37-622. Duties of state forester; acceptance of
federal law
A. The state forester is designated as the agent of the state of Arizona and shall
administer the provisions of this chapter. In addition, the state forester shall:
1. Perform all management and administrative functions assigned or delegated to
this state by the United States relating to forestry and financial assistance and grants
relating to forestry.
2. Identify sources of information relating to forest management, including
wildfire suppression and recovery and administrative and judicial appeals and litigation
with respect to timber sales and forest thinning projects in this state and develop
procedures for compiling and transferring that information to the state forester.
3. Take necessary action to maximize state fire assistance grants, including
establishing timelines for using grant monies and reallocating lapsed grant monies to
other projects.
4. Conduct education and outreach in forest communities explaining the wildfire
threat to private property caused by lack of timber harvesting and thinning.
5. Monitor forestry projects and wildfire activities.
6. Intervene on behalf of this state and its citizens in administrative and
judicial appeals and litigation that challenge governmental efforts supported by the
state forester if the state forester determines that intervention is in the best
interests of this state.
B. During the first regular session of each legislature, the state forester shall
present information to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over forestry issues.
The state forester shall collaborate with, and invite the participation of, relevant
state, federal and local governmental officers and agencies. A written report is not
required, but the presentation shall include information concerning:
1. Forestry management, including the current conditions of the forests in this
state on federal, state and private property as affected by federal, state and local
public policies, climatic conditions, wildfire hazards, pest infestations, overgrowth and
overgrowth control policies and methods and the effects of current federal policy on
forest management and impacts on forest land management.
2. The wildland-urban interface, including the effects of county and municipal
zoning policies and wildfire hazards on public and private property.
3. Wildfire emergency management issues, including:
(a) Intergovernmental and interagency primacy, cooperation, coordination, roles and
training of federal, state and local forestry, firefighting and law enforcement agencies.
(b) Channels and methods of communicating emergency information to the public.
(c) The roles of governmental and nongovernmental disaster relief agencies and
organizations.
(d) The level of federal, state and local emergency funding.
C. The state forester may:
1. Furnish technical advice to the people of the state on forestry matters.
2. Do all other acts necessary to take advantage of and carry out the provisions of
the act of Congress described in subsection D.
D. This state accepts the provisions of the cooperative forestry assistance act of
1978 (P.L. 95-313; 92 Stat. 365; 16 United States Code chapter 41) providing for federal
forestry assistance programs to states.
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