1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; modifying forest 
  1.3             resource planning requirements; providing for 
  1.4             notification of proposed changes to forest management 
  1.5             guidelines; adding duties for regional forest resource 
  1.6             committees; modifying monitoring and reporting 
  1.7             requirements; modifying review requirements for forest 
  1.8             management guidelines; modifying research 
  1.9             requirements; extending the authorization for the 
  1.10            Minnesota forest resources council; appropriating 
  1.11            money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 
  1.12            89.001, by adding a subdivision; 89.012; 89A.01, 
  1.13            subdivision 3; 89A.05, subdivisions 1, 2a, 4; 89A.06, 
  1.14            subdivisions 2, 2a; 89A.08, subdivision 4; Laws 1995, 
  1.15            chapter 220, section 142, as amended; proposing coding 
  1.16            for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 89; 
  1.17            repealing Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.07, 
  1.18            subdivisions 1, 2, 3. 
  1.19  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.20     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89.001, is 
  1.21  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.22     Subd. 15.  [BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY.] "Biological diversity" 
  1.23  means the variety and abundance of species, their genetic 
  1.24  composition, and the communities and landscapes in which they 
  1.25  occur, including the ecological structures, functions, and 
  1.26  processes occurring at all of these levels. 
  1.27     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89.012, is 
  1.28  amended to read: 
  1.29     89.012 [UNIT FOREST RESOURCE PLANS.] 
  1.30     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.] (a) Each geographic 
  1.31  administrative unit of the division of forestry identified by 
  1.32  the commissioner as an appropriate unit for forest resource 
  2.1   planning shall have a unit forest resource plan which is 
  2.2   consistent with the forest resource management policy and plan, 
  2.3   including state reforestation and road policies.  The scope and 
  2.4   content of the plan shall be determined by the commissioner.  A 
  2.5   unit plan shall not be implemented until approved by the 
  2.6   commissioner.  
  2.7      (b) A unit plan shall set forth the specific goals and 
  2.8   objectives for the management, protection, development, and 
  2.9   production of forest resources in the administrative unit.  A 
  2.10  unit plan shall be integrated with other uses not managed under 
  2.11  the multiple use, sustained yield principles policy when those 
  2.12  uses have been authorized and approved according to law, 
  2.13  including compliance with environmental review procedures.  Unit 
  2.14  plans shall be revised as necessary to remain consistent with 
  2.15  the forest resource management plan.  
  2.16     Subd. 2.  [RIPARIAN AREAS.] Unit forest resource plans 
  2.17  shall provide direction for the management and protection of 
  2.18  forest riparian areas on lands administered by the commissioner 
  2.19  and shall consider the role of lands administered by the 
  2.20  commissioner in managing riparian forest areas consistent with 
  2.21  the goals and desired future conditions established by the 
  2.22  regional forest resource committee for the relevant areas under 
  2.23  section 89A.06, subdivision 2.  Permits to cut timber from lands 
  2.24  administered by the commissioner shall specify requirements for 
  2.25  the protection of riparian areas based on the direction for 
  2.26  management contained in the unit forest resource plans and shall 
  2.27  be consistent with the site-level guidelines developed under 
  2.28  section 89A.05 and unit forest resource plans. 
  2.29     Sec. 3.  [89.0125] [MONITORING.] 
  2.30     Subdivision 1.  [FOREST RESOURCE MONITORING.] The 
  2.31  commissioner shall establish a program for monitoring broad 
  2.32  trends and conditions in the state's forest resources at 
  2.33  statewide, landscape, and site levels.  The forest resources 
  2.34  council shall provide oversight and program direction for the 
  2.35  development and implementation of the monitoring program.  To 
  2.36  the extent possible, the information generated under the 
  3.1   monitoring program must be reported in formats consistent with 
  3.2   the landscape regions used to accomplish the planning and 
  3.3   coordination activities specified in section 89A.06.  To the 
  3.4   extent possible, the program must incorporate data generated by 
  3.5   existing resource monitoring programs.  The commissioner shall 
  3.6   report to the forest resources council information on current 
  3.7   conditions and recent trends in the state's forest resources. 
  3.8      Subd. 2.  [PRACTICES AND COMPLIANCE MONITORING.] The 
  3.9   commissioner shall establish a program for monitoring 
  3.10  silvicultural practices and application of the timber harvesting 
  3.11  and forest management guidelines at statewide, landscape, and 
  3.12  site levels.  The forest resources council shall provide 
  3.13  oversight and program direction for the development and 
  3.14  implementation of the monitoring program.  To the extent 
  3.15  possible, the information generated by the monitoring program 
  3.16  must be reported in formats consistent with the landscape 
  3.17  regions used to accomplish the planning and coordination 
  3.18  activities specified in section 89A.06.  The commissioner shall 
  3.19  report to the forest resources council on the nature and extent 
  3.20  of silvicultural practices used and compliance with the timber 
  3.21  harvesting and forest management guidelines.  This report must 
  3.22  include a detailed description of the concerns received from 
  3.23  citizens under section 89A.07, subdivision 5. 
