House Bill H.130

(A) To the Vermont housing and conservation board for Champion land

acquisition and affordable housing.

5,500,000

(i) Of this appropriation, $4,500,000.00 shall be used to purchase and

ensure that the former Champion lands in northeastern Vermont are conserved

as a working forest for the sustainable production of wood products, together

with perpetual public access for hunting, fishing, trapping, snowmobiling.

hiking. boating and other forms of recreation. The following restrictions are

hereby placed on the Champion lands and shall be included as permanent

easements on any portions transferred or sold after purchase:

(I) Camps: The current five-year leases for camps on land which

will be owned by the state shall be renewed for the life of the lease holder, for

up to fifty years, but for not less than twenty years should the current

leaseholder die. and annual lease payments shall not increase by more than the

consumer price index. The camp owners shall be responsible for maintaining

access roads. although the state shall make a special effort to repair the roads

whenever possible on state owned land and annually shall file a report with the

general assembly and the municipality describing any road maintenance

performed during the year. In the event of extreme erosion due to natural

causes on a road leading to a camp the department of fish and wildlife shall fix

the roads if funding is available for the purpose. Lease payments on land

which is owned and managed by the agency of natural resources shall be set

aside for road maintenance on agency of natural resources property. The

Vermont Land Trust shall negotiate diligently to obtain for camp holders on

private lands the same or better protections as are provided to camp holders on state lands and to provide for free access thereto.

(II) Recreation: The public shall continue to use the land for

traditional recreational uses. "Traditional recreational uses" include ways that

Champion International Paper company has allowed the public to use the land

and include but are not limited to hunting, training hunting dogs, fishing,

trapping, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, skiing, bird watching, and hiking.

(III) Land Management: the easement language will require sustainable timber

practices designed to meet the economic objectives of timber investors and allow

harvesting of net growth, once the forest is restocked. Second, it is anticipated

that these lands will be enrolled in the forest land category of the current use

program, which requires forests to be managed.

(ii) Water Reclassification: If the water resources board reclassifies waters

running on any of the so-called Champion lands, which are subject to working

forest or public access easements, the reclassification shall not restrict accepted

management practices for logging or traditional recreational uses unless and only

to the extent the secretary of natural resources deems it necessary to retain state

primacy pursuant to the Clean Water Act.

(iii) The agency of natural resources shall:

(I) Planning and Community Involvement: Use a process

which involves Vermont citizens and affected municipalities to develop and

update every 10 years a long-term comprehensive plan for management of

portions of the lands which are transferred to it.

(H) Federal and State Collaboration: To the extent possible,

work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department to ensure that management

plans for all state and federally-owned portions of the lands are coordinated.