2009 Minnesota Statutes

88.795 FOREST MANAGEMENT LEASE PILOT PROJECT.

(a) Notwithstanding the permit procedures of chapter 90, the commissioner of natural resources may lease up to 10,000 acres of state-owned forest lands for forest management purposes for a term not to exceed 21 years. No person or entity may lease more than 3,000 acres. The lease shall provide:

(1) that the lessee must comply with timber harvesting and forest management guidelines developed under section 89A.05 and landscape-level plans under section 89A.06 that have been adopted by the Minnesota Forest Resources Council, and in effect at the time of any management activity; and

(2) for public access for hunting, fishing, and motorized and nonmotorized recreation to the leased land that is the same as would be available under state management.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the term "state-owned forest lands" may include school trust lands as defined in section 92.025 or university land granted to the state by Acts of Congress.

(c) By December 15, 2009, the commissioner of natural resources shall provide a report to the house of representatives and senate natural resources policy and finance committees and divisions on the pilot project. The report will detail a plan for the implementation of the pilot project with a starting date that is no later than July 1, 2010.

(d) Upon implementation of the pilot project, the commissioner shall provide an annual report to the house of representatives and senate natural resources policy and finance committees and divisions on the progress of the project, including the acres leased, a breakdown of the types of forest land, and amounts harvested by species. The report shall include a net revenue analysis comparing the lease revenue with the estimated net revenue that would be obtained through state management and silvicultural practices cost savings the state realizes through leasing.

(e) Nothing in this section supersedes the duties of the commissioner of natural resources to properly manage forest lands under the authority of the commissioner, as defined in section 89.001, subdivision 13.

History:

2009 c 176 art 5 s 2