Title 10, Title 10: Conservation and Development

§ 2605. Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (a) The Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports is created within the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, to be composed of 20 members with appropriate interests and representing the various geographical…

§ 2606. Acceptance of gifts; exchange, purchase, or lease of lands (a) The Commissioner, with the approval of the Governor, may accept gifts of land or interests in land to the State, or may purchase land or interests in land in the name of the State to be held and administered a…

§ 2606a. Mountaintop use as communications sites (a) State policy. It is hereby adopted as State policy to permit limited use of designated State-owned land under the jurisdiction of the Department for electronic communications broadcasting by both public and private entities. Us…

§ 2606b. License of forestlands for maple sugar production (a) The General Assembly finds and declares that: (1) Maple sugaring is an important cultural tradition of Vermont life that should be maintained and encouraged. (2) Maple sugaring is an important component of the agricul…

§ 2607. Natural areas; designation (a) The Commissioner, with the approval of the Governor, may designate and set aside areas in the State forests and State parks as natural areas. (b) “Natural areas” means limited areas of land that have retained their wilderness character, alth…

§ 2608. Enforcement; penalties; liability Enforcement of the provisions of this chapter or rules adopted hereunder shall be in accordance with chapter 201 or 211 of this title. (Added 1977, No. 253 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2015, No. 171 (Adj. Sess.), § 4.)

§ 2609. Forest Parks Revolving Fund There is hereby established in the State Treasury a fund to be known as the State Forest Parks Revolving Fund, to be administered by the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation from which payments may be made for the planning, design, dev…

§ 2609a. Income from lease of mountaintop communication sites Annually on or before February 15, the Agency of Natural Resources shall submit a report to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy and the House Committees on Energy and Technology and on Natural Resource…

§ 2610. Relocation assistance; when required (a) When the Department undertakes any project that results in the acquisition of real property subject to the provisions of the Federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-6…

§ 2611. Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (a) The Secretary of Natural Resources in cooperation with the Commissioner of Labor is hereby directed to develop and implement a youth work, education, and community service program to improve, restore, maintain, and conserve public buil…

§ 2612. Designation; Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, Inc (a) The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, Inc. is designated the organization in the State to accept federal and State funds and private donations for the purpose of developing and maintaining the Vermont Youth Conservati…

§ 2613. Abenaki place names in State parks The Commissioner, before installing new signs or replacing existing signs in a State park, shall consult with the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs to determine if there is an Abenaki name for any site within the park. If the…

§ 2614. Mollie Beattie Distinguished Service Award In commemoration of the centennial of the Vermont State Parks in the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and in honor of the conservation and public land accessibility values of the late former Commissioner of Forests, Pa…

§ 2621. Duties of owners It shall be the duty of a landowner or operator of forestland, whether public or private, to manage, operate, and harvest forest crops that promote conditions favorable for regrowth consistent with the policies of this chapter. All forestland on which a l…

§ 2622. Rules; harvesting timber; forests; acceptable management practices for maintaining water quality (a) Silvicultural practices. The Commissioner shall adopt rules to establish methods by which the harvest and utilization of timber in private and public forestland will be co…

§ 2622a. Water Quality Assistance Program (a) Creation of program. There is established the Water Quality Assistance Program under which the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation shall provide technical and financial assistance to timber harvesters and others for complian…

§ 2622b. Accident prevention and safety training for logging contractors (a) Training Program. The Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation shall develop a logging operations accident prevention and safety training curriculum and supporting materials to assist logging safety…

§ 2622c. Financial assistance; logger safety; master logger certification; cost-share (a) The Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation annually shall award grants to the following entities in order to provide financial assistance to loggers for the purposes of improving logg…

§ 2623. Reports, management plans, and licensing In order to implement the purpose and policies of this subchapter, the Commissioner may: (1) Require the filing of an annual report by a mill operator covering timber products cut, lumber produced, and source of timber. Such report…

§ 2624. Marked timber sales (a) The Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation may provide marked timber to Vermont citizens for personal use at a reasonable price to be determined by the Secretary of Natural Resources. (b) The Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation may e…

§ 2625. Regulation of heavy cutting (a) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) “Acceptable growing stock” means a stem having a diameter of 4.5 inches or greater at breast height that has the potential of producing a sawlog product o…

§ 2641. Town forest fire wardens; appointment and removal (a) Upon approval by the selectboard and acceptance by the appointee, the Commissioner shall appoint a town forest fire warden for a term of five years or until a successor is appointed. A town forest fire warden may be re…

§ 2642. Salary and compensation of town forest fire wardens (a) The salary of a town forest fire warden shall be determined by the selectboard members for time spent in the performance of the duties of his or her office, which shall be paid by the town. In addition thereto, he or…

