Minnesota Session Laws - 1987, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1987 

                        CHAPTER 109-S.F.No. 461 
           An act relating to natural resources; changing certain 
          provisions relating to the sale of state timber; 
          eliminating laws relating to white pine blister rust 
          control and cutting notices; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1986, sections 88.49, subdivisions 5, 9, and 
          11; 90.031, subdivision 3; 90.041, subdivision 2; 
          90.101, subdivision 1; 90.14; 90.151, subdivisions 1 
          and 13; 90.161, subdivision 1; 90.173; and 97A.205; 
          repealing Minnesota Statutes 1986, sections 18.431 to 
          18.436 and 88.13. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 88.49, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 5.  [CANCELLATION.] Upon the failure of the owner 
faithfully to fulfill and perform such contract or any provision 
thereof, or any requirement of sections 88.47 to 88.53, or any 
rule adopted by the commissioner thereunder, the commissioner 
may cancel the contract in the manner herein provided.  The 
commissioner shall give to the owner, in the manner prescribed 
in section 88.48, subdivision 4, 60 days notice of a hearing 
thereon at which the owner may appear and show cause, if any, 
why the contract should not be canceled.  The commissioner shall 
thereupon determine whether the contract should be canceled and 
make an order to that effect.  Notice of the commissioner's 
determination and the making of the order shall be given to the 
owner in the manner provided in section 88.48, subdivision 4.  
On determining that the contract should be canceled and no 
appeal therefrom be taken, the commissioner shall send notice 
thereof to the auditor of the county and to the town clerk of 
the town affected and file with the recorder a certified copy of 
the order, who shall forthwith note the cancellation upon the 
record thereof, and thereupon the land therein described shall 
cease to be an auxiliary forest and, together with the timber 
thereon, become liable to all taxes and assessments that 
otherwise would have been levied against it had it never been an 
auxiliary forest from the time of the making of the contract, 
any provisions of the statutes of limitation to the contrary 
notwithstanding, less the amount of taxes paid under the 
provisions of section 88.51, subdivision 1, together with 
interest on such taxes and assessments at six percent per annum, 
but without penalties. 
    The commissioner may in like manner and with like effect 
cancel the contract upon written application of the owner. 
    The commissioner shall cancel any contract if the owner has 
made successful application under sections 270.31 to 270.39 
inclusive, the Minnesota tree growth tax law, and has paid to 
the county treasurer the difference between the amount which 
would have been paid had the land under contract been subject to 
the Minnesota tree growth tax law from the date of the filing of 
the contract and the amount actually paid under section 88.51, 
subdivisions 1 and 2.  If the amount which would have been paid, 
had the land under contract been under the Minnesota tree growth 
tax law from the date of the filing of the contract, is less 
than the amount actually paid under the contract, the 
cancellation shall be made without further payment by the owner. 
    When the execution of any contract creating an auxiliary 
forest shall have been procured through fraud or deception 
practiced upon the county board or the commissioner or any other 
person or body representing the state, it may be canceled upon 
suit brought by the attorney general at the direction of 
the executive council commissioner.  This cancellation shall 
have the same effect as the cancellation of a contract by the 
commissioner. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 88.49, 
subdivision 9, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 9.  [AUXILIARY FORESTS; WITHDRAWAL OF LAND FROM.] 
Land needed for other purposes may be withdrawn from an 
auxiliary forest as herein provided.  A verified application 
therefor in a form prescribed by the commissioner of natural 
resources may be made by the owner to the county board of the 
county in which the land is situated, describing the land and 
stating the purpose of withdrawal.  Like proceedings shall be 
had upon the application as upon an application for the 
establishment of an auxiliary forest, except that consideration 
need be given only to the questions to be determined as provided 
in this subdivision.  If the county board shall determine that 
the land proposed to be withdrawn is needed and is suitable for 
the purposes set forth in the application, and that the 
remaining land in the auxiliary forest is suitable and 
sufficient for the purposes thereof as provided by law, the 
board may, in its discretion, grant the application, subject to 
the approval of the commissioner and the executive council.  
