H.B. 376 Land Management Funding Amendments: transcript

Thank you. Uh, Mr. Chair. A lot of people say that this is the most important bill of the session, uh, that we run. And, uh, in my opinion, it's one of the most important bills that we'll run during this session. Uh, during the, the summer, I experienced right out my front door, the Monroe Mountain Fire, which burned 72,000 acres. Um, the year before I experienced the, uh, silver King fire in Piute County, just west of Marysvale. That burned about 35,000 acres. The year before that, I experienced Ophir in Beaver County, also in my district. Um, so I've had three fires in three years. And as I, as I looked out my window at night and saw the flames on the Monroe Mountain, I thought, you know, uh, watershed restoration initiative is probably one of the best programs this state has, has come up with as far as reclamation. But I got thinking about it and I thought, you know, we need to have coordination between WRI and other folks so that we can restore these fires quickly and efficiently. And I, I do want to give WRI and, and Department of Ag and others who came down while the fire was burning and actually talked to, uh, producers that were affected, uh, by their grazing rights and, uh, had to take their, their cattle off the range and so forth. But during the summer, I talked to leadership and I said, look, can we, how about this idea? And so I run it by them. They were, they were pleased with it. And, and so I run this bill, and what it does, it establishes the Utah Forest Restoration Institute in connection with Utah State University. And, uh, there provides coordination between the institute and the watershed restoration, uh, funding for priority, uh, prioritization and long-term monitoring, uh, requires coordinated annual reporting, uh, by WRI and the institute to the various appropriate legislative committees. So as, as we go forward, and, you know, hopefully this, this storm will continue and, and we'll have more. And, and maybe our fire risk won't be as bad as it has been in the past. But we we're experiencing changes, uh, in our weather patterns. Um, we're experiencing more drought. We have more fires. And so hence we have post-fire flooding and, and, uh, that makes proactive forest and watershed restoration more critical than than ever. So we need to have emergency funding pathways that'll allow the state to respond quickly after wildfires and natural desires when the timing is most critical. So what this bill will do is, is it'll provide better coordination and transpire transparency, uh, ensuring that public dollars are working harder on the ground and, and not stuck in state silos. The institute, uh, will ground forest and watershed priorities in, in Utah based science and expertise for making sure that dec the decisions are, are guided by research here at, at home, at the institute. And it, it, it does an important thing, I think, by giving students at the institute a real seat at the table. Because right now, we're the stewards. The next generation will be the proactive stewards of our natural resources. And it, it, it establishes healthy forests and watersheds, which are foundational to our water security, our wildfire mitigation, and our rural economies. And, and if you go back, clear back to the, uh, Brian Head fire that burned approximately, uh, 75,000 acres too. And, and it, it completely destroyed the, the culinary water system of Panguitch City. So I, I tell the folks in committees, both natural resource appropriations and in natural resources standing, you folks along the Wasatch Front are, are fortunate that you have not had Ophir in these canyons. And we've got to do more forest management, not only in these canyons, but throughout our forest, uh, statewide. This summer could be different for the Wasatch front. And, and I'm telling you, if, if you get Ophir in those canyons, you're gonna ruin the watershed for the Great Salt Lake and, and the, the people affected by the water that comes through the Central Utah project and via, via the, uh, customers here in Utah, Salt Lake and Davis County. So this is an important bill, Mr. Chair. Uh, it does have a, a pretty steep fiscal note, uh, but I do think that, uh, executive appropriations is trying to find a way to, to help with this. Uh, I had the opportunity of participating with, uh, the new president of USU President Mortenson, uh, in an RFA before the higher ed committee. And, uh, the bill has received overwhelming support from, uh, the Sportsman's Caucus, the Department of Ag, uh, farm Bureau, uh, wool Growers, trout Unlimited, uh, even the WRI program, uh, because they're gonna be a key partner in this, this institute. So, uh, without going into more detail, that's, that's basically the genesis of the bill and what the bill does.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Appreciate the work on this. I, I have a couple of process questions related here. We we're setting up in this bill an, an institute that coordinates, as I understand it, coordinates with the initiative, the watershed initiative on funding and expenditure of funds. There's a report of priorities on May 1st given to the watershed initiative. Is that report priorities? Is the funding coming from the watershed initiative, or is the four and a half million part of that? I think the four and a half million is to set up the institute and, and create the resources for that. Just, just a couple questions. I have a couple follow up questions. Maybe I could just get it all out. Would that be helpful? The for context?

