This is a comprehensive treatise on the regulation of forest practices
on private lands in California. This book provides an in-depth summary
and analysis of the myriad state and federal laws that govern forest
practices on private lands, including discussion of statutory and
regulatory requirements, applicable case law, and agency policies. It
also includes a number of useful appendices, sidebar discussions, and
charts, graphs and tables to assist users of this book in understanding
these complex state and federal regulatory processes and how such
processes interrelate.
California has the most extensive body of laws applicable to private
land forestry of any state in the country. The primary governing
statute is the 1973 Z’Berg Nejedly Forest Practice Act (FPA). The FPA
requires an owner of timberland who wishes to harvest timber for
commercial purposes to submit one of several types of timber harvest
plans, depending upon the nature of the operation and the type of
landowner involved, to the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection (CDF) for its review and approval. This book outlines the
detailed procedures and substantive requirements for the preparation,
review, approval and implementation of such plans, as set forth in the
FPA and its implementing regulations.
California also has enacted the 1976 Timberland Productivity Act (TPA),
which establishes a special zoning designation for commercial
timberland that restricts the use of such land to timberland production
and compatible uses and which offers certain tax advantages. This book
outlines the processes for zoning land for timberland production, and
for re-zoning and converting such specially zoned land to other zoning
designations and land uses.
In addition, this book describes the roles and responsibilities of each
participant in the process of obtaining approval to harvest timber on
private lands, including the timberland owner or timber owner, plan
submitter, registered professional forester (RPF), licensed timber
operator (LTO), the public, CDF, the Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection (Board), and other public agencies. This book discusses the
Board’s rulemaking responsibilities, as well as CDF’s licensing,
regulation and discipline of RPFs, LTOs, and other forestry
professionals. The text also discusses the roles and responsibilities
of other state and local agencies in regulating forest practices on
private lands. These agencies include the California Department of Fish
and Game, the Regional Water Quality Control Boards and State Water
Resources Control Board, California Geological Survey, California
Coastal Commission, Department of Pesticide Regulation, and cities and
counties. The book outlines how each of these other agencies interfaces
with CDF and the Board, both under the FPA and TPA, and in implementing
their own responsibilities under other applicable statutes.
The book also provides a detailed discussion of other state and federal
laws that impose additional requirements on timber harvesting on
private lands. These other laws include the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA), the state and federal Endangered Species Acts,
state and federal water quality laws, the California Coastal Act, the
state Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, laws regulating the use of
pesticides, and restrictions on streambed alteration and other
miscellaneous provisions of the Fish and Game Code. Additionally, this
treatise discusses the law of nuisance and the public trust doctrine,
two common laws that are relevant to timber operations on private lands.
This book provides a discussion of the application of these various
statutory and common laws as applied to private land forestry in
California, including an extensive overview of available enforcement
mechanisms under the FPA and other state and federal laws. Finally, the
book provides brief summaries of laws concerning urban forestry,
regulation of state-owned forests, and state and federal programs for
restoration of private forest lands.
Because the focus of this book is on laws and regulations pertaining to
commercial timber harvesting on private forest lands in California, it
does not cover the regulation and management of federal forest lands or
private logging on federal forest lands. Nor does it provide a detailed
discussion of California fire regulations for private forest lands.
The book is intended to be a comprehensive guide for the wide variety
of actors who are involved or interested in timber harvesting on
private lands in California. It is designed to assist timberland owners
and timber owners in understanding their rights and responsibilities
when pursuing logging proposals. It also is intended to guide forestry
professionals who assist timberland owners and timber owners in
preparing and implementing logging plans, including but not limited to
plan submitters, RPFs, LTOs, biologists, hydrologists, geologists, and
other resource professionals.
Similarly, the book is intended to assist each public agency
responsible for regulating timber operations on private lands, and
members of the public who are interested in participating in these
agency processes, to ensure that the laws are properly applied and
enforced. This book likewise provides a useful guide to lawyers,
planners, and other consulting professionals involved in timber
harvesting on private lands and environmental issues generally, on
behalf of landowners, agencies, and the interested public. Finally,
this book also can serve as a textbook for a variety of undergraduate,
graduate and legal educational institutions.
A note of caution is in order: this book is not intended to provide
legal advice, nor can it provide a complete, up-to-date discussion of
every applicable area of the law and every possible interpretation of
these complex laws and regulations. The law is constantly and rapidly
evolving through adoption of new statutes and regulations, court
decisions, agency interpretations, and the like. This book is intended
only as a general guide. It covers statutes, regulations, policies and
guidance documents, case law and studies in effect or proposed as of
March 30, 2005, including all relevant laws enacted in 2004 that became
effective on January 1, 2005. Readers are advised to consult their own
attorneys to obtain legal advice on a particular matter. The authors
hope that this book will be a useful and practical tool for all those
who wish to understand private land forestry regulation in California.
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