H.567
Introduced by Representatives Brown of Walden, Adams of Hartland, Allaire of Rutland City, Allard of St. Albans Town, Angell of Randolph, Atkins of Winooski, Audette of South Burlington, Baker of West Rutland, Barney of Highgate, Bolduc of Barton, Bostic of St. Johnsbury, Bourdeau of Hyde Park, Carey of Chester, Clark of St. Johnsbury, Cleland of Northfield, Crawford of Burke, Crowley of West Rutland, Davis of Cavendish, DePoy of Rutland City, Duffy of Rutland City, Endres of Milton, Flory of Pittsford, Follett of Springfield, Freed of Dorset, George of Middlebury, Gervais of Enosburg, Goodridge of Albany, Gray of Barre Town, Haas of Rutland City, Hall of Newport City, Helm of Castleton, Houston of Ferrisburgh, Howrigan of Fairfield, Hube of Londonderry, Hudson of Lyndon, Johnson of Canaan, Kennedy of Chelsea, Ketchum of Bethel, Kilmartin of Newport City, Kirker of Essex, Koch of Barre Town, Krawczyk of Bennington, LaBarge of Grand Isle, Larocque of Barnet, Larose of Richford, Larrabee of Danville, LaVoie of Swanton, Livingston of Manchester, Mann of Leicester, Maslack of Poultney, Mazur of South Burlington, Metzger of Milton, Monti of Barre City, Morrissey of Bennington, Mullin of Rutland Town, Myers of Essex, O'Donnell of Vernon, Otterman of Topsham, Palmer of Pownal, Peaslee of Guildhall, Pike of Mendon, Pillsbury of Brattleboro, Quaid of Williston, Randall of Bradford, Rogers of Castleton, Rosenquist of Georgia, Schiavone of Shelburne, Scribner of Bristol, Shaw of Derby, Sheltra of Derby, Smith of New Haven, Starr of Troy, Stevens of Essex, Sweetser of Essex, Towne of Berlin, Valliere of Barre City, Vinton of Colchester, Voyer of Morristown, Waite of Pawlet, Webster of Randolph, Weeks of Wallingford, Willett of St. Albans City, Winters of Swanton, Winters of Williamstown, Wood of Brandon, Wright of Burlington and Young of Orwell
Date:
Subject: Conservation; West Mountain Wildlife Management Area
Statement of purpose: This bill proposes to clarify and enforce the legislative intent of Sec. 87a of No. 1 of the Acts of the 1999 Session, the Budget Adjustment Act, in the management of the area known as the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area. It proposes to require that the plan to manage the area give equal priority to the following three primary public purposes: perpetual public access for traditional public recreation; the use as a working forest for the sustainable production of wood products; and the protection of natural resources. It makes it clear that use as a working forest and traditional public access are not inconsistent with the protection of natural resources. It prohibits restricting use on any part of the land in a way that limits any of the three primary public purposes. It requires that the management plan be revised to be consistent with this act, and be presented to the general assembly for approval by January 15, 2003. It requires that, pending this legislative approval, the interim management plan in force prior to the agency’s submission of the January 2002 management plan shall remain in effect. It provides that all restrictions upon the management area must comply with this act, or shall be unenforceable, and it requires the agency of natural resources and the Vermont housing and conservation board to work with the other party to the lease to rewrite the easement to reflect this act. Finally, it repeals the requirement that camp leases run for the life of the leaseholder plus 20 years, and instead requires that the leases be renewed in perpetuity, with the state having the right of first refusal, in case a leaseholder offers a lease for sale or assignment to a nonfamily member.
AN ACT RELATING TO THE WEST MOUNTAIN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
Sec. 1. PURPOSE
It is the purpose of this
act to clarify and enforce the legislative intent of Sec. 87a of No. 1 of the
Acts of the 1999 Session, the Budget Adjustment Act, in the management of the
area known as the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMWMA), and to
preserve the camp culture in this wildlife management area.
Sec. 2. West Mountain Wildlife Management Area
(a) Management Plan.
(1) The State of Vermont, as authorized by No. 1
of the Acts of the 1999 Session, the Budget Adjustment Act, is the owner in fee
simple of approximately 22,500 acres of land in Essex County known as the West
Mountain Wildlife Management Area, a portion of the lands formerly known as the
Champion lands and currently managed by the agency of natural resources.
(2) As part of its management plan for the
WMWMA, the agency of natural resources shall give equal priority to the three
primary public purposes established for the WMWMA by No. 1 of the Acts of the
1999 Session, which are: perpetual
public access for traditional public recreation; the use as a working forest
for the sustainable production of wood products; and the protection of natural
resources.
(3) For the purposes of this act, “traditional
public recreation” and “use as a working forest for the sustainable production
of wood products” shall be permitted throughout the WMWMA in accordance with
the provisions of No. 1 of the Acts of the 1999 Session, in subdivision
87a(A)(i)(II) and (III), and the mandate in subdivision 87a(A)(ii)(IV) of that
act. These forms of recreation, land
management, and logging shall be considered fully compatible with and
supportive of “protection of natural resources”.
(4) No portion of the public lands known as the
WMWMA shall be reserved, segregated, restricted, specially treated, or managed,
or specifically set aside for the exclusive use of one primary purpose or any
other purpose or use at the exclusion of either of the other two primary public
purposes set forth in subdivision (a)(2) of this section, except as part of a
statewide regulatory program.
(5) The land management plan for the WMWMA due
to be presented to the general assembly no later than January 15, 2003, and all
future management plans, shall recognize that the purpose of the plan is to
further the three public purposes as set forth in subdivision (a)(2) of this
section in an equal and consistent manner.
Any land management plan for the WMWMA shall incorporate provisions that
require such equal use as its primary goal.