Yeah, Mr. Chair, if I could go ahead. Uh, yeah, there, there's gonna be four and a half million from the income tax fund. Uh, but it also reallocates some funding at Utah State University, uh, as they help to establish this institute, some pro, some switching around of funds,

The funding, then it looks like, so May 1st there's a process, and then on July, sometime before July 1st, there's a report, report made to an annual report made to the Natural Resource Agriculture Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee about how the money's been spent. I'm, I'm, I'm now on line 86, and then there's, in November, there's another report to both the appropriations and the, the Standing Committee on it. I'm just wondering if that date, the dates they're making the decision on May 1st and then reporting on what's been decided on Juab July 1st, if that allows legislative input to the decision, if, if the sponsor would like to have legislative input, or is it just reporting on what we've done historically versus what we're gonna do in the future? Well,

I think it's, if I could, Mr. Chair, it's, um, it's a report of the activities of the institute, uh, and how they've coordinated various projects with the WRI. And I think it's important that they come back to the Appropriations Committee of Natural Resources and, and, uh, you know, I, that's where, that's where the money is really meaningful with the WRI program and with the institute. I think that's important committee for it to report back to. Yeah,

Follow up, Senator, if I may, please. It might be helpful. I, I would just add there, it might be helpful to add in line 89 in the report that we're talking about anticipated future programs that we desire to fund as well, so that you can get into a cadence of, this is what we've done, this is what we'd like to do the next year. This is what we did with what we'd like to do last year, and this, this is what we'd like to do moving forward. So there's some legislative input to it. I like what the bill does. I'm not trying to discourage anything about the bill, but perhaps, uh, invite a little more legislative engagement if that's the desire of the sponsor.

I, I wouldn't, uh, care if, if you would like to make an amendment, senator that maybe this report to our interim committee. Is that what you're referring to?

Yeah, well, the, the report, so we have the interim report on lines 1 58. It's an annual report that comes both to the interim and appropriations talking about the funding that's been done in line 1 66, 1 67, the amount of funds received 1 69, the total amount state funds. So that's, that's, uh, the total administrative cost. So that's a good report on the fiscal health. Right. And I think that's good. That's good there. I would just look, come back up to line. I, I am suggesting it might help to back up on line 86 through 93 to include, uh, a fourth somewhere maybe between, maybe in there you have three things you're reporting on I'D that I'd add a fourth thing that, uh, future anticipated programs to fund,

If I can weigh in, Senator, I don't know if it helps, but you go to Lane, um, 52, it shows what the institute shall do. They do research and then recommend mitigation strategies. Then they monitor the long term effectiveness by, um, of the funds that are offered by the state. Is that where you were going?

Thank you chair. I, I'm, yes. I I'm trying to, to, uh, the, they're making recommendations, but it doesn't say recommendations to where, and I'm assuming those recommendations are made to themselves as well as the watershed initiative. Right. And I'm just inviting that. I I did notice that and thank you for that additional clarification, but I'm, I'm just thinking in their report due before July 1st that there ought to be a report of what they're recommending for the future. It looks like that the report on July 1st is a report on what we've done in the past. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But, but what they're wanting to do in the future is what I think then they have legislative input in that regard. I think that would help meet, if I understand the intent of the sponsor's work here. So, good work

If I could, Mr. Chair, are you Senator Stratton? Are you proposing a, a fourth item there on line right after line 93 that would say, uh, a listing of future projects proposed?

Yes, it would be a listing of the recommendations made in line chair. Where was that? Um, line, um, Back to about line 57 to recommend Mitigation. Yeah. Recommended mitigating strategies. Just a report on the recommended strategies implementation.

Yeah, that's going forward. That's, that's what it would be. I, I think that would be a, a good amendment.

And I, I can, can we make that here or do you want do it on the Senate floor or what?

Well, I know you're busy, so why don't I work with staff and come up with an amendment that the sponsor could, Gary, that be sufficient Senator.

I think that would be great. I, I, I think that's an, that's a helpful, if I understand the intent, I think that'd be helpful. Okay. Thank you.

And, um, that, and it helps to, to know where you stand on that amendment representative, that you agree with that. So we'll, we'll, uh, take that in account.

