2006 Minnesota Statutes

89A.03 MINNESOTA FOREST RESOURCES COUNCIL.
    Subdivision 1. Membership. The governor must appoint a chair and 15 other members to
the Minnesota Forest Resources Council. The Indian Affairs Council will appoint one additional
member. When making appointments to the council, the governor must appoint knowledgeable
individuals with an understanding of state forest resource issues who fairly reflect a balance of the
various interests in the sustainable management, use, and protection of the state's forest resources
in order to achieve the purpose and policies specified in subdivision 2 and section 89A.02. The
council membership appointed by the governor must include the following individuals:
(1) two representatives from organizations representing environmental interests within
the state;
(2) a representative from an organization representing the interests of management of game
species;
(3) a representative from a conservation organization;
(4) a representative from an association representing forest products industry within the state;
(5) a commercial logging contractor active in a forest product association;
(6) a representative from a statewide association representing the resort and tourism industry;
(7) a faculty or researcher of a Minnesota research or higher educational institution;
(8) an owner of nonindustrial, private forest land of 40 acres or more;
(9) an owner of nonindustrial, private forest land;
(10) a representative from the department;
(11) a county land commissioner who is a member of the Minnesota Association of County
Land Commissioners;
(12) a representative from the United States Forest Service unit with land management
responsibility in Minnesota;
(13) a representative from a labor organization with membership having an interest in forest
resource issues;
(14) an individual representing a secondary wood products manufacturing organization; and
(15) a chair.
    Subd. 2. Purpose. The council must develop recommendations to the governor and to
federal, state, county, and local governments with respect to forest resource policies and practices
that result in the sustainable management, use, and protection of the state's forest resources. The
policies and practices must:
(1) acknowledge the interactions of complex sustainable forest resources, multiple ownership
patterns, and local to international economic forces;
(2) give equal consideration to the long-term economic, ecological, and social needs and
limits of the state's forest resources;
(3) foster the productivity of the state's forests to provide a diversity of sustainable benefits
at site-levels and landscape-levels;
(4) enhance the ability of the state's forest resources to provide future benefits and services;
(5) foster no net loss of forest land in Minnesota;
(6) encourage appropriate mixes of forest cover types and age classes within landscapes to
promote biological diversity and viable forest-dependent fish and wildlife habitats;
(7) encourage collaboration and coordination with multiple constituencies in planning and
managing the state's forest resources; and
(8) address the environmental impacts and implement mitigations as recommended in the
generic environmental impact statement on timber harvesting.
    Subd. 3. Council meetings. At a minimum, meetings of the council and all of the committees,
task forces, technical teams, regional committees, and other groups the council may establish must
be conducted in accordance with chapter 13D. Except where prohibited by law, the council must
establish additional processes to broaden public involvement in all aspects of its deliberations.
    Subd. 4. Council staff. The council shall employ an executive director who shall have the
authority to employ staff. Technical expertise that will enable the council to carry out its functions
must be provided to the council by those interests represented on the council.
    Subd. 5. Membership regulation. Terms, compensation, nomination, appointment, and
removal of council members are governed by section 15.059. Section 15.059, subdivision 5, does
not govern the expiration date of the council.
    Subd. 6. Report. The council must report to the governor and to the legislative committees
and divisions with jurisdiction over environment and natural resource policy and finance by
February 1 of each year. The report must describe the progress and accomplishments made by the
council during the preceding year.
    Subd. 7.[Repealed by amendment, 1999 c 231 s 116]
History: 1995 c 220 s 80,141,142; 1995 c 263 s 12; 1996 c 351 s 1; 1998 c 401 s 30; 1999
c 231 s 116,191; 1Sp2001 c 2 s 151; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 108