LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
It seems like every time we decide to write an article about state legislature activities that affect woodland owners, Vermont has the most bills under consideration. This time is no different. Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are pretty quiet at this time concerning potential legislation. New York is considering some changes to that states "current use" program, and Vermont has a plethora of items that could significantly affect woodland owners.
Like many other states, Vermont is facing a $120 million dollar deficit. Additionally, the federal government is pressur-ing Vermont to fund the Clean Water Fund to clean up Lake Champlain, and the legislature is looking to raise $6 -$12 million for that purpose.
The Senate Agriculture Committee appears poised to propose a per acre tax of $.50 on forest land and $1 on all other lands. This is on top of what is paid in property taxes. The House of Representatives has come forward with a different pro-posal which is a .2% increase in the Property Transfer Tax. A Senate bill that has not been acted on suggests a per property parcel tax with a cap of $100 per parcel for 500 acres or more and $500 per landowner per year.
The Vermont Governor proposed a moratorium on new entries into the Current Use Program; however, this was re-jected by the House. His proposal for a 20% increase in taxes for UVA participants who post their land has not gained traction either. There has also been talk of increasing the minimum lot size that is eligible for UVA from 25 acres to 50 acres.
House Bill 35 contained a provision making Accepted Management Practices mandatory. Most landowner and forestry groups have opposed this provision as has the Vermont Department of Forest, Parks, and Recreation. The comparable Senate bill does not contain this provision.
House Bill 355 is proposing that foresters be licensed. The Vermont Forest Products Association has come out in oppo-sition of this bill citing that there is little evidence of the benefits of licensure and there are a number of flaws in the wording of the currently proposed bill. The Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation initially remained neutral on this issue, but re-cently the Commissioner has expressed support for licensing.
House Bill 26 proposes to end the current exemption for incidental taking of endangered species during the practice of timber harvesting. This bill should be of significant concern for all timberland owners as it will require the implementation of a permitting system that will increase the cost and legal exposure of conducting management activities.
The State of New York is currently considering some changes in that State’s "current use" program which is commonly referred to as 480a. Granted, there has been talk of making changes to this program for 15 years, but this year it seems to have some traction.
Basically the change would create two new options for sustainable forest management within the program called "Forest Certification" and "Time of Harvest". Parcels less than 1,000 acres would be eligible for enrollment in these two new options while parcels 1,000 acres and greater would continue in the current 480a program.
Both new options reduced the minimum acreage for enrollment to 25 acres from the current minimum of 50 acres. The "Forest Certification" option would require that the property be enrolled in a forest certification program; therefore, no forest management plan would be required to be submitted to NYDEC. The assessment reduction would be 70% and no harvesting would be required.
The "Time of Harvest" option would require that a harvest be conducted on the property and that the harvest fol-lowed a NYDEC Time of Harvest plan. The assessment reduction would be 40%. The obvious concern related to this option is that it does not appear to allow enrollment until a harvest occurs; therefore, a parcel that does not have an actual harvest take place will not be allowed to enroll.
Some of the proposed changes to the 480a program are welcome and have been needed for a number of years; howev-er, not allowing the enrollment of properties that are being sustainably managed simply because they do not have the need for an immediate harvest seems to be a bit short-sighted.
NEFCo strongly encourages landowners to become involved with their state forestland owner organizations. These organizations are often asked for input concerning proposed legislation and it is vital that you have a seat at the table. All of these organizations have informative web pages with
Vermont Traditions Coalition having what is probably the most com-prehensive information concerning current landowner issues. Below is a list of groups as well as contact numbers. Please consider joining and supporting at least one of these groups:
- Massachusetts Forest Alliance: 617-455-9918
- New Hampshire Timberland Owners Assoc.: 603-224=9699
- Small Woodlands Assoc. of Maine: 207-626-0005
- New York Forest Owners Assoc.: 800-836-3566
- VT. Traditions Coalition.: 802-238-0364
- VT. Forest Products Assoc.: 802-461-5688