Bill Text: MI SB1031 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Natural resources; forests; municipal forest property; allow recreational activities to be conducted on property. Amends secs. 52702 & 52706 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.52702 & 324.52706).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2012-12-31 - Assigned Pa 0488'12 With Immediate Effect [SB1031 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB1031-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 1031
March 20, 2012, Introduced by Senator CASPERSON and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes.
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
by amending sections 52702 and 52706 (MCL 324.52702 and 324.52706),
section 52702 as added by 1995 PA 57 and section 52706 as amended
by 2006 PA 179.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 52702. Any municipality may acquire by purchase, gift, or
devise, or may provide land already in its possession, and use the
land
for a forestry purposes, or recreational purpose, or both,
either within or outside of the territorial limits of the
municipality, and may carry on forestry or recreational activities,
or both, on the land. Any municipality may also receive and expend
or hold in trust gifts of money or personalty for a forestry
purposes.or recreational purpose, or both.
Sec. 52706. (1) The department, the department of treasury, or
a state officer having charge of state land, may sell homestead,
tax, swamp, or primary school land to a public agency for a
forestry
purposes, or recreational purpose,
or both, at a price set
by
the department, the department of treasury, or other the state
officer. However, the amount of land sold shall not exceed the
amount that may be necessary for the public agency, and any land
that
is sold shall be suitable for and used solely for a forestry
or recreational purpose, or both, unless conveyed as provided in
this section. Land sold to a public agency under this section or
section 6 of former 1931 PA 217 shall be used only for a forestry
or recreational purpose, or both, if the land is prime land. When
the prime land is no longer used for a forestry or recreational
purpose, or both, the land shall revert to this state.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (6), the department shall
relinquish a reversionary interest in municipal forestland,
conveyed to a public agency under this section or section 6 of
former 1931 PA 217 before October 12, 2004, within 90 days after
the department receives, on a form prescribed by the department, a
written request for relinquishment from the public agency that owns
the municipal forestland subject to the reversionary interest. The
department shall relinquish its reversionary interest by an
instrument approved by the department of attorney general and
recorded by the department with the register of deeds of the county
where the municipal forestland is located. The instrument shall
include
provisions implementing subsections (3) through (9). (8).
The department may charge the public agency an amount equal to the
charge for recording the release.
(3)
Beginning 4 years after the effective date of the 2006
amendatory
act that amended this subsection, a A public agency to
which a reversionary interest was relinquished under subsection (2)
shall not convey the municipal forestland formerly subject to the
reversionary interest unless the conveyance is approved by the
department.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), a public agency to which a
reversionary interest was relinquished under subsection (2) and any
public agency that is a successor in interest shall not convey the
municipal forestland formerly subject to the reversionary interest,
or any part thereof, unless the conveyance is to a public agency
for $1.00 or to a public agency or any other person for fair market
value. If the conveyance is to a public agency for $1.00, the deed
shall recite "MCL 324.52706 requires an accounting and specifies
how proceeds are to be distributed when the property is
subsequently conveyed for fair market value.". If the conveyance is
to a public agency or any other person for fair market value, the
public agency conveying the property shall have an accounting
taken, shall retain 50% of the proceeds, and shall submit the
remaining 50% of the proceeds to the department of treasury for
deposit as follows:
(a) The first $18,000,000.00 in total proceeds from all such
conveyances shall be deposited in the general fund.
(b) Any proceeds in excess of $18,000,000.00 shall be
deposited in the fire protection fund created in section 732a of
the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.732a.
(5) Once the municipal forestland or part thereof formerly
subject to a reversionary interest is conveyed for fair market
value and an accounting is taken and the proceeds are distributed
as provided under subsection (4), subsection (4) does not apply to
subsequent conveyances of that municipal forestland or part
thereof, respectively.
(6) Subsection (2) does not apply to prime land.
(7) A public agency to which a reversionary interest is
relinquished under subsection (2) shall not convey the municipal
forestland formerly subject to the reversionary interest to a third
person unless the public agency has conducted a public hearing on
the proposed conveyance. The public agency may conduct a second
public hearing on the proposed conveyance if the public agency
determines that a second public hearing may be necessary. Notice of
a public hearing under this subsection shall be published at least
twice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or
counties where the municipal forestland is located, not more than
28 or less than 7 days before the hearing. The notice shall
describe where the municipal forestland is located, specify the
approximate size of the municipal forestland, describe its current
use, and identify the person to whom the municipal forestland is
proposed to be sold, if known. The public agency shall provide a
copy of the notice to the director of the department not less than
7 days before the hearing.
(8) The requirements of subsection (7) do not relieve the
public agency of any notice, hearing, or other requirements imposed
by any other law.
(9)
If, before 4 years after the effective date of the 2006
amendatory
act that amended this subsection, municipal forestland
formerly
subject to a reversionary interest that was relinquished
under
subsection (2) is conveyed by a public agency, the public
agency
shall notify the department within 60 days of the
conveyance.
Notice of the conveyance shall be in a form prescribed
by
the department.
(9) (10)
If municipal forestland was
conveyed to a public
agency under this section or section 6 of former 1931 PA 217 and
the municipal forestland is subsequently conveyed by the public
agency to the department, then, for purposes of subparts 13 and 14
of part 21, the municipal forestland shall not be considered to
have been reacquired by the department on or after January 1, 1933
for natural resource purposes unless the municipal forestland was
originally acquired by the department on or after January 1, 1933
for natural resource purposes.
(10) (11)
As used in this section:
(a) "Basal area" means the sum of the cross-sectional area of
trees 4 inches or greater in diameter measured at 4.5 feet from the
highest ground at the base of each tree.
(b) "Municipal forestland" means homestead, tax, swamp, or
primary school land sold to a public agency under this section or
section
6 of former 1931 PA 217 solely for a forestry or
recreational purpose, or both.
(c) "Prime land" means municipal forestland that meets 1 or
more of the following requirements:
(i) Is within a boundary of a program administered by the
department.
(ii) Provides access to a public body of water.
(iii) Is not less than 121 acres in size and, at any time during
the preceding 10 years, had a basal area of not less than 90 square
feet per acre.
(d) "Public agency" means a school district, public
educational institution, governmental unit of this state or agency
of this state, or a municipality.
(e) "Recreational purpose" includes any motorized or
nonmotorized recreational activity.
(11) (12)
The use in this section of the
phrase "this section
or section 6 of former 1931 PA 217" does not imply that the term
"this section" as used elsewhere in this act does not include the
relevant section as it existed in former law codified in this act.