§ 2643. Town’s liability for suppression of forest fires; State aid (a) A municipality in which a forest fire occurs shall pay the cost to suppress a forest fire that occurs on land that is not owned by the Agency of Natural Resources, including the costs of personnel and equipme…

§ 2644. Duties and powers of fire warden (a) When a forest fire or fire threatening a forest is discovered in his or her town, the town forest fire warden shall enter upon any premises and take measures for its prompt control, suppression, and extinguishment. The town forest fire…

§ 2645. Open burning; permits (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person shall not kindle or authorize another person to kindle a fire in the open air for the purpose of burning natural wood, brush, weeds, or grass without first obtaining permission from the town …

§ 2646. Proclamation by Governor prohibiting kindling of fires: Closing of woodlands (a) Whenever it appears to the Governor that there is excessive danger of forest fires, he or she may prohibit by proclamation the kindling of a fire in or adjoining forestland or close any or al…

§ 2647. Fires in woods of another; permission No one shall build a fire in the woodlands of another without the permission of the owner, lessee, holder of right-of-way, or his or her authorized agent between April 1 and November 1. A person who builds a fire in or adjoining any w…

§ 2648. Slash removal (a) A person may cut or cause to be cut forest growth only if all slash adjoining the right-of-way of any public highway, or the boundary lines of woodlots owned by adjoining property owners, is treated as follows: (1) All slash shall be removed for a distan…

§ 2651. Municipal forest; definition As used in this subchapter, “municipal forest” means a tract of land primarily devoted to producing wood products, maintaining wildlife habitat, protecting water supplies, providing forest recreation and conservation education. A municipal for…

§ 2652. Municipal forests, State aid At any legal meeting, a municipality may vote sums of money for the purchase, management, and improvement of a municipal forest within or without the municipality. Any appropriation so voted shall qualify the municipality for such matching Sta…

§ 2653. Designation of municipal forest A town owning a tract of land may have the same examined without cost by the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation for the purpose of determining whether the same is suitable for a municipal forest. If, upon such examination, he or …

§ 2654. Management Municipal forests shall be managed under the direction of the Commissioner. The protection of such forests shall be under the town forest fire warden who shall be paid for his or her services in connection therewith by the town at the same rate as he or she is …

§ 2655. Receipts All monies received for the sale of lumber, wood, or other products from a municipal forest shall be paid into the treasury of the municipality. In the event any of the lands held by a municipality for municipal forest purposes are sold, advances made by the Stat…

§ 2661. Surveys and investigations The Commissioner shall make surveys and investigations to determine the threat or presence of infestations and control of forest pests. For this purpose, duly designated representatives of the Commissioner may enter at reasonable times on public…

§ 2662. Control measures (a) Whenever the Commissioner finds that an area in the State is infested or threatened to be infested with forest pests, he or she shall determine whether measures of control are needed and are available and the area over which the control measures shall…

§ 2663. Infestation control; agreements with owners The Commissioner under the provisions of 3 V.S.A. § 2853 may apply measures of infestation control on public and private forest and other lands anywhere in the State to any trees, timber, plants, or shrubs thereon harboring or w…

§ 2664. Cost prorated; agreements If in any area the owners of a majority of the acreage to be protected from pests execute agreements with the State, the Commissioner shall be authorized to carry out control work on other adjacent or interior holdings, that, if uncontrolled, wou…

§ 2671. Jurisdiction The Criminal Division of the Superior Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over uniform fire prevention tickets issued under this subchapter. (Added 1987, No. 107, § 3; amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238.)

§ 2672. Complaint or information and summons (a) In any case involving a violation of subsection 2645(a) or 2648(a) of this title, the complaint or information and summons shall be in the form known as the Uniform Fire Prevention Ticket. The Court Administrator shall prepare the …

§ 2673. Procedure on failure to appear; notice; rules If a defendant fails to appear or answer a fire prevention ticket or summons served upon the defendant and upon which a complaint has been filed, the court shall mail a notice to the defendant at the address stated in the comp…

§ 2674. Answer to Uniform Fire Prevention Ticket (a) A person who is charged with committing a fire prevention offense may waive appearance and trial and plead guilty or nolo contendere or not guilty by a signed statement. The person shall submit a fine in an amount as establishe…

§ 2675. Penalties A person who commits a violation under subsection 2645(a) or 2648(a) of this title shall be subject to a fine of not more than $75.00 per violation. In the case of a violation which continues after the issuance of a fire prevention complaint, each day’s continua…

§ 2676. Supreme Court rules The Supreme Court is empowered to prescribe and amend rules governing this subchapter in accordance with 12 V.S.A. § 1. (Added 1987, No. 107, § 3.)

§ 2681. Importation of firewood; protection from invasive pests (a) Definitions. As used in this section: (1) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation. (2) “Department” means the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. (3) “Firewood” means untre…