SECTIONS 4645-4658 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 4645-4658

4645. The department, in accordance with plans approved by the
board, may engage in the management, protection, and reforestation of
state forests.

4646. The director, acting in accordance with policies adopted by
the board, shall administer this chapter. He may exercise all powers
necessary to accomplish its purposes and intent.

4647. The department shall prepare a map setting forth the
boundaries of purchase areas, and it shall prepare data relating to
the forest conditions within these areas. In the preparation of the
map and data the department shall be guided by, but not limited to, a
report prepared and submitted to the Legislature by the California
Forestry Study Committee provided for in Chapter 1086, Statutes of
1943. The department shall make the necessary surveys, examinations,
appraisals, inventories, and title searches and obtain other
pertinent data and information bearing on tracts of forest land
offered for sale for state forest purposes.

4648. Acquisition of forest land pursuant to this chapter shall be
made only upon the approval of the director. Approval by the director
shall be based on satisfactory evidence presented to him by the
board as to the suitability and desirability of lands under
consideration for purchase for state forest purposes. This
suitability and desirability shall be predicated on, but not limited
to, the following factors:
(a) That the lands are suited primarily to timber growing.
(b) That the lands represent growing capacities not below the
average for the timber region.
(c) That they are favorably situated for multiple use and
economical administration, management, and utilization.
The director shall not approve the acquisition of any lands
pursuant to this chapter unless he receives a resolution recommending
such action adopted by the board of supervisors of the county in
which such lands are situated following a public hearing held by the
board of supervisors on the proposed acquisition. Notice of the
hearing shall be published pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government
Code. The holding of a hearing shall be optional to the board of
supervisors for areas of 2,000 acres or less. Upon approval of a
purchase by the director, the department may negotiate for and
consummate the purchase of the lands.

4649. Whenever it is deemed advisable and advantageous, the board
may enter into an agreement with the Department of Corrections, or
the Youth Authority for employment of inmates of these institutions
in work on state forests.

4650. (a) With the approval of the Director of General Services,
the director may make sales of forest products from state forests
that do not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in value without
advertising for bids. With the approval of the Director of General
Services, the director may also make sales that do not exceed 100,000
board feet of dead, dying, downed, diseased, or defective trees,
trees harvested in connection therewith for thinning purposes or
other forest improvement work, or any combination thereof, without
advertising for bids.
(b) Any sale of forest products in excess of ten thousand dollars
($10,000) in value, or in excess of 100,000 board feet with respect
to dead, dying, downed, diseased, or defective trees, trees harvested
in connection therewith for thinning purposes or other forest
improvement work, or any combination thereof, shall be upon
competitive bids. Advertising for bids shall be the same as is
generally in use for the sale of state property.

4650.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, timber from
state forests shall not be sold to any California division of a
primary manufacturer, or to any person for resale to a primary
manufacturer, who does either of the following:
(1) Uses that timber at any plant not located within the United
States unless it is sawn on four sides to dimensions not greater than
4 inches by 12 inches.
(2) Within one year prior to the bid date and one year after the
termination of the contract, sells unprocessed timber, which is
harvested from private timberlands and is exported into foreign
commerce from this state.
(b) Any purchaser of timber from state forests who makes use of
timber in violation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) is prohibited
from purchasing state forest timber for a period of five years and
may have his or her license suspended for a period of up to one year.
(c) The department may adopt appropriate regulations to prevent
the substitution of timber from state forests for timber exported
from private timberlands.
(d) For purposes of this section, "unprocessed timber" means trees
or portions of trees or other roundwood not processed to standards
and specifications suitable for end product use, but does not include
timber processed into any of the following:
(1) Lumber or construction timbers, except Western Red Cedar,
meeting current American Lumber Standards Grades or Pacific Lumber
Inspection Bureau Export R or N list grades, sawn on four sides, not
intended for remanufacture.
(2) Lumber, construction timbers, or cants for remanufacture,
except Western Red Cedar, meeting current American Lumber Standards
Grades or Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau Export R or N list clear
grades, sawn on four sides, not to exceed 12 inches in thickness.
(3) Lumber, construction timbers, or cants for remanufacture,
except Western Red Cedar, that do not meet the grades referred to in
paragraph (2) and are sawn on four sides, with wane less than 1/4 of
any face, not exceeding 8 3/4 inches in thickness.
(4) Chips, pulp, or pulp products.
(5) Veneer or plywood.
(6) Poles, posts, or piling cut or treated with preservatives for
use as such.
(7) Shakes or shingles.
(8) Aspen or other pulpwood bolts, not exceeding 100 inches in
length, exported for processing into pulp.
(9) Pulp logs or cull logs processed at domestic pulp mills,
domestic chip plants, or other domestic operations for the purpose of
conversion of the logs into chips.

