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S.F. No. 1701 - Sustainable Forest Resources Act Update
 
Author: Senator Tom Saxhaug
 
Prepared By:
 
Date: March 3, 2014



 

SF 1701 updates the Sustainable Forest Resources Act and extends the act’s sunset for an additional four years to 2021.

Section 1 [Policy] makes technical changes relating to site-level and landscape-level impacts to the forest; and clarifies that the established forest protection processes shall be maintained.

Section 2 [Forest Resources Council; membership] specifies that the representative on the Forest Resources Council (FRC) for the nonindustrial private forest land must be from an organization representing family forest woodlands; and adds a member representing the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council.

Section 3 [Forest Resources Council; report] makes the report to the legislature from the FRC a biennial report, rather than an annual one.

Section 4 [Partnership] updates language on the partnership authorized to implement the FRC recommendations to maintain the partnership and add loggers to the partnership.

Section 5 [Forest management guidelines; revision] directs the FRC to periodically revise forest management guidelines based on information received by the FRC and adds the consideration of cultural resources.  This section also repeals obsolete language.

Section 6 [Forest management guidelines; application] directs the FRC to periodically assess the forest management guidelines and provides that the guideline implementation goals are not based on the land ownership category.  This section also makes a technical change related to “implementation” of the guidelines.

Section 7 [Forest resource planning and coordination; framework] directs the FRC to maintain the forest resource planning and coordination and broadens the coordination directive to go beyond the landscape-level.

Section 8 [Regional forest resource committees] directs the FRC to maintain regional forest resource committees and updates the regional committee directives, including directing the committees to recommend periodic revisions to the region’s landscape plan.

Section 9 [Regional committee reports] provides that the regional committee reports to the FRC are biennial.

Section 10 [Monitoring] updates the Department of Natural Resources forest monitoring provisions to require maintenance of the monitoring activities; moves the duty to evaluate monitoring effectiveness to the FRC; eliminates the FRC duty to monitor other studies and research.

Section 11 [Forest Research Advisory Committee; establishment] changes the appointing authority for the Forest Research Advisory Committee to the chair of the FRC and adds the appointment of the chair of the Forest Research Advisory Committee by the FRC chair.  This section also updates organization references.

Section 12 [Forest Research Advisory Committee; purpose] updates the purpose of the Forest Research Advisory Committee and adds the duty to communicate with the legislature on the FRC’s research activities.

Section 13 [Forest Research Advisory Committee; research assessment] is a technical change.

Section 14 [Interagency Information Cooperative] updates organizational references for the Interagency Informational Cooperative; removes the duty for the cooperative to conduct a needs assessment on information systems; and makes their report to the FRC a biennial report.

Section 15 [Continuing education policy] clarifies the policy to maintain  timber harvester and forest resource professional continuing education programs; names specific programs to be maintained; and eliminates the directive to the FRC to facilitate the development of the programs.

Section 16 [Implementation] clarifies that implementation of the Sustainable Forest Resources act is subject to biennial appropriations from the legislature.

Section 17 [Sunset] extends the sunset for Sustainable Forest Resources Act an additional four years to 2021.

Section 18 [Repealer] repeals Minnesota Statutes, sections:

            89A.05, subdivision 2a, timber harvesting guideline review;

            89A.05, subdivision 4, monitoring riparian forests; and

            89A.06, subdivision 2a, regional forest committee reporting.

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