Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73

§620e Definitions

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 4— - PROTECTION OF TIMBER, AND DEPREDATIONS › § 620e

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used in sections 620 to 620j. Acquire means getting possession of something, directly or indirectly, by sale, trade, exchange, or other deal; acquisition is the act of acquiring. Federal lands are lands owned by the United States but do not include lands held in trust for Indian tribes or individuals, lands held by tribes or individuals that cannot be sold, or lands held by a Native Corporation (as defined in section 1602 of title 43). Private lands are lands owned by a person and do not include Federal or public lands or the same tribal or Native Corporation lands excluded above. Public lands are lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States owned by a State or local government or public agency, but not lands held by the United States or the tribal/Native Corporation lands above. The northwestern private timber open market area means the State of Washington. Person means any individual or business entity, including subsidiaries, subcontractors, parent companies, and affiliates when one controls the other. A minor violation is a nonintentional breach involving one contract, purchase order, processing facility, or log yard with fewer than 25 logs and worth less than $10,000 at the time. Unprocessed timber means roundwood not made to end‑product standards and excludes various processed items (for example certain graded lumber, chips or pulp, veneer or plywood, treated poles, shakes or shingles, certain pulpwood exports, and some logs processed at domestic pulp mills). Substitution means buying unprocessed timber from Federal lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States while exporting, or selling for export, unprocessed timber from private lands in the same area. Violation means breaking sections 620–620j or rules under them; for the original purchaser it covers a single timber sale, and for a later buyer it covers actions at a specific processing facility or log yard.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §620e

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

For purposes of sections 620 to 620j of this title:
(1)The term “acquire” means to come into possession of, whether directly or indirectly, through a sale, trade, exchange, or other transaction, and the term “acquisition” means the act of acquiring.
(2)The term “Federal lands” means lands that are owned by the United States, but does not include any lands the title to which is—
(A)held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe or individual,
(B)held by any Indian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation, or
(C)held by any Native Corporation as defined in section 1602 of title 43.
(3)The term “minor violation” means a violation, other than an intentional violation, involving a single contract, purchase order, processing facility, or log yard involving a quantity of logs that is less than 25 logs and has a total value (at the time of the violation) of less than $10,000.
(4)The term “northwestern private timber open market area” means the State of Washington.
(5)The term “person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity and includes any subsidiary, subcontractor, or parent company, and business affiliates where 1 affiliate controls or has the power to control the other or when both are controlled directly or indirectly by a third person.
(6)The term “private lands” means lands held or owned by a person. Such term does not include Federal lands or public lands, or any lands the title to which is—
(A)held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe or individual,
(B)held by any Indian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation, or
(C)held by any Native Corporation as defined in section 1602 of title 43.
(7)The term “public lands” means lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States, that are held or owned by a State or political subdivision thereof, or any other public agency. Such term does not include any lands the title to which is—
(A)held by the United States;
(B)held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe or individual,
(C)held by any Indian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation, or
(D)held by any Native Corporation as defined in section 1602 of title 43.
(8)The term “Secretary concerned” means—
(A)the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to Federal lands administered by that Secretary; and
(B)the Secretary of the Interior with respect to Federal lands administered by that Secretary.
(9)(A)The term “unprocessed timber” means trees or portions of trees or other roundwood not processed to standards and specifications suitable for end product use.
(B)The term “unprocessed timber” does not include timber processed into any one of the following:
(i)Lumber or construction timbers, except Western Red Cedar, meeting current American Lumber Standards Grades or Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau Export R or N list grades, sawn on 4 sides, not intended for remanufacture.
(ii)Lumber, construction timbers, or cants for remanufacture, except Western Red Cedar, meeting current American Lumber Standards Grades or Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau Export R or N list clear grades, sawn on 4 sides, not to exceed 12 inches in thickness.
(iii)Lumber, construction timbers, or cants for remanufacture, except Western Red Cedar, that do not meet the grades referred to in clause (ii) and are sawn on 4 sides, with wane less than ¼ of any face, not exceeding 8¾ inches in thickness.
(iv)Chips, pulp, or pulp products.
(v)Veneer or plywood.
(vi)Poles, posts, or piling cut or treated with preservatives for use as such.
(vii)Shakes or shingles.
(viii)Aspen or other pulpwood bolts, not exceeding 100 inches in length, exported for processing into pulp.
(ix)Pulp logs, cull logs, and incidental volumes of grade 3 and 4 sawlogs processed at domestic pulp mills, domestic chip plants, or other domestic operations for the primary purpose of conversion of the logs into chips, or to the extent that a small quantity of such logs are processed, into other products at domestic processing facilities.
(10)The acquisition of unprocessed timber from Federal lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States to be used in “substitution” for exported unprocessed timber originating from private lands means acquiring unprocessed timber from such Federal lands and engaging in exporting, or selling for export, unprocessed timber originating from private lands within the same geographic and economic area.
(11)The term “violation” means a violation of sections 620 to 620j of this title (including a regulation issued to implement sections 620 to 620j of this title) with regard to a course of action, including—
(A)in the case of a violation by the original purchaser of unprocessed timber, an act or omission with respect to a single timber sale; and
(B)in the case of a violation of a subsequent purchaser of the timber, an act or omission with respect to an operation at a particular processing facility or log yard.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Sections 620 to 620j of this title, referred to in par. (11), was in the original “this Act” and was translated as reading “this title”, meaning title IV of Pub. L. 101–382, Aug. 20, 1990, 104 Stat. 714, known as the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990, which enacted sections 620 to 620j of this title and provisions set out as notes under section 620 of this title, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 620 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1997—Pars. (3) to (8). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(1), (2), added pars. (3) and (4) and redesignated former pars. (3) to (6) as (5) to (8), respectively. Former pars. (7) and (8) redesignated (9) and (10), respectively. Par. (9). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(1), redesignated par. (7) as (9). Par. (9)(B)(ix). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(3), substituted “Pulp logs, cull logs, and incidental volumes of grade 3 and 4 sawlogs” for “Pulp logs or cull logs” and inserted “primary” before “purpose” and “, or to the extent that a small quantity of such logs are processed, into other products at domestic processing facilities” before period at end. Par. (10). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(1), redesignated par. (8) as (10). Par. (11). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(4), added par. (11).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 620e

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73