Alaska Statutes 41.17.116 – Riparian standards for private land

(a) Private forest land adjacent to the following types of water and located in Region I is subject to the riparian protection standards established in this subsection:

Terms Used In Alaska Statutes 41.17.116

forest land: means land stocked or having been stocked with forest trees of any size and not currently developed for nonforest use, regardless of whether presently available or accessible for commercial purposes, and includes any such land under state, municipal, or private ownership. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
high value resident fish: means resident fish populations that are used for recreational, personal use, commercial, or subsistence purposes. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
operations: means timber harvesting or activates associated with timber harvesting or forest development unless exempted under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
operator: means a person who is engaged in timber harvesting or activities associated with timber harvesting or forest development, or who contracts with others to conduct operations for that person, except a person who is engaged in an operation as an employee with wages or piecework as the sole compensation. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
ordinary high water mark: means the mark along the bank or shore up to which the presence and action of the tidal or nontidal water are so common and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to leave a natural line impressed on the bank or shore and indicated by erosion, shelving, changes in soil characteristics, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, or other distinctive physical characteristics. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
outer bend subject to erosion: means , in Region II, a stream bend that has a cutbank and is opposite a point bar on the inner bend. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
point bar: means , in Region II, a ridge or low mound of sediment, often sand or gravel, that has been deposited on the inside of a curve in a stream, where the water velocity is lower. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Region I: means all land in Southeast Alaska, plus all land that is south of the crest of the Chugach Mountains and Saint Elias Mountains and east of a line running from the crest of the Chugach Mountains to O'Malley Peak, then southerly to Gull Rock, then southwesterly to the eastern junction of Skilak Lake Road and the Sterling Highway, then southwesterly to the mouth of the Fox River, then southwesterly through Kachemak Bay to Mt. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Region II: means all land in the state south of the Nutzotin Mountains and Mentasta Mountains, south of the Alaska Range, and east of the Aleutian Range, except for the area within Region I and peninsular and island land south of Cape Kumliun. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Region III: means all land in the state outside of Regions I and II. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
riparian area: means
(A) the areas subject to riparian protection standards in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
significant impairment of the productivity of the land and water: means an activity that may foreseeably result in prolonged or substantial damage to renewable resources or prolonged or substantial reduction of the continuing capability of the land or water to produce renewable resources at their natural or historic levels. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
terrace: means , in Region II, a change in elevation greater than 10 feet for a Type II-A water body or greater than 20 feet for a Type II-B water body, and that has a slope greater than 30 percent. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
terrace top break: means , in Region II, the point at which the terrace slope changes to the lower angle slope of the adjacent upland. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type I-A water body: means , in Region I, an anadromous water body that
(A) is a stream or river of any size having an average gradient of eight percent or less, with banks held in place by vegetation, channels that are not incised, and a substrate composed of rubble, gravel, sand, or silt. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type I-B water body: means , in Region I, an anadromous water body that does not meet the definition of a Type I-A water body. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type I-C water body: means , in Region I, a water body that is not anadromous, that is a tributary to a Type I-A or Type I-B water body, and that has a gradient of 12 percent or less. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type I-D water body: means , in Region I, a water body that is not anadromous, that is tributary to a Type I-A or Type I-B water body, and that has a gradient greater than 12 percent. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type II-A water body: means , in Region II,
(A) a nonglacial stream greater than 50 feet wide that has anadromous or high value resident fish and that has an unconfined and dynamic channel. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type II-B water body: means , in Region II, a glacial stream that has anadromous or high value resident fish and that is not a glacial Type II-C water body. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type II-C water body: means , in Region II, a water body that has anadromous or high value resident fish that
(A) is a nonglacial water body greater than three feet wide and less than or equal to 50 feet wide at ordinary high water mark that has an unconfined and dynamic channel. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type II-D water body: means , in Region II, a nonglacial stream or a reach of the Kenai River, Kasilof River, or Lake Fork Crescent River that is less than or equal to three feet wide at ordinary high water mark that has anadromous or high value resident fish. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type III-A water body: means , in Region III, a
(A) nonglacial high value resident fish water body greater than three feet in width at the ordinary high water mark. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type III-B water body: means , in Region III, a glacial high value resident fish water body or a glacial anadromous water body. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950
Type III-C water body: means , in Region III, a nonglacial high value resident fish water body that is less than or equal to three feet in width at the ordinary high water mark and that does not contain anadromous fish. See Alaska Statutes 41.17.950

(1) along a Type I-A water body,

(A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; and

(B) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of the water body;

(2) along a Type I-B water body,

(B) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller;

(3) along a Type I-C water body,

(B) where prudent, the operator shall retain low value timber within 25 feet of the water body or to the limit of the area described in (A) of this paragraph, whichever area is greater, where the width of the water body is

(i) greater than 13 feet at the ordinary high water mark; or

(ii) greater than eight feet at the ordinary high water mark if the channel is incised;

(4) along a Type I-D water body,

(A) operations within 50 feet of the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; and

(i) greater than 13 feet at the ordinary high water mark; or

(ii) greater than eight feet at the ordinary high water mark if the channel is incised.

(b) Private forest land adjacent to the following types of water and located in Region II is subject to the riparian protection standards established in this subsection:

(1) along a Type II-A water body, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 150 feet of the water body; additionally, harvest of timber may not be undertaken along outer bends subject to erosion within 225 feet of the water body or to the terrace top break, whichever is smaller;

(2) along a Type II-B water body, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 150 feet of the water body; additionally, harvest of timber may not be undertaken along outer bends subject to erosion within 325 feet of the water body or to the terrace top break, whichever is smaller;

(3) along a Type II-C water body, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 100 feet of the water body;

(4) along a Type II-D water body, there is a 100-foot riparian area; harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 50 feet of the water body;

(5) the length of the augmented buffer along an outer bend subject to erosion in (1) or (2) of this subsection must be equal to a distance eight times the stream width measured on a reach between bends at a point not widened by a point bar or channel movement; the augmented buffer must be located so that three stream widths are upstream and five stream widths are downstream of the point opposite the apex of the point bar;

(6) where an estuarine area is adjacent to an anadromous or high value resident fish water body, the riparian retention area for the adjacent water body applies to the estuarine area.

(c) Private forest land adjacent to the following types of waters and located in Region III is subject to the riparian protection standards established in this subsection:

(1) along a Type III-A water body, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of the water body;

(2) along a Type III-B water body, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 33 feet of the water body; between 33 and 66 feet from the water body, up to 50 percent of standing white spruce trees having at least a nine-inch diameter at breast height may be harvested without requiring a variation;

(3) along a Type III-C water body, harvest of timber within 100 feet of the water body must be located and designed primarily to protect fish habitat and surface water quality as determined by the commissioner with due deference to the Department of Fish and Game.

(d) In this section,

(1) “low value timber” means timber that the owner or operator determines, at the time of harvest, to be uneconomic to harvest and market;

(2) “prudent” means that the requirement can be met using reasonably available means or technology, that complying with the requirement is not likely to create significant impairment of the productivity of the land and water, and that the cost of achieving the requirement is not out of proportion to the benefits that can reasonably be expected to be achieved in the particular situation.

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