The Senate Resources Committee advanced three bills Friday covering agricultural land development, emergency evacuation protocols, and invasive species management.

The committee moved Senate Bill 208, which creates a new state program to lease agricultural land more quickly and at lower cost to farmers. The bill also gives the Department of Natural Resources civil penalty authority for agricultural covenant violations, providing an alternative to immediate foreclosure proceedings.

Laura Asche, staff to Senator Jesse Bjorkman, said the leases would be based on agricultural plans that farmers submit and that would be scored to ensure leases serve the state's interests. The bill also adds an optional merit-based test before the state sells agricultural land.

The committee also advanced Senate Bill 192, which establishes uniform color-coding for evacuation warnings statewide. The bill designates green as "pay attention," yellow as "be prepared," and red as "go."

Asche said emergency managers requested the legislation to resolve confusion in jurisdictions where red means "stay in place" rather than evacuate. Senator Kawasaki said he initially found the red-means-go convention counterintuitive but accepted the emergency managers' recommendation.

The third bill, Senate Bill 174, creates an invasive species management council to coordinate federal, state, and non-governmental efforts to control invasive species. Hunter Lotzfeld, staff to Senator Dunbar, said the council would focus on prevention as more cost-effective than later intervention.

Senator Dunbar said Alaska faces significant problems with invasive species including elodea, northern pike, and green crab. He noted the bill emerged from a scientific community meeting at the BP Energy Center where researchers requested better coordination between agencies.

Senator Dunbar cited European bird cherry trees as an example of poor agency coordination. The state Department of Transportation once planted the trees for erosion control, but they became invasive and now form monocultures in parts of Anchorage's Chester Creek Greenbelt. The Anchorage Assembly later banned sale of the species, though removal remains difficult because roots must be extracted, not just cut.

All three bills passed without objection. Senate Bill 208 and Senate Bill 192 carry zero fiscal notes. Senate Bill 174 includes a fiscal note and will move to the Finance Committee.

The committee's next meeting is scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m., with hearings on House Bill 117 regarding commercial fishing set gillnet cooperatives and Senate Bill 255 on municipal grant land transfer to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.