RS 3:4288 Obligations of contract; annual inspection; restoration to tax rolls - Louisiana Statutes

§4288.  Obligations of contract; annual inspection; restoration to tax rolls

A.  The contract shall obligate the landowner to begin the practice of forestry, and at the earliest practicable time after the date of the contract, not later than a date to be named therein, to plant suitable and useful timber trees on the land, where necessary, all in accordance with the plan filed with the application and approved by the commission; to protect the land from fires, so far as practicable; and to protect and maintain the trees thereon in a growing and thrifty condition during the life of the contract.

B.  Any landowner who has made such a contract with the state may demand an annual inspection by the commission or its agents and a certificate as to whether the contract has been carried out.  At the end of the contract the land shall be restored to the assessment roll and shall thenceforth be taxed the same as other similar lands, but exclusive of the timber protected, cultivated, and grown thereon under the contract.  The timber shall continue to be subject to the provisions of Part IV of this Chapter and shall be subject to severance taxes under the provisions of the laws relating to severance on timber grown under contract when cut within the period of time as fixed by the statutes.  If at a time within the contract period the owner fails to maintain the land in all respects according to the written agreement entered into and upon which the land was given a fixed assessment value for a fixed number of years, the contract is subject to cancellation and when cancelled for such default the land and any timber thereon shall be restored to the assessment rolls and thereafter taxed the same as other similar lands and timber.  In addition the owner shall pay the state and parish a sum equivalent to the difference between the taxes actually paid and the taxes which would have been levied upon the land, had it not been assessed under the provisions of this Section, plus interest at six percent from the dates upon which the taxes would have become due.

Nothing in R.S. 3:4285 through 4288 shall give the commission jurisdiction over lands of any resident farmer without written contract.