  3.24     Subd. 3.  [EFFECTIVENESS MONITORING.] The commissioner, in 
  3.25  cooperation with other research and land management 
  3.26  organizations, shall evaluate the effectiveness of practices to 
  3.27  mitigate impacts of timber harvesting and forest management 
  3.28  activities on the state's forest resources.  The forest 
  3.29  resources council shall provide oversight and program direction 
  3.30  for the development and implementation of this monitoring 
  3.31  program.  The commissioner shall report to the forest resources 
  3.32  council on the effectiveness of these practices. 
  3.33     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.01, 
  3.34  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  3.35     Subd. 3.  [BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY.] "Biological diversity" 
  3.36  means the variety and abundance of species, their genetic 
  4.1   composition, and the communities and landscapes in which they 
  4.2   occur, including the ecological structures, functions, and 
  4.3   processes occurring at all of these levels has the meaning given 
  4.4   in section 89.001, subdivision 15. 
  4.5      Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.05, 
  4.6   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.7      Subdivision 1.  [DEVELOPMENT.] The council shall coordinate 
  4.8   the development of comprehensive timber harvesting and forest 
  4.9   management guidelines.  The guidelines must address the water, 
  4.10  air, soil, biotic, recreational, and aesthetic resources found 
  4.11  in forest ecosystems by focusing on those impacts commonly 
  4.12  associated with applying site-level forestry practices.  The 
  4.13  guidelines must reflect a range of practical and sound practices 
  4.14  based on the best available scientific information, and be 
  4.15  integrated to minimize conflicting recommendations while being 
  4.16  easy to understand and implement.  By June 30, 2003, the council 
  4.17  shall review and, if deemed necessary, update the guidelines.  
  4.18  Changes to the guidelines shall be peer reviewed prior to final 
  4.19  adoption by the council.  By December 1999, the council must 
  4.20  undertake a peer review of the recommendations in the forest 
  4.21  management guidelines adopted in December 1998 for protecting 
  4.22  forest riparian areas and seasonal ponds.  Notification of the 
  4.23  availability of proposed changes to the guidelines must be 
  4.24  placed in the environmental quality board monitor. 
  4.25     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.05, 
  4.26  subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
  4.27     Subd. 2a.  [REVIEW.] In reviewing the guidelines, the 
  4.28  council must consider information from forest resources, 
  4.29  practices, compliance, and effectiveness monitoring programs of 
  4.30  the department.  The council must also consider the concerns 
  4.31  received from citizens under section 89A.07, subdivision 5.  The 
  4.32  council's recommendations relating to revisions to the forest 
  4.33  management guidelines must be subject to peer reviewers 
  4.34  appointed by the council.  The council must consider 
  4.35  recommendations of peer reviewers prior to final adoption of 
  4.36  revisions to the guidelines. 
  5.1      Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.05, 
  5.2   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  5.3      Subd. 4.  [MONITORING RIPARIAN FORESTS.] The commissioner, 
  5.4   with program advice from the council, shall accelerate 
  5.5   monitoring the extent and condition of riparian forests, the 
  5.6   extent to which harvesting occurs within riparian management 
  5.7   zones and seasonal ponds, and the use and effectiveness of 
  5.8   timber harvesting and forest management guidelines applied in 
  5.9   riparian management zones and seasonal ponds.  This information 
  5.10  shall, to the extent possible, be consistent with the monitoring 
  5.11  programs identified in section sections 89.0125 and 89A.07.  
  5.12  Information gathered on riparian forests and timber harvesting 
  5.13  in riparian management zones and seasonal ponds as specified in 
  5.14  this subdivision shall be presented to the legislature by 
  5.15  February 2001 and in subsequent reports required in section 
  5.16  89A.03, subdivision 6. 
