KCC 2023 Legislative Review and Conservation Brief

Use "Read More" button to see quoted excerpt of interest to woodland owners. KCC, Kentucky Conservation Committee's complete 2023 Legislative Review and Conservation Brief is available online at drive.google.com/file/d/1myZjhtcVUiKdlWAgH9F4y83YMzZPgut5/view.

"Conservation: Supporting one of the largest land conservation deals in the eastern United States, S.B.
241 (R. Webb) became law, and would speed up the process for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to
work with third parties to complete due diligence for the Kentucky properties involved in the Cumberland Forest Project, a massive multi-state project (KY, TN, VA) covering 253,000 acres of habitat, including 54,000 acres located in Knox, Bell and Leslie
Counties. The land would be conveyed in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and includes elk habitat expansion, working with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. This will help create more contiguous land connections for wildlife corridors — an issue that KCC has been working on with state government agencies to expand. The project also targets climate change goals by storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide. By providing healthier forests along 700 miles of streams, the project will benefit rivers like the Clinch and the Cumberland that contain some of the world’s rarest freshwater ecosystems. Unfortunately, the bill also included several provisions we were NOT happy with, including some that removed certain powers of the Governor and Finance and Administration Cabinet. The Governor’s veto message raised concerns about adequate oversight of the funds totaling $3.8 million to acquire easements, as it withdraws the requirement for the project to comply with KRS 382.850. So the project does not need written authorization from subsurface mineral rights owners to transfer a conservation easement to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife as long as the conservation easement does not affect those rights. Regardless, we hope this legislation will help this significant land conservation project move forward.

KCC also monitored H.B. 130 (A. Neighbors) a conservation bill which allows a person, in conjunction with a conservation district, to acquire or lease heavy or specialized equipment for the conservation of soil resources and prevention and control of soil erosion, and to conserve and protect water resources with the assistance of the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. The bill further allows the Kentucky Association of Conservation Districts to submit names of nominees and require they be at least 18 years of age, and requires a supervisor to be at least 18 years of age. The bill language also
expresses the intent of the General Assembly that district supervisors serve terms as elected by residents of the district and are prohibited from being replaced until a successor is elected, and candidates for supervisor of a conservation district are required to be at least 18 upon the effective date of the Act.