Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73not60

§620e Definitions

Title 16 › Chapter 4— PROTECTION OF TIMBER, AND DEPREDATIONS › § 620e

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Gives plain meanings for words used in the rules in sections 620–620j. It explains what key terms mean so people know how the rules apply. "Acquire"/"acquisition" means getting possession of something, by sale, trade, exchange, or other deal. "Federal lands" are lands owned by the United States, but not lands held in trust for tribes or individuals, lands that tribes or individuals cannot sell, or lands held by Native Corporations as defined in federal law. A "minor violation" is a non‑intentional breach involving fewer than 25 logs and worth less than $10,000. The "northwestern private timber open market area" is the State of Washington. "Person" means any individual or business entity, including parents, subsidiaries, contractors, or affiliates that control one another. "Private lands" are lands owned by a person, excluding Federal, public, or the same tribal or Native Corporation exceptions. "Public lands" are state or local government lands west of the 100th meridian, with similar exclusions. "Secretary concerned" means the Secretary of Agriculture for lands they manage and the Secretary of the Interior for lands they manage. "Unprocessed timber" means roundwood not made to end‑product standards and excludes many processed items such as graded lumber (with some Western Red Cedar exceptions), lumber for remanufacture (including certain limits like 12 inches and 8.75 inches thickness rules and wane less than 1/4 of a face), chips and pulp, veneer or plywood, treated poles/posts/piling, shakes or shingles, certain pulpwood bolts up to 100 inches long, and certain pulp logs and cull logs processed at domestic mills. "Substitution" acquisition means buying unprocessed timber from Federal lands west of the 100th meridian and exporting, or selling for export, unprocessed timber that came from private lands in the same local market. A "violation" means breaking sections 620–620j (or their rules); for an original buyer it applies to a single timber sale, and for later buyers it applies to actions at a specific processing facility or log yard.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §620e

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

For purposes of sections 620 to 620j of this title:
(1)The term “acquire” means to come into possession of, whether directly or indirectly, through a sale, trade, exchange, or other transaction, and the term “acquisition” means the act of acquiring.
(2)The term “Federal lands” means lands that are owned by the United States, but does not include any lands the title to which is—
(A)held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe or individual,
(B)held by any Indian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation, or
(C)held by any Native Corporation as defined in section 1602 of title 43.
(3)The term “minor violation” means a violation, other than an intentional violation, involving a single contract, purchase order, processing facility, or log yard involving a quantity of logs that is less than 25 logs and has a total value (at the time of the violation) of less than $10,000.
(4)The term “northwestern private timber open market area” means the State of Washington.
(5)The term “person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity and includes any subsidiary, subcontractor, or parent company, and business affiliates where 1 affiliate controls or has the power to control the other or when both are controlled directly or indirectly by a third person.
(6)The term “private lands” means lands held or owned by a person. Such term does not include Federal lands or public lands, or any lands the title to which is—
(A)held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe or individual,
(B)held by any Indian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation, or
(C)held by any Native Corporation as defined in section 1602 of title 43.
(7)The term “public lands” means lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States, that are held or owned by a State or political subdivision thereof, or any other public agency. Such term does not include any lands the title to which is—
(A)held by the United States;
(B)held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe or individual,
(C)held by any Indian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation, or
(D)held by any Native Corporation as defined in section 1602 of title 43.
(8)The term “Secretary concerned” means—
(A)the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to Federal lands administered by that Secretary; and
(B)the Secretary of the Interior with respect to Federal lands administered by that Secretary.
(9)(A)The term “unprocessed timber” means trees or portions of trees or other roundwood not processed to standards and specifications suitable for end product use.
(B)The term “unprocessed timber” does not include timber processed into any one of the following:
(i)Lumber or construction timbers, except Western Red Cedar, meeting current American Lumber Standards Grades or Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau Export R or N list grades, sawn on 4 sides, not intended for remanufacture.
(ii)Lumber, construction timbers, or cants for remanufacture, except Western Red Cedar, meeting current American Lumber Standards Grades or Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau Export R or N list clear grades, sawn on 4 sides, not to exceed 12 inches in thickness.
(iii)Lumber, construction timbers, or cants for remanufacture, except Western Red Cedar, that do not meet the grades referred to in clause (ii) and are sawn on 4 sides, with wane less than ¼ of any face, not exceeding 8¾ inches in thickness.
(iv)Chips, pulp, or pulp products.
(v)Veneer or plywood.
(vi)Poles, posts, or piling cut or treated with preservatives for use as such.
(vii)Shakes or shingles.
(viii)Aspen or other pulpwood bolts, not exceeding 100 inches in length, exported for processing into pulp.
(ix)Pulp logs, cull logs, and incidental volumes of grade 3 and 4 sawlogs processed at domestic pulp mills, domestic chip plants, or other domestic operations for the primary purpose of conversion of the logs into chips, or to the extent that a small quantity of such logs are processed, into other products at domestic processing facilities.
(10)The acquisition of unprocessed timber from Federal lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States to be used in “substitution” for exported unprocessed timber originating from private lands means acquiring unprocessed timber from such Federal lands and engaging in exporting, or selling for export, unprocessed timber originating from private lands within the same geographic and economic area.
(11)The term “violation” means a violation of sections 620 to 620j of this title (including a regulation issued to implement sections 620 to 620j of this title) with regard to a course of action, including—
(A)in the case of a violation by the original purchaser of unprocessed timber, an act or omission with respect to a single timber sale; and
(B)in the case of a violation of a subsequent purchaser of the timber, an act or omission with respect to an operation at a particular processing facility or log yard.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Sections 620 to 620j of this title, referred to in par. (11), was in the original “this Act” and was translated as reading “this title”, meaning title IV of Pub. L. 101–382, Aug. 20, 1990, 104 Stat. 714, known as the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990, which enacted sections 620 to 620j of this title and provisions set out as notes under section 620 of this title, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 620 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1997—Pars. (3) to (8). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(1), (2), added pars. (3) and (4) and redesignated former pars. (3) to (6) as (5) to (8), respectively. Former pars. (7) and (8) redesignated (9) and (10), respectively. Par. (9). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(1), redesignated par. (7) as (9). Par. (9)(B)(ix). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(3), substituted “Pulp logs, cull logs, and incidental volumes of grade 3 and 4 sawlogs” for “Pulp logs or cull logs” and inserted “primary” before “purpose” and “, or to the extent that a small quantity of such logs are processed, into other products at domestic processing facilities” before period at end. Par. (10). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(1), redesignated par. (8) as (10). Par. (11). Pub. L. 105–83, § 604(4), added par. (11).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 620e

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60