H.B. 5502 & 5503: COMMITTEE SUMMARY STATE FOREST RECREATION
House Bill 5502 (as passed by the House) House Bill 5503 (as passed by the House) Sponsor: Representative Beverly Bodem House Committee: Tourism and Recreation Senate Committee: Agriculture and Forestry
Date Completed: 5-14-96
House Bills 5502 and 5503 would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to require the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to develop an integrated recreation system, which could include the granting of concessions within a State forest and the leasing of property. House Bill 5502 also would establish the Forest Recreation Fund for the development of forest recreation activities; permit the DNR Director to commission State forest officers to enforce State laws and rules in State forests; permit the appointment of volunteers to facilitate forest recreation activities; and, establish penalties for violating the bill. House Bill 5503 also would delete current provisions that permit the DNR to lease lands to certain groups and to specify the funds that receive money from a lease.
The bills are tie-barred. A detailed description of the bills follows.
Integrated Recreation System
The bill would add Part 831 to the Act to require the DNR to develop, operate, maintain, and promote an integrated recreation system that provided opportunities for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, snowmobiling, boating, trail-related activities, and other forms of recreation within each State forest.
In implementing this provision, the Department could do any of the following:
-- Enter into contracts or agreements with a person as necessary to implement the bill.
-- Grant concessions within the boundaries of a State forest to a person. In granting a concession, the DNR would have to provide that each concession was awarded at least every seven years based on extension, renegotiation, or competitive bidding. (“Concession” would mean an agreement between the DNR and a person under terms and conditions specified by the Department to provide services or recreational opportunities for public use.)
-- Lease property to a person.
-- Accept gifts, grants, or requests from any public or private source or from the Federal government or a local government for furthering the purposes of Part 831.
Unless otherwise provided by State or Federal law, all money collected under these provisions would have to be deposited into the Forest Recreation Fund.
Forest Recreation Fund
The Forest Recreation Fund would be created within the State Treasury. The Fund could receive money as provided under the bill and from any other source. The State Treasurer would have to direct the Fund’s investment, and would have to credit to the Fund interest and earnings from the Fund investments. Money remaining in the Fund at the end of a fiscal year would have to be carried over in the Fund to the next and succeeding fiscal year.
The Department would have to use the money in the Fund to develop, maintain, operate, and promote forest recreation activities and to implement Part 831.
Volunteers
The DNR could appoint persons to act as volunteers for facilitating forest recreation activities. While a volunteer was serving in this capacity, he or she would have the same immunity from civil liability as a Department employee and would be treated in the same manner as an employee under the governmental immunity Act. A volunteer could not carry a firearm when functioning as a volunteer.
Permits
The DNR could require a person to obtain a permit for camping in designated State forest campgrounds and could establish and collect a fee for the camping permit.
The DNR could require a person to obtain a permit, except as otherwise provided by law, for the use of lands and facilities within the State forest as designated by the Department for recreation use. The DNR could establish and collect a fee for permits issued under the bill. At least six months before the imposition of a fee or increase of a fee for a particular use or activity within a State forest, the Department would have to provide public notice of the fee or fee increase to the general public and would have to notify in writing the standing committees of the Legislature that had jurisdiction over issues primarily related to natural resources and the environment. Money collected under these provisions would have to be deposited into the Fund.
Enforcement
To ensure compliance with Part 831, rules promulgated under it and the Act, including State land use rules (R 299.331-299.335) of the Administrative Code, and any orders of the DNR Director, the Director could commission State forest officers to enforce within the boundaries of the State forest these rules and any State laws specified in the rules as enforceable by commissioned State forest officers. In performing those enforcement activities, commissioned State forest officers would be vested with the powers, privileges, prerogatives, and immunities conferred upon peace officers under State laws. The Department could promulgate rules to implement the bill’s provisions.
Penalties
A violation of Part 831 or a rule promulgated under it would be a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 90 days and/or a fine of not more than $500.
The bill would delete provisions under the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act that permit the Department to lease lands it owns or controls that have been designated for recreational uses, but only to responsible legal units, within the State, of national or State recognized groups devoted principally to development of character and citizenship training and physical fitness of
youth, the financial support of which is by voluntary public subscriptions or contributions, and the property of which is exempt from taxation under State law. The bill also would delete a provision that permits the DNR to lease land in the Porcupine Mountain State Park to third parties for purposes as it considers desirable.
Under the bill, the DNR could lease lands it owned or controlled or could grant concessions on lands it owned or controlled to any person for any person the Department determined to be necessary to implement the Act. In granting a concession, the DNR would have to provide that each concession was awarded at least every seven years based on extension, renegotiation, or competitive bidding.
Money received from a lease of tax-reverted lands would have to be credited to the fund receiving financial support for the management of those leased lands, unless otherwise provided by law. Money received from a lease of all other lands would have to be credited to the fund from which the lands were purchased, except for program income from program-related leases, in which case the money would have to be credited to the fund providing financial support for the management of those leased lands. For lands managed by the forest management division of the DNR, this would be either the Forest Development Fund or the proposed Forest Recreation Fund. For lands managed by the wildlife fisheries division, this would be the Game and Fish Protection Fund.
Currently, the DNR may establish and collect fees for the processing of applications for the use of State forests that require extensive review. The fees must cover the Department’s cost for processing the applications. Under the bill, money received pursuant to this provision would have to be credited to the Forest Development Fund.
The bill also would delete provisions on the use of permit fees for State forest campgrounds and specific State forest areas.
Proposed MCL 324.83101 - 324.83109 (H.B. 5502) Legislative Analyst: L. Arasim MCL 324.503 & 324.509 (H.B. 5503)
The bills would result in an indeterminate increase in revenues, dependent upon the amount and type of fees the Department would establish, the amount of revenue from concessions or leases, and the success of the Department in increasing the use of State forest lands for recreational purposes. There also could be potential cost savings from increased volunteer activity, and potential cost increases from additional enforcement activities on State forest lands.
According to the Department of Natural Resources (3/21/96), House Bill 5502 would provide the authority to establish user fees to collect additional revenue of approximately $3 million. This fee revenue would be generated from new sources such as trail use (cross country skiing, mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding), dispersed camping in nondesignated campgrounds, and water access sites on lakes and streams. The bill does not set the specific amount or type of fee, but would establish broad authority for the Department and require a six-month notice before the DNR could establish a new fee. The Department estimate is based on providing funding at $2 to $3 per State forest acre, compared with the current forest recreation funding level of slightly less than $1.50 per acre.
S9596\S5502SA
Fiscal Analyst: G. Cutler
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.