Upon such approval a supplemental contract evidencing the 
withdrawal shall be executed, filed, and recorded or registered 
as the case may require, in like manner as an original auxiliary 
forest contract.  Thereupon the land described in the 
supplemental contract shall cease to be part of the auxiliary 
forest, and, together with the timber thereon, shall be liable 
to taxes and assessments in like manner as upon cancellation of 
an auxiliary forest contract. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 88.49, 
subdivision 11, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 11.  [AUXILIARY FORESTS; TRANSFER OF TITLE; PROCEDURE 
ON DIVISION.] The title to the land in an auxiliary forest or 
any part thereof is subject to transfer in the same manner as 
the title to other real estate, subject to the auxiliary forest 
contract therefor and to applicable provisions of law.  In case 
the ownership of such a forest is divided into two or more parts 
by any transfer or transfers of title and the owners of all such 
parts desire to have the same made separate auxiliary forests, 
they may join in a verified application therefor to the county 
board of the county in which the forest is situated in a form 
prescribed by the commissioner of natural resources.  If the 
county board determines that each of the parts into which the 
forest has been divided is suitable and sufficient for a 
separate auxiliary forest as provided by law, it may, in its 
discretion, grant the application, subject to the approval of 
the commissioner and the executive council.  Upon such approval, 
the commissioner shall prepare a new auxiliary forest contract 
for each part transferred, with like provisions and for the 
remainder of the same term as the prior contract in force for 
the entire forest at the time of the transfer, and shall also 
prepare a modification of such prior contract, eliminating 
therefrom the part or parts of the land transferred but 
otherwise leaving the remaining land subject to all the 
provisions of such contract.  The new contract or contracts and 
modification of the prior contract shall be executed and 
otherwise dealt with in like manner as provided for an original 
auxiliary forest contract, but no such instrument shall take 
effect until all of them, covering together all parts of the 
forest existing before the transfer, have been executed, filed, 
and recorded or registered, as the case may require.  Upon the 
taking effect of all such instruments, the owner of the forest 
prior to the transfer shall be divested of all rights and 
relieved from all liabilities under the contract then in force 
with respect to the parts transferred except such as may have 
existed or accrued at the time of the taking effect of such 
instruments, and thereafter the several tracts into which the 
forest has been divided and the respective owners thereof shall 
be subject to the new contract or contracts or the modified 
prior contract relating thereto, as the case may be, as provided 
for an original auxiliary forest contract.  The provisions of 
this subdivision shall not supersede or affect the application 
of any other provision of law to any auxiliary forest which is 
divided by transfer of title unless the procedure herein 
authorized is fully consummated. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 90.031, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 3.  The executive council may compromise and settle, 
with the approval of the attorney general, upon terms as it may 
deem just, any claim of the state for casual and involuntary 
trespass upon state lands or timber where the full value of such 
timber or other materials so taken in trespass exceeds $5,000; 
provided, that no claim shall be settled for less than the full 
value of all timber or other materials taken in casual trespass 
or the full amount of all actual damage or loss suffered by the 
state as a result.  The executive council commissioner may make 
settlement for not less than the full value of any timber cut by 
lessees of state lands holding under section 92.50.  
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 90.041, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 2.  The commissioner may compromise and settle, with 
the approval of the attorney general, upon terms the 
commissioner deems just, any claim of the state for casual and 
involuntary trespass upon state lands or timber where the full 
value of the timber or other materials taken in trespass is 
$5,000 or less; provided that no claim shall be settled for less 
than the full value of all timber or other materials taken in 
casual trespass or the full amount of all actual damage or loss 
suffered by the state as a result.  The commissioner shall 
advise the executive council of any information acquired by the 
commissioner concerning any trespass on state lands, giving all 
details and names of witnesses and all compromises and 
settlements made under this subdivision. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 90.101, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  The commissioner may sell the timber on any 
tract of state land in lots not exceeding $20,000 in appraised 
value and may determine the number of sections or fractional 
sections of land to be covered by any one permit issued to the 
purchaser of timber on state lands, or in any one contract or 
other instrument relating thereto.  No timber shall be sold, 
except (1) to the highest bidder at public auction, and or (2) 
if unsold at public auction the commissioner may offer the 
timber for private sale for a period of no more than 90 days 
after the public auction to any person who pays the appraised 
value for the timber.  The minimum price shall be the appraised 
value as fixed by the report of the state appraiser.  All sales 
shall be held in the county in which the tract is located and no 
sale shall be held in more than one location on any one day.  
