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

Summary

Before a sustained-yield unit is set up or a cooperative agreement is signed, the government must give advance notice by registered or certified mail to each affected landowner and by publishing in one or more local newspapers. The cost of publishing can come from funds for protecting or managing the federal forest land. The notice must say where the unit would be, who the proposed cooperators are, how long the agreement would last, how much timber and where it is on each partner’s land and federal land, the planned rate of cutting, and the time and place of a public hearing held at least 30 days after the first publication. For any noncompetitive timber sale worth more than $500 in stumpage, the government must publish notice once a week for four straight weeks in local newspapers (costs may be paid the same way). That notice must give the amount and appraised value of the timber, where to ask for a public hearing, and the hearing time and place if one is requested. Hearing requests must arrive no later than 15 days after the first publication. If a timely request is made, notice of the hearing must be given at least 10 days before it. The Secretary’s decision after the hearing, plus the hearing record, must be open for public inspection for the life of any plan or agreement made because of that decision.