Thank you, Senator, for, For Mr. Chair, if you could have, uh, policy analyst work with me, I'd appreciate it.

Uh, Connor Peterson, director of Legislative and Government Affairs with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. Uh, we just wanna rise in support of this bill. Um, we think it's, it's, it's a phenomenal bill that has, uh, tremendous, uh, potential, um, active management of our forest is something that, that we rely upon and that our grazers rely upon. Um, WRI, um, is a wonderful program that really helps our producers a lot, um, along with the GI program. And so we're, we're thankful for the sponsor for, uh, for this bill and, and encourage support. Thank you.

Tammy Pearson, I'm thinking of. There you are. Of course it is. Sorry. Uh, couldn't get there in person. We made it as far as the hotel. So, uh, we're gonna tag team. I've actually got Commissioner P*****k with me. He, his is not letting him, uh, join in. Okay. But, uh, we wanna speak in support of, of Representative Ulbrich and what he's trying to do here. Um, I'm commissioner from Beaver County. We've had multiple fires over the years and the, the things that we do, I worked with WRI and DNR and EF and all of those guys on, on the rehab and the, uh, shared, uh, stewardship. All of those different things, leverage that money and we have to have healthy, healthy forests and have to have that restoration after the fires. We've also had devastating floods, not only on forest BLM as well, so we're, we're in big support. You want me to turn this over to Leland and let him do it too while we're on? Well, we have, and we can't miss this opportunity. I know,

Right? Okay. Thank you. Uh, thank you, Representative Albrecht, Mr. Chair as well. Both have helped our, our, this situation with the mess we have on the forest very, very well. Anyway, I'll jump right into it. I'm Garfield County Commissioner Leland P*****k. The one thing that people, and I know that there's a lot of support on the committee, but there's a couple of things that gets kind of, uh, brief, uh, just kind of just forgot about. We all have to remember, uh, that are, that are listening in on this or in the room. That, that there are thousands, uh, of, of straws going down into the aquifer. Our drinking water is drying up because of this problem, these forests, the water that these, that, that the trees are taking. And the problem is there's too many trees and they're very unhealthy, but they're also, uh, diminishing our drinking water. Think about it. And, uh, so anyway, Representative Albrecht and Commissioner Pearson have articulated this very well, but I'm just, I, I want everybody to remember that, that, uh, our drinking water is being, we're losing our drinking water because of this problem. We have way too many straws going down into that aquifer, and that aquifer is going down every single year until we get this mess fixed. Anyway, thank you. Appreciate your time.

Hi, thanks so much. Uh, thanks Chair. And to the, the committee here. Um, my name is Jack Staus and I'm the executive director of a local organization called Save Our Canyons. It's a 54-year-old nonprofit that's dedicated to the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Range. Um, for the last five years, we partner with the state and federal agencies on WWRI funded projects around here in our backyard. And while like many environmental orgs, uh, I get a little nervous around chainsaws, um, I do realize that we've had, uh, decades of suppression and fuel loading that have led to get catastrophic wildfires across the state. So I'm here to speak in support of House Bill 3 3 76, which is in line with our mission. It'll provide a much needed, provide much needed resources to study and treat challenges that we face related to our watershed health, watershed health and fire, wildfire mitigation. Uh, the funding for the Utah Forest Restoration Initiative, along with the new designation as a south as a sweary, will expand our understanding of the challenges of our, that, that, that our natural resources face and would provide potential solutions if I implemented well. This bill will help with our work protecting the Wasatch Watershed, and that's something that we've long fought for. So as this bill's, I think commit, uh, currently from our seat and the en in the corner of the environmental community is written quite well, and we, uh, maintain that this should continue to be a collaborative approach between sound science, the state and key stakeholder groups like our nonprofit, um, district level level federal land managers, and the general public with additional resources going to the Utah Forest Restoration Initiative. We hope to see an expansion of educational opportunities that will bring in the public along with, along with us as we expand these WRI projects. Um, and so yeah, we wanna thank the, the spon bill sponsors and thank you all for considering this. So yeah, we re we support this much.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Committee. Um, just want to join the, all the different diverse groups that are supporting this bill. Um, my name's Jordan Nielsen. I work for Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited works as a regular partner with the WRI program and with Utah State University, designing and implementing projects that restore and improve our headwaters, especially on forests. Uh, we do pre-fire work as well as post-fire rehab. Uh, we think the bill opens up more opportunity to do good collaborative work, uh, that we're known for with our partners in the headwaters of our, uh, in our headwater forests. And we support the bill, uh, thank the, the bill sponsor and, and recommend and, and ask the committee to, to let this out with the favorable recommendation. So.

