Identification of Land

(a)Inventory. The Department, in coordination with the Department of Land Management, shall inventory land that belongs to and has been reserved for the Department that is suitable for use for the Guam Forestry System. The adopted Forest System Plan is not intended to transfer authority or jurisdiction of properties herein.

(b)Compatible Use. Through the identification and inventory process, the Director, in consultation with the Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Land Management, and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency, shall determine which government of Guam lands have compatible uses for the Guam Forest System pursuant to § 63503(g), supra. Government land classified as “Conservation Reserves” pursuant to Article 4 of this Chapter may be included in this inventory to carry out the objectives of the Guam Forest System. Government lands classified as part of the Guam Territorial Seashore Protection Act of 1974 pursuant to Chapter 63, Title 21, Guam Code Annotated, may also be included in said inventory.

(1)Challenges. Challenges to any “Compatible Use” determination shall be made in writing, addressed to the Director of the Department, and shall list the specific reasons for the challenge. All challenges shall be reviewed in consultation with the partnership entities identified in § 63503(g), supra. Partnership entities shall review each challenge and submit to the Director their recommendations to reject or accept, in whole or in part, any “Compatible Use” challenges, including recommended remedies to each challenge. Findings to challenges shall be periodically incorporated into the Guam Forest System Plan, as appropriate.

(c)Memorandum of Agreement.

(1)The Department may also establish a Memorandum of Agreement

(MOA)with the government agencies for land that is part of the government agency’s inventory, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Chamorro Land Trust Commission, the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission, and the Guam Territorial Park System reserved properties classified as Natural Preserves and Conservation Reserves pursuant to § 77110 of Chapter 77, Title 21, Guam Code Annotated.

(2)Additionally, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Land Management may also be included in said MOA, or in separate MOAs, for properties under the jurisdiction of the Guam Territorial Seashore Protection Act of 1974.

(3)While the Department of Agriculture has the scientific and technical resources necessary to establish natural resource conservation and protection practices, any such MOAs should include the identification of areas to be utilized as part of the System, components for the planning and protocols of maintenance and operation of the System during the planning and implementation stages, given that identified land for the System may fall under the purview of the Department of Parks and Recreation, CH. 63 FISH, GAME, FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION the Chamorro Land Trust Commission, the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission, the Department of Land Management, or the Guam Environmental Protection Agency.

(d)Reservation of Land. The Department of Agriculture may also reserve land in accordance with § 60105 of Article 1, Division 2, Chapter 60 of Title 21, Guam Code Annotated, for future use as part of the System. The inventory of identified lands shall be published on the Department’s website.