38-1305. DUTIES, POWERS OF DEPARTMENT. The department:

(1) Shall administer and enforce this act;

(2) (a) Shall, through the director, appoint a forest practices advisory committee to the board for the purpose of providing technical advice to the board in carrying out the board’s powers and duties as set forth in section 38-1304, Idaho Code. The forest practices advisory committee is composed of nine (9) members, three (3) residing in the north forest region and three (3) residing in the south forest region, and three (3) members shall be Idaho residents. All members of the committee shall be qualified by experience and/or training to provide technical advice related to forest practices. Of the three (3) members residing in each forest region, one (1) member shall be either a private landowner, a private timber owner, or authorized representative of the landowner or timber owner who regularly engages in forest practices; one (1) member shall be an operator; and one (1) member shall be a representative of the general public. Of the remaining three (3) members who are Idaho residents: one (1) member shall be qualified by training and experience as a fisheries biologist; one (1) member shall be a nonindustrial forest landowner; and one (1) member shall be an at-large member. Members of the forest practices advisory committee shall be appointed by the director for three (3) year terms. Appointments under this subsection shall be made by the director within sixty (60) days after the effective date of this section. If there is a vacancy, for any cause, the director shall make an appointment to become immediately effective for the unexpired term. Said appointee shall possess the same qualifications under this section as the person being replaced. The committee shall select a chairman from among its members. A member of the department of lands shall be designated by the director to serve as secretary, without voting power, for the committee.

(b) Notwithstanding the terms of the committee members specified by subsection (2)(a) of this section, of the members first appointed to each such committee:

(i) Two (2) shall serve for a term of one (1) year;

(ii) Two (2) shall serve for a term of two (2) years;

(iii) Three (3) shall serve for a term of three (3) years.

(3) Shall advise and assist the board in the discharge of its duties as set forth in this act;

(4) Shall achieve coordination among state agencies which are concerned with the forest environment;

(5) Shall cooperate with and provide advice to landowners and timber owners in the management of forest lands;

(6) May enter into cooperative agreement or contracts which may be necessary in the administration of this act;

(7) All site-specific BMPs approved at the time of the effective date of this act shall remain in force and be enforced by the designated agency;

(8) Shall develop methods for controlling watershed impacts resulting from cumulative effects. The department shall form a cumulative effects watershed cooperative including, but not limited to, state and federal land managing agencies and owners of industrial private forest land, to serve as a clearinghouse for comparing and evaluating shared watershed information. The director shall select an interdisciplinary task force including appropriate technical specialists and affected landowners and shall, in consultation with the task force, formulate methods for controlling cumulative effects.

History:

[38-1305, added 1974, ch. 197, sec. 5, p. 1506; am. 1989, ch. 154, sec. 3, p. 368; am. 1991, ch. 244, sec. 3, p. 597; am. 1995, ch. 352, sec. 3, p. 1179; am. 2004, ch. 264, sec. 1, p. 743.]