2006 Minnesota Statutes

290C.02 DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. Application. When used in sections 290C.01 to 290C.11, the terms in this
section have the meanings given them.
    Subd. 2. Approved plan writers. "Approved plan writers" are natural resource professionals
who are self-employed, employed by private companies or individuals, nonprofit organizations,
local units of government, or public agencies, and who are approved by the commissioner of
natural resources. Persons determined to be certified foresters by the Society of American
Foresters shall be deemed to meet the standards required under this subdivision. The commissioner
of natural resources shall issue a unique identification number to each approved planner.
    Subd. 3. Claimant. (a) "Claimant" means a person, as that term is defined in section 290.01,
subdivision 2 , who owns forest land in Minnesota and files an application authorized by the
Sustainable Forest Incentive Act. Claimant includes a purchaser or grantee if property enrolled in
the program was sold or transferred after the original application was filed and prior to the annual
incentive payment being made. The purchaser or grantee must notify the commissioner in writing
of the sale or transfer of the property. For purposes of section 290C.11, claimant also includes
any person bound by the covenant required in section 290C.04.
(b) No more than one claimant is entitled to a payment under this chapter with respect to any
tract, parcel, or piece of land enrolled under this chapter that has been assigned the same parcel
identification number. When enrolled forest land is owned by two or more persons, the owners
must determine between them which person is eligible to claim the payments provided under
sections 290C.01 to 290C.11. In the case of property sold or transferred, the former owner and the
purchaser or grantee must determine between them which person is eligible to claim the payments
provided under sections 290C.01 to 290C.11. The owners, transferees, or grantees must notify the
commissioner in writing which person is eligible to claim the payments.
    Subd. 4. Commissioner. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of revenue.
    Subd. 5. Current use value. "Current use value" means the statewide average annual
income per acre, multiplied by 90 percent and divided by the capitalization rate determined under
subdivision 9. The statewide net annual income shall be a weighted average based on the most
recent data as of July 1 of the computation year on stumpage prices and annual tree growth rates
and acreage by cover type provided by the Department of Natural Resources and the United States
Department of Agriculture Forest Service North Central Research Station.
    Subd. 6. Forest land. "Forest land" means land containing a minimum of 20 contiguous acres
for which the owner has implemented a forest management plan that was prepared or updated
within the past ten years by an approved plan writer. For purposes of this subdivision, acres are
considered to be contiguous even if they are separated by a road, waterway, railroad track, or
other similar intervening property. At least 50 percent of the contiguous acreage must meet the
definition of forest land in section 88.01, subdivision 7. For the purposes of sections 290C.01 to
290C.11, forest land does not include (i) land used for residential or agricultural purposes, (ii) land
enrolled in the reinvest in Minnesota program, a state or federal conservation reserve or easement
reserve program under sections 103F.501 to 103F.531, the Minnesota agricultural property tax
law under section 273.111, or land subject to agricultural land preservation controls or restrictions
as defined in section 40A.02 or under the Metropolitan Agricultural Preserves Act under chapter
473H, or (iii) land improved with a structure, pavement, sewer, campsite, or any road, other than a
township road, used for purposes not prescribed in the forest management plan.
    Subd. 7. Forest management plan. "Forest management plan" means a written document
providing a framework for site-specific healthy, productive, and sustainable forest resources. A
forest management plan must include at least the following: (i) forest management goals for the
land; (ii) a reliable field inventory of the individual forest cover types, their age, and density;
(iii) a description of the soil type and quality; (iv) an aerial photo and/or map of the vegetation
and other natural features of the land clearly indicating the boundaries of the land and of the
forest land; (v) the proposed future conditions of the land; (vi) prescriptions to meet proposed
future conditions of the land; (vii) a recommended timetable for implementing the prescribed
activities; and (viii) a legal description of the land encompassing the parcels included in the plan.
All management activities prescribed in a plan must be in accordance with the recommended
timber harvesting and forest management guidelines. The commissioner of natural resources shall
provide a framework for plan content and updating and revising plans.
    Subd. 8. Timber harvesting and forest management guidelines. "Timber harvesting and
forest management guidelines" means guidelines developed under section 89A.05 and adopted by
the Minnesota Forest Resources Council in effect at the time the tract, parcel, or piece of land is
enrolled in the sustainable forest incentive program.
    Subd. 9. Capitalization rate. By July 1 of each year, the commissioner shall determine a
statewide capitalization rate for use under this chapter. The rate shall be the average annual
effective interest rate for St. Paul on new loans under the Farm Credit Bank system calculated
under section 2032A(e)(7)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code.
History: 1Sp2001 c 5 art 8 s 6; 2003 c 127 art 5 s 35,36; 2006 c 236 art 2 s 1-3