Board Mandate

IV. MANDATE OF THE BOARD OF FORESTRY

The actual powers and responsibilities of the Board are widespread and diverse. A brief outline of the legislative mandate is presented below.

A. Public Resources Code (PRC)

  1. Determine, establish, and maintain an adequate forest policy for the state. (PRC 740)
  2. Represent the state's interest in federal land matters pertaining to Forestry. (PRC 740)
  3. Protect the state's interests in forest resources on private lands. (PRC 740)
  4. Represent the state's interest in the acquisition and management of state forests. (PRC 740)
  5. Formulate guidance policies of the Department. (PRC 740)
  6. Determine biennially the need for forest management research and recommend needed projects to the Governor and Legislature. (PRC 4789.6[a])
  7. Provide for a statewide program of research in the technical aspects of forest management, which may be delegated to it by law. (PRC 742)
  8. Investigate and report, as appropriate, on any technical factors involved in forest management. (PRC 743)
  9. Guide the Director, as appropriate, in preparing and implementing a forestmanagement information storage and retrieval program relating to forest conditions to assist in the formulation of policy. (PRC 4806 (b))
  10. Implement a public information program on matters involving forest management and maintain an information file on forest management research. (PRC 745)

B. Professional Foresters

By regulation the Board may adopt rules for carrying out its duties to examine, and license professional foresters. These duties and functions include:

  1. Adopt rules to carry out the licensing program. (PRC 759)
  2. Consider at regular meeting, matters pertaining to professional foresters. (PRC 760)
  3. Keep records pertaining to professional forester registration. (PRC 761)
  4. Provide for the issuance of certificates of specialization. (PRC 762)
  5. Establish an examining committee. (PRC 763)
  6. Receive appeals from examining committee actions. (PRC 769)
  7. Give examinations and require adequate demonstration of experience and knowledge necessary for certification as a professional forester. (PRC 768, 769, 770)
  8. Conduct investigations, if needed, of professional foresters and, if necessary, Take disciplinary action. (PRC 775)

C. Prevention and Control of Forest Fires

Responsibilities of the Board in relation to the prevention and control of forest fires includes:

  1. Classify and adjust boundaries of state responsibility areas, as appropriate. (PRC 4125)
  2. Review and approve a fire plan prepared by the Department. (PRC 4114)
  3. Make regulations necessary to carry out the fire protection function. (PRC 4111)
  4. Formulate standards of what fire conditions constitute a hazard. (PRC 4173)
  5. Designate hazardous fire areas. (PRC 4251)
  6. Provide standards for cooperative agreements for structural fire protection in the non-fire season. (PRC 4142)

D. Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act

The intent of the forest Practice Act is to create a comprehensive and effective system of regulations of use of timberlands to ensure productivity, sustained yield, and due consideration of watershed, recreation, wildlife, range, aesthetic, and fishery values. In relation to this intent, the Board's duties include:

  1. Divide the state into not less than three forest districts. (PRC 4531)
  2. Develop and adopt forest practice rules for each forest district. (PRC 4551 and 4551.5) Provide standards to the Director. (PRC 4552)
  3. Continuously review and revise forest practice rules. (PRC 4553)
  4. Hold public hearings for the adoption or revision of forest practice rules. (PRC 4554)
  5. Regulate, if necessary, the size and shape of areas in which even-age management of timber is utilized. (PRC 4561)
  6. Adopt stricter resource conservation standards, if necessary. (PRC 4561)
  7. Conduct investigations of problems associated with soil erosion for the purpose of developing soil resource conservation standards. (PRC 4562.5) Promulgate soil erosion control regulations for each forest district. (PRC 4562.5)
  8. Adopt rules for control of timber operations which will result or threaten to result in unreasonable effects on the beneficial uses of the waters of the state. (PRC 4562.7)
  9. Issue licenses for the conduct of timber operations. (PRC 4571)
  10. Deny issuance of licenses for specified causes. (PRC 4572)
  11. Deny renewal of licenses for cause. (PRC 4574)
  12. Delegate, if appropriate, its authority vis-a-vis timber operation licenses, to the Director of the Department of Forestry. (PRC 4577)
  13. Review timber harvest plans that have been appealed as the result of denial by the Director for lack of conformance with the regulations of the Board or which have been referred under PRC 4555. (PRC 4582.7)
  14. Take disciplinary action against professional foresters who have been proven to have made material misstatements. (PRC 4583.5)
  15. Exempt from the Act, as appropriate, certain forest management activities of a merely maintenance nature. (PRC 4584)
  16. Determine a sampling procedure for measuring of stocking. (PRC 4587)
  17. Define emergencies for the purposes of emergency notice to harvest. (PRC 4592)
  18. Request the Attorney General, if necessary, to enforce compliance with the Forest Practice Act. (PRC 4603)
  19. Hold hearings, if requested, to determine the applicability of particular notices too take corrective action. (PRC 4605)
  20. Prescribe procedure for form, content, and fees of conversion applications. (PRC 4621)
  21. Require additional proof of intent to convert. (PRC 4623)
  22. Delegate authority in conversion matters to the Director. (PRC 4627)
  23. Deny for cause conversion applications and hold hearings on denial if requested. (PRC 4624)
  24. Revoke conversion permits, if applicable, for cause. (PRC 4626)

E. Cooperative Agreements, Nursery, Insect Control, Land Gifts

  1. Develop policy in relation to cooperative agreements. (PRC 4671)
  2. Approval of nursery prices. (PRC 4684)
  3. Recommend and, if necessary, set conditions for accepting gifts of land for the State Forest System. (PRC 4701)
  4. Determine policy for insect and plant disease control, declare and dissolve zones of infestation. (PRC 4715)
  5. Recommend, if necessary, acquisition of Sequoia Gigantea for the Department of Parks and Recreation. (PRC 4722)

F. State Forests

  1. Approve Department of Forestry forest management plans in state forests. (PRC 4645)
  2. Recommend and promulgate resolutions for acquisition of state forest properties if it is deemed appropriate. (PRC 4648)
  3. Approve state forestland sales due to unsuitability for forest purposes. (PRC 4653)
  4. Establish rules for the preservation, protection and use of state forests. (PRC 4651)

G. Protection and Development Corporations

  1. Establish regulations for, and approve the regulating of, conduct of corporations involved in the cutting of timber or other work on forest lands. (PRC 4736)
  2. Examine the operations of such corporations to determine if the forest management plan is being followed. (PRC 4737)

H. California Forest Improvement Program

  1. Approve regulations for the program when submitted by the Director. (PRC 4799.03)
  2. Approve guidelines specifying criteria for evaluation and approval by the Director of forest resource improvement projects. (PRC 4799.01[d])
  3. Approve procedures for the review by the Director of proposed forest improvement projects. (PRC 4799.01 [e])

I. Forest Resources and Assessment

  1. Provide policy guidance for conduct by the Director of the state's forest assessment. (PRC 4803)
  2. Prepare a forest policy statement for the Legislature in conjunction with the assessment. (PRC 40804)[a])
  3. Hold hearings on assessment and policy documents. (PRC 4805)

J. Evaluation of Environmental Impacts Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

  1. Adopt regulations for evaluation and preparation of environmental impact reports. (PRC 21082)
  2. Submit, if appropriate, procedures for making project evaluation the functional equivalent to CEQA. (PRC 21080.5)

Under Government Code, Title 5, Division 1, Part 1, Chapter 6.7, Article 4, Section 51113 specific Board duties are:

K. Timberland Preserve Zones - Immediate Rezoning

Approve immediate rezoning requests of Timber Production Zones under the Forest Taxation Act.