Good afternoon. My name's Justin Shannon with the Division of Wildlife Resources. Um, we love this bill. This is, uh, very well written and proactive in nature and I think that's important for our forest. Um, I also want to say as we treat forests properly and prevent catastrophic events or rehabbing them afterwards, that is vitally important for, for wildlife. Big game and mul deer in particular. Um, treating our forest is something that, that is gonna help these animals get fat. And when the animals get fat and they're healthy, their survival rates increase and populations increase at a quicker rate. And so for us and from a wildlife perspective, this is really important and I appreciate the vision of the sponsor to put something like this forward. So we're supportive. Thank you.

So I have like three or four hats to wear to do this. As executive director of the Utah Wool Growers Association. I cannot support this enough. Our producers spend so much time on the range and we know how vital it is to have our forests be actively managed and healthy, not just for the time we spend on the range, but for the watersheds that go down into town as well. We love WRI, we cannot say enough good things about Gipp and I'd really encourage you to support this favorably and to talk to people on the appropriations committee and encourage them to support it as well. 'cause there's some very, very important work that needs done both for agriculture and wildlife through this bill. You know, as vice chair of the Utah Sportsman's Caucus Advisory Council. I love supporting it from there as well. The wildlife benefits from this are untold. And then if I might wax personal for just a moment, you know, my parents' sheep ranch in Colorado burned all the way over this last year and what a difference something like this could have made for them. And I put myself through school fighting fire. So I've seen firsthand what active managed forest look like when they burn, and the prescribed burning and all the great things that they can do versus ones that just raged outta control. I was the chainsaw wheeler. I spent a couple summers on a saw squad and I loved it. And so I just really, this, there's so many good things to say about this bill from every angle and I really want you guys to pass it out favorably.

Yes. Matt Anderson, director of the Utah Sportsman's Caucus representing hunters, trappers, and anglers across the state. Um, I too would love to be there, but the snow and cash valley's pretty bad. And so I ask if the state has any resources to send, uh, sled dogs or rescue dogs, please set 'em up to save Sierra and I, we'd appreciate it. Um, I'm not gonna belabor the points that have already been made. They're excellent. Um, just really last thing I'll say is, is good science makes good policy and having more science on this issue to show the federal governments some, the devastation we're seeing on the US Forest Service with the lack of treatment of trees and, and making sure their forest is healthy is a positive thing. We need to show them that we in Utah care about science and that using that science will show what we've been saying for decades. Thank you, sir.

I feel like a one man show here today. I'll tell you what I, anyway, I make a motion. We pass out house bill 3 76 with a favorable recommendation.

I might just have to add my appreciation representative. I was on that fire, um, with the Congresswoman Molloy, spent the day there, um, just near your home. And, uh, an eerie feeling in the moonscape, blackness of the canyons. Um, you don't wish that on anyone. We've lost a generation of, of these skilled, um, forest treatment. And so I love the education piece to bring this back and, and, uh, yeah. Take care of our, our forest fire's. Not all bad if we can use it as a great tool, but when it's out of control and catastrophic, it causes a lot of damage. So thank you. From my viewpoint, we'll bring it to you for summation.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. It, uh, I don't want to belabor you either, but your dad, my dad we're both timberman. You can go onto the forest where my dad timbered a lot of years ago. It's the most healthy forest there is on the Dixie, sorry. And, uh, before he retired, guy Thompson, who was the, uh, forest supervisor on the Dixie out of Cedar City, I took him fishing on the mountain, Boulder mountain. And on the way home he would say, stop. And he would look at a, a patch of timber and he'd say, too many conifers. And that's what we've got to, to eliminate, to protect our watersheds, not just up here in the Salt Lake City canyons, but all over our forest. And those things will drink between a full mature tree. We'll drink between 80 and 150 gallons a day. So think about all the straws in the ground has been mentioned. So thank you Mr. Chair.

