§8879. Report on the state of the State's forests






The director shall publish a report on the state of the State's forests every 5 years. The director must submit a copy of the report to the joint standing committee of
the Legislature having jurisdiction over forestry matters by January 1st every 5 years beginning January 1, 2016. [2011, c. 532, §2 (AMD).]








1. Content. 
The report must describe the condition of the State's forests based on historical
information and information collected and analyzed by the bureau for the 5-year period.
The report must provide an assessment at the state level of progress in achieving
the standards developed pursuant to section 8876-A, including an assessment of designated outcome-based forestry projects authorized under section 8003, subsection 3, paragraph Q, including a recommendation to continue, change or discontinue the outcome-based
forestry projects. The director shall also provide observations on differences in achieving standards
by landowner class. The report must summarize importing and exporting of forest products
for foreign and interstate activities. The director shall obtain public input during
the preparation of the report through appropriate methods.


[
2013, c. 542, §7 (AMD)
.]








1-A. Report on changes in ownership of forest land. 
Using information received under Title 36, section 581-G, the director shall monitor
changes in ownership of parcels of forest land that are 1,000 acres or greater in
area within the municipalities of the State and classified under the Maine Tree Growth
Tax Law. Using information received under Title 36, sections 581-F and 581-G, the
director shall monitor the number of parcels classified under the Maine Tree Growth
Tax Law and the distribution of parcels by size. The report must include information on the number of parcels, classified by size categories,
for the organized and unorganized territories of the State. The information must
be presented in a manner that facilitates comparison from year to year.


In assessing changes in forest land ownership, the director shall also consider information
reported pursuant to Title 36, sections 305 and 2728. The director shall provide
a summary of changes in ownership of forest land in the report.


[
2011, c. 532, §2 (AMD)
.]








2. Recommendations. 
The report must include recommendations for state and private actions designed to
address the needs identified in the assessment.





A. State action recommendations must be defined in terms of necessary policies, programs,
staff and budgetary requirements to achieve specific goals. [1997, c. 720, §13 (NEW).]










B. Recommendations for actions on privately held forest lands may be developed separately
for large, industrial ownerships and small, nonindustrial ownerships. These recommendations
must be defined in terms of actions needed to achieve specific goals. [1997, c. 720, §13 (NEW).]







[
1997, c. 720, §13 (NEW)
.]





SECTION HISTORY

1997, c. 720, §13 (NEW).
2001, c. 339, §7 (AMD).
2001, c. 564, §2 (AMD).
2005, c. 683, §A15 (AMD).
2011, c. 532, §2 (AMD).
2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §7 (REV).
2013, c. 405, Pt. A, §23 (REV).
2013, c. 542, §7 (AMD).