4651. The management of state forests and the cutting and sale of
timber and other forest products from state forests shall conform to
regulations prepared by the director and approved by the board. These
regulations shall be in conformity with forest management practices
designed to achieve maximum sustained production of high-quality
forest products while giving consideration to values relating to
recreation, watershed, wildlife, range and forage, fisheries, and
aesthetic enjoyment. The sale of timber and other forest products is
limited to raw materials only.

4652. (a) The department may collect recreational user fees for
overnight camping and reserved group activities in a demonstration
state forest. The department shall not charge a fee that exceeds the
amount necessary to reimburse the department's costs for maintenance
and improvement of campground facilities, associated recreational
facilities, natural environment, and access thereto.
(b) All recreational user fees received by the department during
each fiscal year shall be deposited into the Forest Resources
Improvement Fund and shall be used, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to reimburse the department's cost of maintaining and
improving the campground facilities, associated recreational
facilities, natural environment, and access thereto.
(c) Receipts from the sales of forest products and recreational
user fees shall be deposited monthly with the State Treasurer in the
Forest Resources Improvement Fund. The Controller shall keep a record
of accounts of such receipts separately.

4653. State-owned lands classified by the department and approved
by the board as not suited to the growing of forest products, or
necessary to the management of the forest, shall be sold according to
state laws.

4654. There shall be paid to each county in which lands acquired
for state forest purposes are situated, out of funds hereafter made
available for such purpose, an amount equivalent to taxes levied by
the county on similar land similarly situated in the county in the
same manner as provided in the Revenue and Taxation Code for secured
property tax payments as long as the state continues to own the land.
Such payments shall be based only upon the value of the forest lands
used for purposes of continuous commercial forest production and not
upon value of such forest land used for any other purposes,
including any improvements on such lands. Determination of what
constitutes similar land similarly situated shall be made by a
committee consisting of the county assessor of the county in which
the land is located, a representative of the State Board of
Equalization and a representative of the department.
The money received by any county pursuant to this section may be
expended by it for any proper state purpose not prohibited by the
State Constitution.

4655. Tax-deeded lands classified as forest lands, pursuant to
Chapter 4.3 (commencing with Section 3534), Part 6, Division 1 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code, may be acquired for the state forest
purposes through the usual procedure governing the sale of tax-deeded
lands.

4656. This chapter does not interfere with the reasonable use of
state forests for hunting, fishing, recreation and camping, except as
otherwise provided by law.
The use of state forest lands for grazing and mining purposes
shall be permitted pursuant to regulations established by the board
in accordance with Chapter 3. 5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The use and
development of water facilities for irrigation and power shall be
permitted as provided by law.

4656.1. The board may establish rules and regulations, in
accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, for the
preservation, protection, and use of state forests and for the
promotion and protection of public health and safety within state
forests.

4656.2. The department shall protect the state forests from damage
and preserve the peace therein.

4656.3. Any person who violates the rules and regulations
pertaining to the state forests established by the board is guilty of
a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000).

4657. Insofar as the provisions of this chapter may be in conflict
with any other provision of this division, the provision of this
chapter shall control.

4658. The Mountain Home Tract Forest in Tulare County shall be
developed and maintained, pursuant to this chapter, as a multiple-use
forest, primarily for public hunting, fishing, and recreation. In
future acquisitions and exchanges of land, as provided by law, the
acreage in state ownership shall not be reduced below 4,000 acres.