Forestry: timberlands: restoration and conservation forest management activities.

The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities. Existing law authorizes a registered professional forester in an emergency to file, on behalf of a timber owner or operator, a specified emergency notice with the department that allows for the immediate commencement of timber operations. This bill would also, until January 1, 2024, authorize the board to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person cutting or removing trees in specified areas to restore and conserve California black or Oregon white oak woodlands and associated grasslands, as specified. The bill would require the department and board to review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of the above exemptions and emergency notice provision and specified regulations. Existing law requires a person who owns timberlands that are to be devoted to uses other than the growing of timber to file an application for conversion with the board and requires the board to establish a system of graduated timberland conversion permit fees. This bill would define "growing of timber," for these purposes, to include restoration and conservation forest management activities, which may include the removal of commercial species, if necessary to achieve specific forest health and ecological goals, that are not conducted in conjunction with the cutting or removal of trees or other forest products during the conversion of timberlands to other uses. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 2029 that would become operative if this bill and AB 2029 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.