§583a Cooperative Agreements with Private Owners; Privileges of Private Owners; Recordation of Agreements

Summary

The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior may make written agreements with private forest owners inside a designated sustained-yield unit to manage private and federal forest land together. The agreement can let the private owner buy timber and other forest products from federal land without competitive bidding, but only at prices at least equal to appraised value and with periodic stumpage rate adjustments and other conditions the Secretary sets. The agreement will also limit when, how much, and how the owner may cut timber on their land, based on the timber’s condition, the unit’s sustained-yield plan, and the land’s capacity. It will set the rules (but not the sale price) for how the owner may sell timber to others, and buyers must follow those rules. The Secretary may add terms to protect other landowners and to carry out the unit’s purposes. The agreement must be recorded in the county where the private land is located, and the recording cost may be paid from funds for managing or protecting the federal forest land in the unit. Once recorded, the agreement binds the owner’s heirs, successors, assigns, and buyers for the life of the agreement.