Title 49, Conservation and Ecology

The legislature of the State of Mississippi recognizes that the growing demands on forests and related land resources cannot be met by intensive management of public lands and industrial forests alone, and declares that the development of forest resources on poorly stocked, idle …

(a) For purposes of Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context requires otherwise:(a) “Commission” shall mean the state forestry commission.(b) “State forester” shall mean the forester appointed by the commi…

The commission shall serve as administrator of the provisions of Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227, and shall serve as the disbursing agency for funds to be expended from and deposited to the credit of the forest development fund.

The state forester is authorized to employ such professional and clerical assistance as is needed to implement the provisions of Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227, and to compensate such individuals from funds appropriated for such purpose. The state forester is authorized to …

All moneys received from the United States government for protection of forest lands, for reforestation of denuded areas, for extension of national forests, and to promote the continuous production of timber shall be credited to said state forestry fund, and expended by the commi…

The commission shall adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary for the implementation of Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227. The commission is authorized to conduct public hearings or otherwise seek the advice, counsel and recommendations of interested ow…

The commission is authorized to use the money in the forest development fund to assist in implementing approved practices, on a cost-sharing basis as provided in Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227, on eligible lands in the State of Mississippi. However, no cost-share assistance…

(1) The commission shall actively and diligently encourage all eligible owners to use their own resources or to employ the resources of private vendors to implement approved practices. (2) The commission shall not enter into active competition with eligible owners or private vend…

If an eligible owner cannot provide his own resources or procure a private vendor to implement any approved practice, the commission, in its discretion, may act as vendor by utilizing employees, equipment, materials and supplies of the commission. In such event, the commission sh…

(a) The commission shall have the following powers and duties to implement the provisions of Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227:(a) To determine which approved practices shall be eligible for cost-share assistance;(b) To establish maximum sums, subject to the provisions of Sect…

(1) An eligible owner shall receive cost-share assistance as the commission, in its discretion, shall determine and approve, but the commission shall approve no assistance in an amount which exceeds either (a) a sum equal to seventy-five percent (75%) of the owner’s actual cost i…

(1) Any eligible owner who wishes to receive cost-share assistance shall file an application with the commission stating the practice to be implemented, the approximate cost of such practice and a description of the land or lands upon which the practice is to be implemented. The …

Any agency, department, board, commission or other subdivision of government of the State of Mississippi or any political subdivision thereof is authorized to implement an approved practice on any lands suitable for forestry purposes owned by such political entity or owned by the…

There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special fund to be designated the Forest Resource Development Fund, fiscal management and responsibility for which is hereby vested in the State Forestry Commission and which shall consist of that portion of the privilege tax on tim…

All moneys paid to the State of Mississippi by the United States, on account of national forest lands in Mississippi, established under the provisions of the Weeks Law, so-called, being an Act of Congress, approved March 1, 1911, and amendments thereto, shall be apportioned by th…

(a) Any fire on any forested, cutover, brush lands or grass lands burning uncontrolled is hereby declared a public nuisance by reason of its menace to life and property. Any person, firm or corporation negligently or wilfully and maliciously responsible for the starting or the ex…

(1) There is created in the State Treasury a fund designated as the Tree Seedling Revolving Fund. The State Forestry Commission shall use the fund to contract for the production or purchase of tree seedlings, for resale to Mississippi landowners for reforestation. (2) The Tree Se…

(1) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Forest Improvement Revolving Fund. Money in the revolving fund shall be used by the State Forestry Commission, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist in the reforestation and growth improvement…

(a) The duties and powers of the commission shall be:(a) To appoint a State Forester, who shall serve at the will and pleasure of the commission and who is qualified to perform the duties as set forth herein; and to pay him such salary as is provided by the Legislature, and allow…

Sections 49-19-301 through 49-19-307 may be cited as the “Mississippi Prescribed Burning Act.”

(1) The application of prescribed burning is a landowner property right and a land management tool that benefits the safety of the public, the environment and the economy of Mississippi. Pursuant thereto, the Legislature finds that:(a) Prescribed burning reduces naturally occurri…

(a) As used in Sections 49-19-301 through 49-19-307 unless the context requires otherwise:(a) “Prescribed burning” means the controlled application of fire to naturally occurring vegetative fuels for ecological, silvicultural and wildlife management purposes under specified envir…

(1) No property owner or his agent, conducting a prescribed burn pursuant to the requirements of this section, shall be liable for damage or injury caused by fire or resulting smoke unless negligence is proven. (2) Prescribed burning conducted under the provisions of this section…

