1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to natural resources; providing for low 
  1.3             impact forestry; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 90. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [TITLE.] 
  1.7      This act may be called the "Low Impact Forestry Act." 
  1.8      Sec. 2.  [FINDINGS.] 
  1.9      The legislature finds that multiple use of public forest 
  1.10  lands is enhanced by healthy natural forests and that the public 
  1.11  enjoyment and use of public forests is harmed by extensive 
  1.12  clear-cutting.  The legislature further finds that better 
  1.13  preservation of natural forest processes will ensure a more 
  1.14  valuable and stable supply of harvestable timber for future 
  1.15  generations. 
  1.16     Sec. 3.  [90.043] [LOW IMPACT FORESTRY.] 
  1.17     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITION.] "Even-aged management" means 
  1.18  clear-cutting, modified clear-cutting, or shelterwood cutting of 
  1.19  timber. 
  1.20     Subd. 2.  [STATE LAND TIMBER HARVESTING PRACTICES.] The 
  1.21  commissioner must ensure that timber harvesting practices on 
  1.22  state land minimize impacts to the functional capabilities of 
  1.23  state forest land by: 
  1.24     (1) promoting practices that, to the greatest extent 
  1.25  possible: 
  2.1      (i) maintain forest contiguity and avoid forest 
  2.2   fragmentation and the isolation of forest patches; 
  2.3      (ii) reduce high-contrast edge environments; 
  2.4      (iii) result in compositional and structural diversity; 
  2.5      (iv) result in biological legacies of living organisms and 
  2.6   organic structures such as large snags and logs; 
  2.7      (v) rely upon mimicry of natural disturbances such as fire 
  2.8   and other natural processes; and 
  2.9      (vi) maintain natural functions in the forest floor; 
  2.10     (2) reducing the use of even-aged management so that it 
  2.11  comprises ten percent or less of the acreage, over a 40-year 
  2.12  rotation cycle, of timber harvesting on state land by the year 
  2.13  2010; and 
  2.14     (3) eliminating even-aged management within 400 feet of 
  2.15  lakes, streams, and rivers. 
  2.16     Subd. 3.  [EVEN-AGED MANAGEMENT.] The commissioner may 
  2.17  allow the use of even-aged management on a site-specific basis, 
  2.18  within the requirements of subdivision 2, clause (2), upon a 
  2.19  determination by the commissioner that there is no other method 
  2.20  that will meet the ecological objectives for the site. 
  2.21     Subd. 4.  [REPORT.] Beginning January 31, 2000, and every 
  2.22  even-numbered year thereafter, the commissioner of natural 
  2.23  resources must submit a report to the chairs of the house and 
  2.24  senate environment and natural resources committees outlining 
  2.25  the progress made in reducing even-aged management on state land.