1998 Minnesota Statutes

     89A.05 Timber harvesting and forest management 
  guidelines. 

    Subdivision 1.    Development.  The council shall 
 coordinate the development of comprehensive timber harvesting 
 and forest management guidelines.  The guidelines must address 
 the water, air, soil, biotic, recreational, and aesthetic 
 resources found in forest ecosystems by focusing on those 
 impacts commonly associated with applying site-level forestry 
 practices.  The guidelines must reflect a range of practical and 
 sound practices based on the best available scientific 
 information, and be integrated to minimize conflicting 
 recommendations while being easy to understand and implement.  
 Best management practices previously developed for forest 
 management must be incorporated into the guidelines.  The 
 council shall periodically review and, when deemed necessary, 
 update the guidelines. 

    Subd. 2.    Economic considerations.  Before the 
 implementation of timber harvesting and forest management 
 guidelines, new site-level practices and landscape-level 
 programs, the council shall analyze the costs of new site-level 
 practices and landscape-level programs.  When the analysis 
 concludes that new landscape-level programs and site-level 
 practices will result in adverse economic effects, including 
 decreased timber supply and negative effects on tourism, 
 opportunities to offset those effects must be explored.  The 
 council shall also: 

    (1) identify and quantify forest and timberland acreages 
 that will no longer be available for harvest; and 

    (2) encourage public resource agencies to provide 
 sustainable, predictable supplies of high-quality forest 
 resource benefits, including timber supplies that are consistent 
 with their multiple mandates and diverse management objectives.  
 These benefits should be provided by public resource agencies in 
 proportion to their forest land's capability to do so. 

    Subd. 3.    Application.  The timber harvesting and 
 forest management guidelines are voluntary.  Prior to their 
 actual use, the council shall develop guideline implementation 
 goals for each major forest land ownership category.  If the 
 information developed as a result of the monitoring programs 
 established in section 89A.07 indicates the implementation goals 
 for the guidelines are not being met and the council determines 
 significant adverse impacts are occurring, the council shall 
 recommend to the governor additional measures to address those 
 impacts.  The council shall incorporate the recommendations as 
 part of the council's biennial report required by section 
 89A.03, subdivision 6. 

    HIST: 1995 c 220 s 82