Great. Thank you Senator. Yeah, I would just like to add that, you know, it's not the forest fire itself, it's the aftermath of the flooding and the devastation that comes with that. Uh, in, in Ruso New Mexico. They had Ophir there a couple years ago. And, and it's just completely devastated. The town and floods have came down through those canyons and, uh, and it's kind of hit close to home for me. Ruidosa Downs has been there for 50 years and that they've announced that they're gonna have to close it permanently because of the flooding and stuff. And so it's just, and Ruidoso only exists because of the, the racetrack there goes from Memorial Day to Labor Day. And so, I mean, that whole town is gonna be de that whole community's gonna be devastated. And it's, uh, the, the reservation there with the, uh, the, the Native American reservations and the casinos that they have there, I mean, it's, they're just not gonna be there. They're just, it's gonna devastate the whole community. And so that's the things that could happen in Millcreek and other places here that, uh, you can see that in Los Angeles now in, uh, the Malibu area, that it's not the fire that, I mean, it caused all the damage, but the, the aftermath is even more devastating than anything. The mudslides and the, the, the stuff that comes with it. And so it sounds like a lot of money, but it's really not when you figure out it's gonna be billions of dollars of damage if something like this happens. So I would just ask for your support for, uh, house Bill 3 76.

Motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Non debatable.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, HB 3 76 Land Management funding amendments. Um, I'll give you a little genesis on this. Um, during the summer and fall after we had the Monroe Canyon Fire, and we've had a lot of fires down in my district the last few years, um, Representative Snider and I had a discussion about a better way to maybe coordinate, uh, fire restoration WRI projects and, uh, things like that. And so what this bill does is it establishes the Utah Forest Restoration Institute at Utah State, uh, to strengthen our forest and watershed health research and coordination. Uh, it, it outlines coordination between the institute and the Watershed Restoration Initiative on project funding prioritization and long-term monitoring, and requires annual reporting, uh, by the WRI and the Institute to the appropriate legislative committees. As, as you look at our state, we're facing increased risk for fire, drought, uh, post-fire flooding, uh, proactive forest and watershed restoration. It's become more critical than than ever in our state. Uh, this bill provides emergency funding pathways allowing the state to respond quickly after wildfires or natural desires or disasters. Uh, the WRI identifies and implements on the ground watershed and forest restoration projects in partnership with the local, uh, stakeholders. While the institute, uh, Utah State applies, uh, research to evaluate, prioritize, and monitor these projects over time together, they align, uh, local expertise with a base of academic research from the university. So the bill would provide better coordination and transparency, uh, ensuring public dollars are working harder on the ground, not stuck in various state silos. Uh, the institute, uh, grounds forest and watershed priorities in Utah based science and expertise. Uh, making sure the decisions, uh, are guided by research developed here at home rather than a one size fits all program from the feds. And it gives the students, the students, uh, in the institute a real seat at the table. Because what are we doing? We're building the next generation of proactive stewards on our lands, right? Uh, and, uh, the coordination means that the decisions that'll affect Utah's forest and watersheds are being guided by people who truly understand our land. The research is developed right here in our own state, and, uh, it gives the students a seat at the table. So that's basically what the bill does there, uh, there is a, uh, fiscal note and, uh, I think, uh, Representative Snider has a, an amendment, uh, to the bill, uh, Mr. Chair. But I'll conclude with those remarks.

Thank you, Mr. Chair Tyler Thompson. I'm the current director of the Watershed Restoration Initiative, uh, with the Department of Natural Resources. Just want to thank the sponsor and Representative Snyder for allowing us to help, uh, with this bill. We've worked with him for the last couple months and feel like this bill just kind of formalizes an already informal relationship that we have with the, the Forest Restoration Institute. That's as it's been stood up over the last few years. So yeah, we support this bill. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Justin Shannon with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. We really love this bill. There's so much good, and I, and I think it's gonna help compliment the great work that WRI has already been doing, and I think the more restoration work we can do on Utah's landscape, especially our summer ranges, is gonna help wildlife in this state. So we really appreciate the sponsor bringing this forward. Thank you.

Okay. Uh, Troy Forest, Utah, department of Agriculture and Food, uh, deputy Commissioner there, uh, we strongly support this bill as well. Uh, watershed Restoration Initiative has been a great partner for the Department of Ag, for our producers and for our landscapes. And this is just leveraging more money to make better things happen quicker. You know, like the, the good representative said, we've had bigger wildfires, we've got bigger problems coming with the drought and the different things that we're experiencing. This is a way to mitigate that and get ahead of it using state funds. I think this is a great thing. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead, chair.