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 90.14, is amended 
to read:  
    90.14 [AUCTION SALE PROCEDURE.] 
    All state timber shall be offered and sold by the same unit 
of measurement as it was appraised.  The sale shall be made to 
the party who (1) shall bid the highest price for all the 
several kinds of timber as advertised, or (2) if unsold at 
public auction, to the party who purchases at any sale 
authorized under section 90.101, subdivision 1.  The purchaser 
at any sale of timber shall, immediately upon the approval of 
the bid, or, if unsold at public auction, at the time of 
purchase at a subsequent sale under section 90.101, subdivision 
1, pay to the commissioner 25 percent of the appraised value.  
In case any purchaser fails to make such payment, the purchaser 
shall be liable therefor to the state in a civil action, and the 
commissioner may reoffer the timber for sale as though no bid or 
sale under section 90.101, subdivision 1, therefor had been made.
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 90.151, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  (a) Following receipt of the down payment 
for state timber sold at public auction, the commissioner shall 
issue a numbered permit to the purchaser, in a form approved by 
the attorney general, by the terms of which the purchaser shall 
be authorized to enter upon the land, and to cut and remove the 
timber therein described, according to the provisions of this 
chapter.  The permit shall be correctly dated and executed by 
the commissioner or agent and signed by the purchaser.  
    (b) The permit shall expire no later than two three years 
after the date of sale as the commissioner shall specify, and 
the timber shall be cut within the time specified therein.  All 
cut timber, equipment, and buildings not removed from the land 
within 90 days after expiration of the permit shall become the 
property of the state.  
     (c) The commissioner may grant an additional period of time 
not to exceed 120 days for the removal of cut timber, equipment, 
and buildings upon receipt of such request by the permit holder 
for good and sufficient reasons.  No permit shall be issued to 
any person other than the purchaser in whose name the bid was 
made.  
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 90.151, 
subdivision 13, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 13.  [PERMIT EXTENSIONS.] (a) The commissioner may 
grant extensions of timber permits and contracts for periods as 
the commissioner deems advisable, provided that:  
    (1) for permits issued on or after May 15, 1975, and before 
the effective date of this act, the total of the extensions 
shall not exceed three years from the date of the expiration of 
the original permit,; and 
    (2) for permits issued prior to May 15, 1975 the total of 
the extensions and the original permit term shall not exceed ten 
years from date of issuance of the permit. on or after the 
effective date of this act, the permit may not be extended more 
than two one-year periods.  
    (b)  All extensions granted pursuant to this subdivision 
shall be subject to all the provisions of this chapter.  
    Subd. 14.  [INTEREST ON EXTENSIONS.] (a) The commissioner 
shall include in each extension a condition that the purchaser 
shall pay to the state interest at the rate of: 
    (1) eight percent of the unpaid purchase price for each 
year of extension or portion thereof for an extension granted 
under subdivision 13, paragraph (a), clause (1); and 
    (2) five percent the first year of extension and 15 percent 
the second year of extension for an extension granted under 
subdivision 13, paragraph (a), clause (2).  
    (b) The interest shall be calculated from the beginning of 
the extension period to the date of the seasonal scale report of 
products cut as and computed on:  
    (1) the sale price of the timber cut,; or 
    (2) if not cut, upon the official estimate thereof; 
however, of the merchantable timber not utilized under the 
permit.  
    (c) A purchaser is not required to pay interest totaling $1 
or less.  
