§ 2225 - Assessments - Vermont Statutes

§ 2225. Assessments

(a) The department of forests, parks and recreation is authorized to carry out various inventories and analyses of forest resources. These activities may include the following:

(1) an inventory and analysis of the supply and availability of the various present and potential forest resources of the state, including limits to such supplies imposed by natural site conditions, by governmental restrictions, or by ownership patterns and attitudes. Among resource potentials to be evaluated are opportunities to:

(A) more fully utilize the sustainable and productive potential for growing and harvesting timber;

(B) improve wood fiber utilization and wood product recycling;

(C) improve the management of wildlife habitat;

(D) develop the potential for recreational use of forest areas;

(E) promote the potential to use wood fiber from timberland as an economically viable source of fuel for energy production;

(F) conserve and protect watershed values;

(G) analyze present and anticipated demand for various forest resources in the state;

(H) evaluate current state programs and responsibilities in cooperative state-federal forestry programs, for the management of both private and public forest and related lands;

(I) identify the major policies, laws, regulations, management responsibilities, and other factors expected to influence and significantly affect the use, ownership, and management of forest resources;

(2) development and maintenance of an effective system for the collection, analysis, and display of such data in forms that contribute to the achievement of the purposes of this chapter;

(3) identification of high priority needs for completing the data base and identification of an analytical framework essential to improving the quality of future assessments;

(4) evaluation of the accuracy and completeness of existing data and of steps needed to improve the accuracy and completeness of data for future assessments;

(5) evaluation of the state's forest practices and programs for their impact on achieving forest sustainability;

(6) evaluation of the impacts on municipalities resulting from various forest practices, programs, and public acquisition.

(b) The assessment shall be completed by July 1, 1997 and thereafter shall be the basis for planning programs and their administration by the department of forests, parks and recreation for the conservation, management, and development of Vermont's forest resources. (Added 1977, No. 234 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1995, No. 53, § 4, eff. April 20, 1995.)