Bill Text: CA AB912 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973: working forest management plans.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB912 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB912-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 912
| Introduced by Assembly Member Bigelow |
February 17, 2021 |
An act to amend Section 4597.1 of the Public Resources Code, relating to forestry.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 912, as introduced, Bigelow.
Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973: working forest management plans.
Existing law, the Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, declares the policy of the state to encourage prudent and responsible forest management of nonindustrialized timberlands through the approval of working forest management plans. Existing law authorizes a person who intends to become a working forest landowner to file a working forest management plan with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, with the long-term objective of an uneven aged timber stand and sustained yield through the implementation of the plan. Existing law defines “working forest landowner” to mean an owner of timberland with less than 10,000 acres who has an approved working forest management plan and is not primarily engaged in the manufacture of forest products. Existing law also defines “working forest management plan,” and allows multiple working forest landowners to submit a working forest
management plan, but provides that the plan may cover no more than 10,000 acres of timberland.
This bill would revise the definition of “working forest landowner” to mean an owner of timberland with less than 15,000 acres who has an approved working forest management plan and is not primarily engaged in the manufacture of forest products. The bill would revise the definition of “working forest management plan” to allow multiple working forest landowners to submit a working forest management plan, but provide that the plan may cover no more than 15,000 acres of timberland. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to other definitions applicable to working forest management plans.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 4597.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4597.1.
Notwithstanding Section 4521, unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern construction of this article:(a) “Long-term sustained yield” means the average annual growth sustainable by the inventory predicted at the end of a 100-year planning horizon, or a shorter planning horizon if the forest encompassed by the working forest management plan has reached a balance between growth and yield.
(b) “Major stand type” means a stand that occupies an area equal to or greater than 25 percent of a working forest management plan.
(c) “Management unit” means a geographically identifiable area delineated for silviculture or management purposes.
A management unit is intended to reflect an area scheduled for harvest under the plan in any given year, but may also be designated to address specific resource sensitivities.
(d) “Stand” means a geographically identifiable group of trees sufficiently uniform in age-class distribution, composition, and structure and growing on a site of sufficiently uniform quality to be a distinguishable unit.
(e) “Strata” means a grouping of similar stands defined for silvicultural or management purposes, usually according to similarities in stand composition, structure, and age.
(f) “Sustained yield” means the yield of commercial wood that an area of commercial timberland can produce continuously at a given intensity of management consistent with required environmental protection and that is professionally planned to achieve over
time a balance between growth and removal. Sustained yield management implies continuous production planned so as to achieve, at the earliest practical time, a balance between growth and harvest.
(g) “Uneven aged management” means forest management with the goal of establishing a well-stocked stand of various age classes, which classes that permits the periodic harvest of individual or small groups of trees to achieve sustained yield objectives of the working forest management plan, plan and provide
provides for regeneration of trees and maintenance of age class structure.
(h) “Working forest harvest notice” means notice of timber harvest operations, pursuant to an approved working forest management plan, which meets the requirements of Section 4597.11.
(i) “Working forest landowner” means an owner of timberland with less than 10,000
15,000 acres who has an approved working forest management plan and is not primarily engaged in the manufacture of forest products.
(j) “Working forest management plan” means a management plan for working forest timberlands, with the objectives of maintaining, restoring, or creating uneven aged managed timber stand conditions, achieving sustained yield, and promoting forestland stewardship that protects watersheds, fisheries and fisheries, wildlife habitats, and other important values. A working forest management plan may include multiple working forest landowners, but shall cover no more than 10,000
15,000 acres of timberland. The harvest area, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, of a working forest management plan must be contained within a single hydrologic area as defined by State Water Resources Control Board’s CalWater 2.2.
(k) “Working forest timberlands” means timberland owned by a working forest landowner.