Good morning. My name's Sierra Nelson. Or afternoon. What day is it? Where am I? My name's Sierra Nelson. I am the Vice Chair of the Utah Sportsman's Caucus Advisory Council. One hat and two hats. I've got 'em all 'cause everybody loves this bill too. I think I'm just cheerleading today. But seriously, this is such a win for ag. It's such a win for wildlife. Having the ability to have boots on the ground, people make decisions and be able to help out with these wildfires is going to be amazing. So we encourage you from the Sportsman's Caucus to support this switch hats, and we encourage you from the Utah Wool Growers to support this. Like, this is such a win everywhere. So thank you guys for your time today.

Utah Farm Bureau, all do a lot. What, uh, Sierra and Troy said, so I don't take a bunch of your time, but Utah Farm Bureau does support a great, uh, work on these programs to help grazing wildlife, other things in the state. And, and doing this on a timely manner, like Representative Alre said, is so important. So, great. Bill, Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Jordan Nielsen With Trout Unlimited. I'm the state director for our work here in Utah. Uh, TE works regularly as a partner with WRI and with Utah State University, designing and implementing projects that restore and improve our headwaters, especially on forests. So we thank the bill sponsor for bringing this bill forward. We think it's a great thing. And, uh, and ask that you support the bill.

Vice chair. I'd like to move House Amendment one in my name.

I would, it just clarifies there's a couple of pots of existing money at Utah State that are getting reallocated in the standing up of this institute. And, uh, after looking at some of the things that are being funded, it made more sense just to pull, pull from one pot of money rather than both. So it just strikes the, uh, about 700,000 that comes to the Public Lands initiative to Utah State Strikes that dollar out and leaves it at 1.5 million ongoing. Just to change to the fiscal note.

representative? Yeah, That'd be great. Um, I'd like to recommend that this committee favorably approve HB 3 76 as amended.

So, um, thank you Mr. Cha, and I appreciate it, and I think I understand everything, but I'm a little bit confused. What is the, the difference between Watershed Restoration Initiative and the Utah Forest Restoration Initiative? What, uh, I mean, are they something that goes hand in glove? Uh, anyway, uh, I, I, I, I know, uh, anyway 'cause I get a little bit more of an explanation of the, the difference between the, the two initiatives. Does this chair, the spon the question of the sponsor? Or are you asking Whoever can answer? Can you answer that?

I can answer it. Yeah. I'm, I think it to, to you representative. You're the one that, that we're talking about the motion. So The one is an actually an institute and one is an initiative. Um, I, oh yeah. They, they all have, we have way too many acronyms in this business. Um, but the institute at Utah State was established under an appropriation last year, and it syncs up with similar institutes that are in four other universities across the Intermountain West and authorized by federal statute. That institute is also, um, currently being added to a list of, um, other institutes by Senator Mike Lee in dc. So it's gonna be not only have state authorization here, but also federal authorization. Uh, WRI obviously is, as you know, you've been a huge champion for that. So long is the on the ground part. What, what this bill would attempt to do is formalize, uh, the institute that we established with appropriation last session, and then sync up WRI with you free, see why we're all confused. But basically it would make the, the Watershed Restoration Initiative and the Utah Forest Restoration Institute coordinate on the programmatic side. So they work together. That's all this does.

So I, I appreciate that explanation. I, I guess I could probably claim that I'm, uh, probably guilty of, you know, when we, uh, text something or we write something out and our spell check corrects it. I think I read, uh, instead of institute I read initiative. And so, uh, but that, that, that definitely is, is a clarification. And I appreciate, uh, that, and I think this is a, uh, a good motion.

And committee members.