  5.17     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.06, 
  5.18  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  5.19     Subd. 2.  [REGIONAL FOREST RESOURCE COMMITTEES.] To foster 
  5.20  landscape-based forest resource planning, the council must 
  5.21  establish regional forest resource committees.  Each regional 
  5.22  committee shall: 
  5.23     (1) include representative interests in a particular region 
  5.24  that are committed to and involved in landscape planning and 
  5.25  coordination activities; 
  5.26     (2) serve as a forum for landowners, managers, and 
  5.27  representative interests to discuss landscape forest resource 
  5.28  issues; 
  5.29     (3) identify and implement an open and public process 
  5.30  whereby for landscape-based strategic planning of forest 
  5.31  resources can occur that includes: 
  5.32     (i) assessment of economic, demographic, wildlife habitat, 
  5.33  and environmental conditions; 
  5.34     (ii) identification of desired future conditions; 
  5.35     (iii) identification of strategies to achieve the desired 
  5.36  future conditions; 
  6.1      (iv) monitoring forest resources to ascertain if progress 
  6.2   is being made to achieve the desired future conditions; and 
  6.3      (v) adaptation of desired future conditions and the 
  6.4   strategies to achieve them as warranted by the monitoring 
  6.5   results; 
  6.6      (4) integrate its report with existing public and private 
  6.7   landscape planning efforts in the region; 
  6.8      (5) facilitate landscape coordination between existing 
  6.9   regional landscape planning efforts of land managers, both 
  6.10  public and private; 
  6.11     (6) identify and facilitate opportunities for public 
  6.12  participation in existing landscape planning efforts in this 
  6.13  region; and 
  6.14     (7) identify sustainable forest resource goals for the 
  6.15  landscape and strategies to achieve those goals; and 
  6.16     (8) provide a regional perspective to the council with 
  6.17  respect to council activities. 
  6.18     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.06, 
  6.19  subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
  6.20     Subd. 2a.  [REGIONAL FOREST COMMITTEE REPORTING.] (a) The 
  6.21  council must report annually on the activities and progress made 
  6.22  by the regional forest committees established under subdivision 
  6.23  2, including the following: 
  6.24     (1) by December 1, 1999, the regional committee for the 
  6.25  council's northeast landscape will complete the identification 
  6.26  of draft desired future outcomes, key issues, and strategies for 
  6.27  the landscape; 
  6.28     (2) by July 1, 2000, the council will complete assessments 
  6.29  for the council's north central and southeast landscape regions; 
  6.30     (3) by July 1, 2001, the regional committees for the north 
  6.31  central and southeast landscapes will complete draft desired 
  6.32  future outcomes, key issues, and strategies for their respective 
  6.33  landscapes; and 
  6.34     (4) the council will establish time lines for additional 
  6.35  regional landscape committees and activities as staffing and 
  6.36  funding allow by June 30, 2002, all remaining landscape regions 
  7.1   must complete assessments and by June 30, 2003, desired future 
  7.2   outcomes and strategies for all remaining regions except the 
  7.3   metropolitan and prairie regions. 
  7.4      (b) The council must include in its annual report 
  7.5   monitoring and activities required by subdivisions 2, 3, and 4 
  7.6   for landscape regions. 
  7.7      Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.08, 
  7.8   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  7.9      Subd. 4.  [RESEARCH DELIVERY.] Subject to the availability 
  7.10  of appropriations, the council shall fund forest research based 
  7.11  on the priority forest resources research activities 
  7.12  identified in by the advisory committee under subdivision 3,.  
  7.13  The advisory committee shall promote these findings on priority 
  7.14  research needs and the dissemination of disseminate the research 
  7.15  findings to the research community, forest managers and users, 
  7.16  and the public. 
  7.17     Sec. 11.  Laws 1995, chapter 220, section 142, as amended 
  7.18  by Laws 1995, chapter 263, section 12; Laws 1996, chapter 351, 
  7.19  section 1; and Laws 1999, chapter 231, section 191, is amended 
  7.20  to read: 
  7.21     Sec. 142.  [EFFECTIVE DATES.] 
  7.22     Sections 2, 5, 7, 20, 42, 44 to 49, 56, 57, 101, 102, 117, 
  7.23  and 141, paragraph (d), are effective the day following final 
  7.24  enactment. 
  7.25     Sections 114, 115, 118, and 121 are effective January 1, 
  7.26  1996. 
  7.27     Sections 120, subdivisions 2, 3, 4, and 5, and 141, 
  7.28  paragraph (c), are effective July 1, 1996. 
  7.29     Section 141, paragraph (b), is effective June 30, 2001 2003.
  7.30     Sections 58 and 66 are effective retroactively to August 1, 
  7.31  1991.  
  7.32     Section 119 is effective September 1, 1996. 
  7.33     Section 120, subdivision 1, is effective July 1, 1999. 
  7.34     Sec. 12.  [APPROPRIATION; FOREST RESOURCES COUNCIL.] 
  7.35     $1,175,000 in fiscal year 2002 and $900,000 in fiscal year 
  7.36  2003 are appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
  8.1   of natural resources for implementing sections 1 to 11.  Of this 
  8.2   amount, $250,000 in each fiscal year is for monitoring under 
  8.3   Minnesota Statutes, section 89.0125. 
  8.4      Sec. 13.  [REPEALER.] 
  8.5      Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 89A.07, subdivisions 1, 2, 
  8.6   and 3, are repealed. 
  8.7      Sec. 14.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  8.8      Section 6 is effective the day following final enactment, 
  8.9   and applies to all guidelines developed, modified, or adopted 
  8.10  after that date.