(1) There is hereby created a Joint Study Committee on Forestry in Mississippi. The committee shall study and make recommendations, including recommended legislation regarding the Forestry Commission, coordination of forestry policy, the coordination of overlapping conservation p…

The Southern Regional Fire Training Center Building located in Pearl, Mississippi, shall be renamed the Richard (Dick) Allen Building. The Department of Finance and Administration shall prepare or have prepared a distinctive plaque, to be placed in a prominent place within the Ri…

(a) As used in this section:(a) “Biomass” means bioenergy feedstocks from forest products manufacturing, including, without limitation:(i) Forest products manufacturing residuals, including, without limitation:1. Pulping liquors;2. Pulping byproducts;3. Woody manufacturing residu…

(1) In this section, “drought or wildfire conditions” means the existence of a deficit of moisture creating severe conditions with increased wildfire occurrences as determined by the State Forestry Commission through use of drought indices or models or the existence of extreme wi…

(1) Bioenergy produced from biomass is considered renewable and carbon neutral. When the bioenergy produced from biomass is paired with bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, the bioenergy is carbon negative. (2) Bioenergy produced from agricultural harvesting is considered r…

The Executive Directors of the Mississippi Forestry Commission, the Mississippi Development Authority, the MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center, and the Cooperative Extension Service shall establish a procedure and guidelines for the coordination of outreach and education prog…

The State Forestry Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to acquire and dispose of property of all kinds in accordance with the provisions of Section 29-1-1, in order to discharge the duties as set forth in Section 49-19-3, and subsequent germane general laws of the State…

(1) The Mississippi Forestry Commission shall keep itself informed as to the known varieties of pine beetles and other timber insect pests and diseases, the origin, locality, nature and appearance thereof, the manner in which they are disseminated, and approved methods of treatme…

(1) The State Forestry Commission is hereby authorized to extend fire protection services to the Choctaw Indian lands located in Attala, Kemper, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Jones and Scott Counties, Mississippi. (2) The State Forestry Commission is authorized to accept from the Choct…

ARTICLE 1. Findings, Purposes and Reservations of Power. The Interstate Environmental Compact is hereby enacted into law and entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining herein in the form substantially as follows:ARTICLE 1. Findings, Purposes and Reservations of Pow…

This chapter shall not be construed to authorize the impairment of any constitutional right guaranteed to any person under the constitution of this state nor shall it be construed to authorize the legislature or any other authority to assume any power not possessed by it under th…

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays and devices in areas adjacent to state controlled routes should be controlled in order to protect the public investment in such highways, to promote the safety and r…

(1) No sign, other than signs described in paragraphs (1) (b), (c) and (f) of Section 49-23-5, may be erected without first obtaining a permit from the department, which application for a permit shall be on a form provided by the department and shall contain such information as t…

All persons, partnerships, corporations or other business entities engaging in the outdoor advertising business, except persons erecting signs for personal activities or business, which includes but is not limited to the erection, maintenance and selling of advertising space on a…

Any sign, display or device lawfully erected which does not conform to Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29 shall be required to be removed before the end of the fifth year after it becomes nonconforming.

(1) The Mississippi Transportation Commission is authorized to acquire by purchase, gift or condemnation, all advertising devices and any property rights pertaining thereto, when such advertising devices are required to be removed under the provisions of Section 49-23-15. Just co…

Any advertising device or outdoor advertising erected which is contrary to the provisions of Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29 or regulations lawfully adopted hereunder is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. The state highway commission shall give thirty (30) days’ notice by…

In addition to the remedies provided in Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, and which may otherwise exist under the laws of this state, the State Highway Commission is authorized to petition the chancery court of any county where any unlawful or unauthori…

Nothing in Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29, shall be construed to abrogate or affect the provisions of any lawful ordinance, regulation or resolution, which are more restrictive than the provisions of such sections.

In order to provide information in the specific interest of the traveling public, the State Highway Commission is hereby authorized to maintain maps and to permit informational directories and advertising pamphlets to be made available at safety rest areas, and to establish infor…

The State Highway Commission is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with the United States Secretary of Commerce as provided by Title 23, United States Code, relating to the control of outdoor advertising in areas adjacent to the interstate and primary highway systems, inc…

Federal funds appropriated to carry out the provisions of Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29 are to be apportioned to the commissioners’ districts in the same manner as said federal funds are apportioned to the state, and matching state funds are to be apportioned to the commissio…

(a) As used in Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29:(a) “An unzoned commercial or industrial area” is an area determined by actual land uses which is commercial, industrial, marketing or mercantile, along a state controlled route and extending outward along one (1) side of such high…