is wildland fire suppression.”
The Baby Brown sale, a purchase of 855 acres of timber in the Haines State Forest, went through late last year. It’s the largest timber sale from the state forest in 20 years.
Jones said state Division of Forestry director Chris Maisch is considering transferring wildfire suppression responsibilities to the Tongass National Forest crew. Jones said she fears a delayed response to wildfires here if supervision is based in Juneau.
“With wildfire suppression locally, and local authority to say, ‘Yes we need to deploy,’ we can be there within an hour,” Jones said. “We’ve kept fires small for 40 years.”
If the Haines forestry office goes away, Jones said, the state has the potential to spend a lot more money in the long run.
Jones stressed the importance of writing emails and letters to Southeast representatives to show support.
Visit http://akleg.gov/house.php for contact information.
When asked what the Haines Borough is doing to advocate for the amendment, interim borough Manager Brad Ryan said lobbyist Bill Thomas was tasked to represent the borough’s position in support of a local forester.
In a Feb. 20 memo to the borough, Thomas said, “One legislator told me it would be hard to put money into any budget when they are trying to cut budgets. (I) was also told no one is willing to give up (a) position from their town to go to another,” Thomas wrote to interim borough manager Brad Ryan.