Yes, thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, so this bill, you know, a lot of folks get up and say, this is one of the most important things we'll do this session, this would be in the top five or six. So during the summer when we were burning up, down in my district on Monroe Mountain, and I've had three fires in my district in the last three years. The Monroe Mountain Fire, the Silver King fire in Piute County and the Tusser Mountain Fire on the Beaver Mountains. And, uh, I just wanted to say that as that fire was burning on Monroe Mountain, I contacted, uh, some of leadership and I said, look, we, we've gotta do a better job of when the fire burns and we start restoration on the, on the forest. There's gotta be a better way to coordinate, uh, restoration in, in coordination with the Watershed restoration initiative. So we come up with, uh, this land management and funding amendment bill. Uh, it creates the Utah Forest Restoration Institute at Utah State and outlines coordination between that institute and the Watershed Restoration program. And it requires, uh, an annual reporting back to legislative committees. But colleagues, as as we face increasing risks for fire during this drought and post-fire flooding into some of these communities, their watersheds, we gotta do a better job than what we have been with, uh, proactive forest management and watershed restoration. So thi this bill will, will provide better coordination and ensure that public dollars are working hard on the ground and not stuck in state silos or federal silos. And, uh, the, it gives the students up there at Utah State a real seat at the table so that we can train the next generation of, of people to be good stewards of Utah's natural resources and especially our forest. And BLM lands. Healthy forests and watersheds are the foundation to water security, wildfire mitigation and rural economies. And I'll say that a few years ago when we had the Brian Head fire Mr. Speaker, we had 72,000 acres burned and it also burned the watershed for Panguitch City, uh, their spring, all of their infrastructure. And that's getting pretty serious when you knock the water out of a small community. We've got that same problem on the Monroe Canyon Fire with Monroe City and some small cities on the Kaur and Burville side. We're gonna have to do a lot of work. I guess it's a mixed blessing when you don't have snow because the snow doesn't melt and cause flooding in the spring. But we'll take the snow if we can get it. Uh, basically this bill will, will do a good job working with watershed restoration, which is one of the best programs this state's ever come up with. And so thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to echo the comments of my good colleague from Richfield and add my voice to supporting this bill. We've done really great things in this state as it relates to forest restoration for a long time. The Watershed Restoration Initiative is probably the most, um, amazing program as it relates to pre-fire mitigation and post-fire rehabilitation in the country. And it's been supported well by this legislature. What this bill that the good sponsor is running will allow us to do is add science documentation, monitoring to all of those protocols so that long term we can prove to the rest of the country that the work that we're doing on the ground matters and that it is making a difference. This institute will join its voice to four other voices that are shared at universities across the west and will be among the most advanced research centers at Utah State as it relates to land management. I really appreciate the good work of the sponsor bringing this forward and, um, I'm grateful for his efforts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the sponsor yield to a series of questions? Representative Albrecht, will you yield to a series of questions?

Yes, Representative Christofferson.

Thank you. Uh, so I was just looking at the fiscal note and what and what this, uh, how this is funded. Are these lands, are they federal and state lands?

Yes, they'd be both federal and state lands.

Uh, so to me it seems like the federal government should step up and do a lot of this to, you know, pay for lot of this. We're going out of our way to manage that, that they should be doing. Is there, uh, what efforts are being made that they can help pay for some of this or do they

That's a good question, Mr. Speaker. Uh, as you know, the state has signed an agreement with the Department of Interior and also, uh, the Department of Agriculture on working with us on forest products, uh, to harvest forest products and, and do clean up the forest. Basically, we've signed those agreements. The governor has, uh, leadership has been involved in those. And, uh, frankly, the, uh, natural Resource Appropriation Committee, uh, ranked a couple of projects in southern Utah is very important. So hopefully they get funded.

Yeah. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Appreciate the, appreciate the bill.

Thank you, Ms. Speaker. Uh, I just want the folks in here to know that uh, there's several groups that, uh, favored this bill, department of Ag Farm Bureau, wool Growers, cattlemen Association, uh, trout Unlimited Watershed Restoration Sportsman's Caucus. They all like the bill and we just need to move forward because it's very important for our forests and, uh, federal lands as well as our state lands. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Urge your support.

Uh, or WRI on project prioritization, emergency response, long-term monitoring and data collection. It also updates reporting requirements and makes technical and conforming changes. With that Mr. President, I would be open. Mr. President Prote I would be open to any questions.

Under suspension of the rules, I move the first substitute house bill 3 76 pass.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to concur with the Senate. That

Sure. There was, uh, an amendment made in the Senate, uh, that uh, just said, look, if you're gonna do a list of projects on forest restoration, give us a list of what the initiative plans to fund for the following calendar year, which makes sense. The Senate and their wisdom added that to the bill and uh, it's a good bill. Mr. Speaker.