Appropriations made by the state for the construction, maintenance, and operation of the center shall be expended upon vouchers approved by the department in the manner prescribed by it.

The department shall annually prepare a detailed report of the operation of the center and notify the legislature that the report is available. The report must include a statement of all receipts and disbursements.

The Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, shall establish and maintain a plant materials center.

The department may request, accept, and receive from federal, state, and nongovernment sources financial and other aid and assistance, including personnel and equipment, for the construction, equipment, maintenance, and operation of the center.

The department shall ensure that competent professional, secretarial, and subprofessional personnel necessary to carry on the work of the center are employed. The administrator of the plant materials center is a joint appointment between the Department of Natural Resources and the University of Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station.

The department shall cooperate with the Institute of Agricultural Sciences and the United States Soil Conservation Service by a formal memorandum of understanding and may cooperate with any department or agency of federal, state or local government, research organization, or other organization concerned with conservation or agriculture.

The department shall obtain a site, either by donation, lease, or purchase, and erect suitable buildings on the site, if they are needed for the use of the plant materials center. The department shall also acquire the agricultural land, scientific instruments, and equipment necessary to carry on the work of the center. Acquisition of scientific instruments and equipment under this section is governed by AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code).

The objectives of the plant materials center, in cooperation with the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, are to

(1) assemble, evaluate, select, and increase plant materials needed in soil and water conservation, agriculture, and industry, and maintain genetic purity of these materials;

(2) increase promising plant materials for field scale testing;

(3) test the promising materials in field plantings on sites that represent soil and climatic conditions not found at the center;

(4) maintain and provide for increase of basic seed stocks of plant materials for agricultural and conservation interests;

(5) make seed and plant materials available, for a fee if necessary, in such a manner as to avoid monopolistic control of basic stocks of these materials and encourage the development of a seed industry;

(6) support but not duplicate activities carried on by state or federally funded research programs in the state;

(7) prepare, publish, and disseminate a summary report on all studies as they are completed.