Timber harvesting plans: exemptions: temporary roads.

The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practices 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, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until January 1, 2021, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, shall be removed, no new road construction or reconstruction shall occur, and the activities shall be conducted in specified counties. This bill would expand the exemption to allow the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads on slopes of 40% or less if certain conditions are met, including that a registered professional forester designates temporary road locations, landing locations, associated class III watercourse crossings, unstable areas, and connected headwall swales, including convergent slopes, on specified maps. The bill would require, on or before December 31, 2020, the department and the board to review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, the exemption, including an assessment of the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads.