Virginia Sustainable Forestry

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Virginia Administrative Code, Title 4, Conservation and Natural Resources,
Agency 5, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Chapter 60,
Reforestation of Timberlands Regulations

Part I Definitions
Part II Construction and Scope of Regulations
Part III Qualifying and Nonqualifying Species, Type of Land Cover, Land Area, and Practices
Part IV Seed Trees
Part V Equipment
Part VI Supervisory Personnel
Part VII Expenditure of Taxes
Part VIII Christmas, Ornamental and Landscape Trees
Part IX Assistance to Damaged Replant Areas
Part X Component Payments
Part XI Incentive Payments

Part I
Definitions

4VAC5-60-10. Definitions.

Unless a different meaning is required by the context, the following terms as used in these Reforestation of Timberlands Regulations shall have the meanings hereinafter respectively ascribed them:

1. "Reforestation Act" means Reforestation of Timberlands Act, Chapter 4 of Article 9.1 of Title 10 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended;

2. "Department" means the Department of Conservation and Economic Development;

3. "Committee" means the Reforestation Committee;

4. "State Forester" means the chief executive officer of the Division of forestry, Department of Conservation and Economic Development;

5. "Division" means the Division of Forestry of the Department of Conservation and Economic Development;

6. "Acre" means one or more acres or part of an acre or any combination of them;

7. "Project" means the reforestation activity, completed or an approved portion of it, on a specific number of acres, in a specific location under one ownership;

8. "Tract" means specific acreage upon which a reforestation project is conducted;

9. "Owner" means individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association or any other business unit, device or arrangement owning land to which the Reforestation Act is applicable;

10. "Reforestation assistance" means funds, material, personnel or other assistance made available to a landowner pursuant to §10-90-26 of the Reforestation Act and these Reforestation of Timberlands Regulations.

Statutory Authority- §§10-90.30 through 10-90.35 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes- Derived from VR312-01-04; eff. July 1, 1971; amended, eff. July 1, 1978; eff. July 1, 1979; eff. July 1, 1980; eff. July 1, 1981; eff. July 1, 1982.

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Part II
Construction and Scope of Regulations

4VAC5-60-20. Construction.

In the interpretation of the Reforestation of Timberlands Regulations, their provisions shall be construed as follows: (1) any terms in the singular shall include the plural and vice versa: (2) any term in the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter; (3) any requirement or prohibition of any act shall, respectively, extend to and include the causing or procuring, directly or indirectly, of such act.

4VAC5-60-30. Territorial scope.

Reforestation assistance shall be available with respect to all privately-owned forest lands within the boundaries of the State of Virginia except as hereinafter provided.

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Part III
Qualifying and Nonqualifying Species, Type of Land Cover, Land Area, and Practices

4VAC5-60-40. Qualifying species.

Reforestation assistance shall be available only for the preparation of land for reforestation with commercially valuable species of pine, and for reforesting land suitable for growing timber with commercially valuable species of pine.

4VAC5-60-50. Nonqualifying type of land cover.

In addition to those acres to which the Reforestation Act does not apply pursuant to the provisions of §§10-90-33, 10-90-34, and 10-90-35 of the Act, reforestation assistance shall not be available with respect to the following:

1. Any acre on which there are present 400 or more well distributed and free-to-grow loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), short leaf pine (Pinus ochinata), pond pine (Pinus serotina), white pine (Pinus strobus), Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana), of pitch pine (Pinus rigida), stems or tulip poplar (Lirlodemdrone tulipfera) stems, singly or together, four feet or more in height, measured from ground level to tip of stem.

2. Any acre on which loblolly pine (Pinus Taeda), short leaf pine (Pinus achimata), pond pine (Pinus serotina), or white pine (Pinus strobus), singly or together, occur and exceed in number 50 live, thrifty trees of the above species six inches or more in diameter of the point of average thickness measured from outside of bark to outside of bark at a point on the trunk ten inches above the general ground level.

4VAC5-60-60. Minimum and maximum land area.

The Committee and the State Forester are authorized, within the 500-acre maximum provided in §10-90-34 of the Reforestation Act, to determine, from year to year, the number of acres belonging to any one owner for which reforestation assistance shall be make available.

4VAC5-60-70. Qualifying practices.

The type of forest practices qualifying for reforestation assistance shall include any method approved by the Committee and State Forester designed to: (1) prepare land for reforestation, including release, by means of chemical, mechanical or hand methods, of seedlings from overtopping shade of trees, brush, or shrubs; (2) reforest land, either naturally or artificially, by sowing of seed and/or planting of seedlings.

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Part IV
Seed Trees

4VAC5-60-80. Seed trees.

After expiration of the number of years that the eight pine and/or two tulip poplar seed trees are required, pursuant to the Seed Tree Act, to be left standing following the date of cutting of the timber, and after release of the tract to the owner, reforestation assistance may be made available with respect to any acre on which seed trees were left standing and uncut as required by the Seed Tree Act, provided such reforestation assistance is not prohibited by the provisions of 4VAC5-60-50.