(A) The agency of natural resources shall amend
the WMWMA management plan submitted in January 2002, to conform with this act
and with No. 1 of the Acts of the 1999 Session, as amended by this act. This revised management plan will be
submitted to the general assembly for approval no later than January 15, 2003,
and will take effect upon approval by the general assembly, as it might be
amended by the general assembly.
(B) Pending the approval of the revised
management plan pursuant to subdivision (5)(A) of this subsection, the interim
management plan in force prior to the agency’s submission of the January 2002
management plan shall remain in force.
(b) Restrictions.
All restrictions upon the
WMWMA must comply with this act and with No. 1 of the Acts of the 1999 Session,
as amended by this act, or be void, illegal and unenforceable by any person,
government agency, organization, or legal entity.
(c) Camp Leases.
The State of Vermont
recognizes that the preservation of traditional cultural heritage is an
important part of traditional public recreational use. In order to encourage the preservation of
traditional cultural heritage in Northeast Vermont and the state as a whole,
the general assembly makes the amendments to Sec. 87a of No. 1 of the Acts of
the 1999 Session, that are contained in Sec. 3 of this act.
(d) Easement.
The agency of natural resources and the Vermont housing and conservation board shall work with The Nature Conservancy to rewrite the easement between these three parties pertaining to the WMWMA to reflect this act and No. 1 of the Acts of the 1999 Session, as amended by this act. This easement shall be presented to the General Assembly for review no later than January 15, 2003.
Sec. 3. Subdivision 87a(A) of No. 1 of the Acts of the 1999 Session is amended to read:
(A) To the Vermont housing and conservation board for Champion land acquisition and affordable housing $5,500,000
(i) Of this appropriation, $4,500,000 shall be
used to purchase and ensure that the lands commonly referred to as the Champion
lands in northeastern Vermont are conserved as a working forest for the
sustainable production of wood products, for natural resources, including
the maintenance of wildlife habitat and conservation of identified natural
heritage sites, and for perpetual public access for traditional
recreational uses. The Vermont housing
and conservation board and its grantees, through easements and through
agreements with its state, federal and private partners, shall permanently
protect the following uses:
(I) Camp leases. On state
lands renewal shall be for the life of the leaseholder or, in the event of the
leaseholder’s death, renewal by immediate family members for not more than 20
years. The camp leases located
on state land shall be renewed in perpetuity.
The current leaseholders may transfer a lease by sale or
assignment. The state of Vermont shall
have the right of first refusal of any leases offered for sale or assignment to
nonfamily members of the leaseholder.
The state shall make a special effort to repair the roads, whenever
possible, on state-owned land and annually shall file a report with the general
assembly and the municipality describing any road maintenance performed during
the year. In the event of extreme
erosion due to natural causes on a road leading to a camp, the department of
fish and wildlife shall fix the roads if funding is available for the
purpose. Camp owners shall be
responsible for maintaining driveways to their respective camps. Lease payments on land which is owned and
managed by the department of fish and wildlife shall be set aside for road
maintenance on department of fish and wildlife property. Further the Vermont housing and conservation
board shall negotiate aggressively and diligently to obtain for camp holders on
private lands the same or greater protections as are provided to camp holders
on state lands, and to provide for free access thereto.
(II) Recreation. Use of land for traditional and lawful recreational uses, including boating, fishing, trapping, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, skiing, bird watching, hiking, biking, hunting, including training and using hunting dogs, equestrian uses, and other currently allowed forms of traditional recreational uses.
(III) Land Management. Maintaining working forest lands through a “working forest” easement that includes privately-owned and managed lands for sustainable production and harvesting of timber and other forest products, and perpetual public access. These easements will be designed to meet the economic objectives of timber investors and allow harvesting net growth once the forest is restocked.
(ii) With respect to lands commonly referred to as the Champion lands, the agency of natural resources, in a manner consistent with other statutory obligations and authority, shall:
(I) Renew Camp Leases. Renew
those leases located on state lands for the life of the leaseholder or, in the
event of the leaseholder’s death, allow renewal by immediate family members for
not more than 20 years. The camp leases located on state land shall be
renewed in perpetuity. The current
leaseholders may transfer a lease by sale or assignment. The state of Vermont shall have the right of
first refusal of any leases offered for sale or assignment to nonfamily members
of the leaseholder.
(II) Plan and Involve the Community. Involve Vermont citizens and municipalities in developing and updating every 10 years a long‑term comprehensive plan for management of portions of the lands which are transferred to it.
(III) Collaborate with Federal Agencies. Work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Department to ensure that management plans for all state and federally-owned
portions of the lands are coordinated.
The agency shall seek, through this collaboration, to include renewal
of camp leases for the life of the leaseholder or, in the event of the
leaseholder’s death, to include renewal by immediate family members for not
more than 20 years to obtain for camp holders on federal lands the same
or greater protections as are provided to camp holders on state lands, together
with free access thereto; and to assure the use of land for traditional and
lawful recreational uses, including boating, fishing, trapping, snowmobiling,
snowshoeing, skiing, bird watching, hiking, biking, hunting, including training
and using hunting dogs, equestrian uses, and other currently allowed forms of
traditional recreational uses.
(IV) Water Reclassification and Designation. Allow traditional recreational uses and logging, if conducted in accordance with acceptable management practices and applicable state and federal laws.
(iii) Consistent with this subdivision, the agency of natural resources and its departments are authorized to convey to the Vermont housing and conservation board and the Vermont Land Trust a conservation and public access easement conserving the land as a working forest for the sustainable production of wood products, protecting the natural resources on and assuring public access for traditional recreational uses to that portion of land commonly referred to as the Champion lands, which the Conservation Fund intends to convey to the agency.
Sec. 4. EffEctive Date
This act shall take effect
upon enactment.