§583d Notice; Registered Mail and Publication; Costs; Contents; Request for Hearing; Time; Determination and Record Available for Inspection

Summary

Before creating a sustained-yield unit or signing a cooperative agreement that would include private land, owners of the land to be included must get advance notice by registered or certified mail. The notice must also be published in local newspapers. The agency can pay the publication cost from funds for protecting or managing the federal forest involved. The notice must say six things: where the proposed unit is, who the proposed cooperators are, how long the agreement would last, where and how much timber is on each cooperator’s land and on the federal land, the expected rate of cutting, and the time and place of a public hearing that will happen at least 30 days after the first notice. Before any noncompetitive timber sale over $500 in stumpage value is made, there must be a notice published once a week for four straight weeks in local newspapers. The agency can pay those publication costs from available forest-management funds. That notice must state the amount and appraised value of the timber, where to ask for a public hearing, and the time and place of a hearing if one is requested. Hearing requests must be sent to the place named in the notice no later than 15 days after the first publication. If a timely request is received, a hearing will be announced at least 10 days before it happens, in the same way as the first notice. The Secretary in charge will decide what to do after any hearing, may change the proposals, and must keep the decision and the hearing record open for the public for as long as any resulting plan or agreement lasts.