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Part V
Equipment

4VAC5-60-90. Types of equipment.

The Committee and the State Forester are authorized from time to time, to determine the type and quantity of necessary equipment required to carry out the provisions of the Reforestation Act.

4VAC5-60-100. Rate of payment for equipment, materials, supplies and personnel.

The Committee and the State Forester shall, from time to time, establish a schedule of standard rates to be charged for State owned and supplied equipment, materials, supplies and personnel used on a project, and such rates shall be used by the State Forester in determining the total cost of a completed project, which total cost shall be the basis of the incentive payment to the landowner provided for in §10-90-26 of the Reforestation Act.

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Part VI
Supervisory Personnel

4VAC5-60-110. Supervisory personnel.

The Committee and the State Forester shall determine, from time to time, the classifications of employees, based on the State Personnel Classification, which for purposes of the Reforestation Act constitute Administrative Supervisory Personnel.

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Part VII
Expenditure of Taxes

4VAC5-60-120. Expenditure of taxes collected within a county.

Whenever it is impractical to expend within any county within one tax year 50% of the forest products tax collected on pine timber in that county, in any one tax year, as provided in §58-838.7:1 of the Reforestation Act, the unexpended balance of the 50% of the total tax collected and encumbered for expenditure in any particular county shall be carried forward and expended in that county in a succeeding two years. At the beginning of the third year this unexpended tax will be available for use in the statewide program wherever needed. The 50% of the total collected in any county not required by law to be expended in that particular county may be expended by the administrator in any county for carrying out the provision of the Act.

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Part VIII
Christmas, Ornamental and Landscape Trees

4VAC5-60-130. Christmas trees.

Reforestation assistance is not authorized under the Reforestation Act for the planting of pine tree seedlings for Christmas trees as the primary crop, but Christmas trees may be severed from the stump from acres planted under the Reforestation Act and sold as thinnings when so recommended by the State Forester.

If the landowner violates the provisions of this chapter, the landowner shall pay to the State Forester a sum equal to the value of all assistance rendered to him by the State Forester as a part of the project, together with legal interest on it from the date such reforestation is rendered.

4VAC5-60-140. Ornamental and landscape trees.

Tree seedlings planted on any acre under the provisions of the Reforestation Act shall not be removed from the soil with roots, bare or bagged, or removed in any manner and sold for outdoor ornamental or landscaping purposes.

If the landowner violates the provisions of this chapter, the landowner shall pay to the State Forester a sum equal to the value of any assistance rendered to him by the State Forester as a part of the project together with legal interest on it from the date such reforestation assistance is rendered.

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Part IX
Assistance to Damaged Replant Areas

4VAC5-60-150. Assistance to replant areas damaged by fire, insects, disease, drought, wind or otherwise.

In the event that trees planted on any acre pursuant to the Reforestation Act are destroyed by fire, insects, disease, drought, wind or otherwise through no fault or negligence on the part of the owner of such acre, his agents or employees, to such an extent as to have no commercial savings value, the State Forester is authorized to extend reforestation assistance to the owner to the extent necessary to replant the trees destroyed.

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Part X
Component Payments

4VAC5-60-160. Component payments.

The Division may make incentive payments to landowners who have completed a component part of a reforestation project. The total partial payments made for one single project shall not exceed the limit of payments set forth in the Reforestation Act. The State Forester shall determine what practices (as defined in 4VAC5-60-70) of a total project warrant component payments and shall insure that component payments will be refunded the Commonwealth for those projects which are not completed in a prescribed manner according to the Reforestation of Timberlands Agreements.

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Part XI
Incentive Payments

4VAC5-60-170. Incentive payments.

A. The Department may from time to time and upon consultation with the Committee, adjust the levels and manner of incentive payments to be offered to landowners for reforestation projects in accordance with the Reforestation Act. Those changes will be for one fiscal year and may not change within a fiscal year. Any such adjustments shall be announced and publicized as far in advance of their affective dates as practical.

B. Effective July 1, 1982, the incentive payments to landowners for approved projects are hereby set at 60% of actual cost or $80.00 per acre, whichever is the lesser.

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Virginia Sustainable Forestry

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Virginia Administrative Code, Title 4, Conservation and Natural Resources,
Agency 5, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Chapter 60,
Reforestation of Timberlands Regulations

Virginia Sustainable Forestry

virginia resources

virginia main page

sustainable forestry

conservation easements

Virginia Administrative Code, Title 4, Conservation and Natural Resources, Agency 5, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Chapter 60, Reforestation of Timberlands Regulations

Virginia Administrative Code, Title 4, Conservation and Natural Resources,
Agency 5, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Chapter 60,
Reforestation of Timberlands Regulations