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 90.161, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  Except as otherwise provided by law the 
purchaser of any state timber, before any timber permit shall 
become effective for any purpose, shall within 90 days from the 
date of purchase give a good and valid bond to the state of 
Minnesota equal to the value of all timber covered or to be 
covered by the permit, as shown by the sale price bid therefor 
and the appraisal report thereof as to quantity, less the amount 
of any payment pursuant to section 90.14, which bond shall be 
conditioned upon the faithful performance by the purchaser and 
successors in interest of all the terms and conditions of the 
permit and all requirements of law in respect to such sales; and 
the bond shall be approved in writing by the commissioner and 
filed for record in the commissioner's office.  In the 
alternative to cash and bond as provided above, but upon the 
same conditions, a purchaser may post bond for 100 percent of 
the purchase price and request refund of the amount of any 
payment pursuant to section 90.14. 
    Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 90.173, is 
amended to read:  
    90.173 [PURCHASER'S OR ASSIGNEE'S CASH DEPOSIT IN LIEU OF 
BOND.] 
    In lieu of filing the bond required by section 90.161 or 
90.171, as security for the issuance or assignment of a timber 
permit the person required to file the bond may deposit with the 
state treasurer cash, a certified check, a cashier's check, a 
personal check, a postal, bank, or express money order, 
assignable bonds or notes of the United States, or an assignment 
of a bank savings account or investment certificate or an 
irrevocable bank letter of credit, in the same amount as would 
be required for a bond.  If securities listed in this section 
are deposited, the par value of the securities shall be not less 
than the amount required for the timber sale bond, and the 
person required to file the timber sale bond shall submit an 
agreement authorizing the commissioner to sell or otherwise take 
possession of the security in the event of default under the 
timber sale.  All of the conditions of the timber sale bond 
shall equally apply to the deposit with the state treasurer.  In 
the event of a default the state may take from the deposit the 
sum of money to which it is entitled; the remainder, if any, 
shall be returned to the person making the deposit and shall 
bear interest at the rate determined pursuant to section 549.09 
if not returned within 30 days from the date of the default.  
Sums of money as may be required by the state treasurer to carry 
out the terms and provisions of this section are appropriated 
from the general fund to the state treasurer for these 
purposes.  When cash is deposited for a bond, it shall be 
applied to the amount due when a statement is prepared and 
transmitted to the permit holder pursuant to section 90.181.  
Any balance due to the state shall be shown on the statement and 
shall be paid as provided in section 90.181.  Any amount of the 
deposit in excess of the amount determined to be due pursuant to 
section 90.181 shall be returned to the permit holder when a 
final statement is transmitted pursuant to that section.  All or 
part of a cash bond may be withheld from application to an 
amount due on a nonfinal statement if it appears that the total 
amount due on the permit will exceed the bid price.  
    Sec. 12.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 97A.205, is 
amended to read:  
    97A.205 [ENFORCEMENT OFFICER POWERS.] 
    An enforcement officer is authorized to:  
    (1) execute and serve court issued warrants and processes 
relating to wild animals, wild rice, public waters, water 
pollution, conservation, and use of water, in the same manner as 
a constable or sheriff;  
    (2) enter any land to carry out the duties and functions of 
the division;  
    (3) make investigations of violations of the game and fish 
laws;  
    (4) take an affidavit, if it aids an investigation;  
    (5) arrest, without a warrant, a person that is detected in 
the actual violation of the game and fish laws, a provision of 
chapters 84A, 85, 86A, 88 to 106A, 361, sections 89.51 to 
89.61 and 18.431 to 18.436; or 609.66, subdivision 1, clauses 
(1), (2), (5), and (7); and 609.68; and 
    (6) take an arrested person before a court in the county 
where the offense was committed and make a complaint.  
    Sec. 13.  [REPEALER.] 
    Minnesota Statutes 1986, sections 18.431, 18.432, 18.433, 
18.434, 18.435, 18.436, and 88.13 are repealed.  
    Sec. 14.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    This act is effective 30 days after final enactment. 
    Approved May 14, 1987