Trees are essential
to the health of our environment in fundamental ways. They
provide oxygen for life, remove pollutants from our air,
protect lands from erosion and flooding, provide wildlife
habitat and lumber for homes, and add aesthetic beauty to
virtually every community in America. Stewardship of forests
is, therefore, a critical issue for every state. As state
legislators take steps to fortify protection of our nation’s
trees, we can ensure long-term beneficial returns on our
efforts.
California
The California Forest Practice Rules 2002 (Title
14, California Code of Regulations Chapters 4, 4.5 and 10)
are some of the more extensive logging rules in the country.
Minnesota
Entry taken from the Minnesota
Interagency Information Cooperative.
The Sustainable
Forest Resource Act of 1995
This act provides a legislative mandate to the Commissioner
of Natural Resources to coordinate the establishment of
an Interagency Information Cooperative. The purposes of
the cooperative, as described in the legislation, are to:
- Coordinate the development and use of forest resources
data in the state;
- Promote the development of statewide guidelines and
common language to enhance the ability of public and private
organizations and institutions to share forest resources
data in the state;
- Promote the development of information systems that
support access to important forest resources data;
- Promote improvement in the accuracy, reliability, and
statistical soundness of fundamental forest resources
data;
- Promote linkages and integration of forest resources
data to other natural resource information;
- Promote access and use of forest resources data and
information systems in decision-making by a variety of
public and private organizations;
- Promote expansion of the capacity and reliability of
forest growth, succession, and other types of ecological
models; and
- Conduct a needs assessment for improving the quality
and quantity of information systems.
Missouri
Rep. Joan Bray’s Chip Mill Bill (HB
2040) was introduced this year to give the state greater
oversight over chip mill operations. HB 2040 would give
the Department of Natural Resources the power to do a full
review of the environmental impacts of new chip mills and
to prevent their construction if the environment would suffer
any significant harm. The bill also requires that impacts
to traditional forest users be considered, such as locally
owned saw mills and the tourism and recreation industry.
Virginia
Delegate James Dillard introduced a Notification Bill (HB
448) to improve logging notifications. The bill was signed
into law in 2002. It requires the commercial timber harvesting
operator to notify the State Forester prior to completion,
but not later than three working days after commencement
of a harvesting operation. If he fails to provide the notice,
the State Forester is authorized to assess a civil penalty
of $250 for the initial violation and up to $1,000 for any
subsequent offense occurring within a 24-month period. Currently,
an owner or operator is required to give notice prior to,
or not later than, three working days after the commencement
of the operation; however, there is no penalty for not providing
such notification.
Delegate Dillard also introduced HB 1258 which also passed
into law. It authorizes the State Forester to recommend
corrective measures and a time period for an owner or operator
of a forestry operation to implement measures, in order
to prevent, mitigate, or eliminate pollution. If the owner
or operator fails to take action, the State Forester is
required to issue a special order. |
