Senate Bill S1069

                                BILL NUMBER:S1069

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public lands law, in relation to limiting the
interest the state may acquire in forest land to a conservation
easement

PURPOSE:

To prohibit the state from purchasing forest land in fee title and to
only allow purchases by conservation easement.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one - amends subdivision one of section 27 of the public lands
law, as added by chapter 513 of the laws of 1989 to provide that
notwithstanding any other provision of law, when such real property is
forest land, as defined in subdivision five of section 9-0 10 1 of the
environmental conservation law, the state shall take no other interest
n the property than a conservation easement. The conveyance of any
other interest in forest land to the state shall be null and void.

Section two - contains the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:
              

Since 1995 New York State has acquired over a million acres of land
that has been added to the forest preserve; This has included
thousands of acres of forest land being removed from active timbering
which has a significant impact on the economic stability of the
communities located in the Adirondack Park. Article 14 of the
Constitution states that the forest preserve shall be kept forever
wild and such land shall not be leased, sold or exchanged.
Conservation easements allow for much more flexibility in the use of
the lands including the harvesting of timber, which North Country
paper mills depend upon.

According to a report from the Northeast State Foresters Association,
"each 1,000 acres of forestland in New York supports 2.6 forest-based
manufacturing jobs with a payroll of $83,000 and 78 forest related
recreation and tourism jobs with a payroll of $14,486. The annual
contribution of forest-based manufacturing and forest-related
recreation and tourism in the New York economy is over $9 billion."

In the 2009-2010 Executive Budget, there was a proposal to freeze the
real property tax payments the state makes to local governments on
forest preserve lands. Fortunately, the Legislature rejected this
initiative which would have bad a devastating effect on communities
within the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. In light of this proposal
and the possibility of it being considered again, it would be prudent
to end the practice of the state acquiring forest lands for inclusion
into the forest preserve and only allow for the acquisition of this
type of land through conservation easements.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:


S. 4787 of 2009-10; Referred to Investigations and Government
Operations
S. 1501 of 2011-12; Referred to Investigations and Government
Operations

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

The State would save money by purchasing land using conservation
easements instead of in fee title.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to conveyances
occurring on or after such effective date.