NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 451 of 1994
Subpart 5
FOREST PRACTICES
324.50140 Conduct of forest practices; minimum standards.
Sec. 50140.
For the public benefit, the board shall mandate the continuous growing, improvement, and harvesting of forest tree species so as to protect and maintain the forest soil, air, water resources, wildlife, and aquatic habitat within a district. The board of a district shall establish minimum standards for the conduct of forest practices on forest land within a district. These standards shall do all of the following:
(a) Provide for the improvement and harvesting of forest tree species in a manner that will increase the productivity of the forest land, reduce soil and debris entering streams, and protect wildlife and fish habitat.
(b) Provide for road construction that will ensure the maintenance of forest productivity, water quality, and fish and wildlife habitat during construction and maintenance.
(c) Provide for reforestation that will maintain the growing and harvesting of desirable forest tree species by describing the conditions under which reforestation will be required, specifying the minimum and maximum number of trees per acre and the maximum period of time allowed after harvesting for reforestation, and requiring stabilization of soils which have become exposed as a result of harvesting. An acreage exemption from reforestation may be established, except that on the land exempted, within 1 year after harvesting, some form of vegetative cover shall be required sufficient to provide continuing soil productivity and stabilization.
(d) Provide for management of slashings resulting from the harvesting, management, or improvement of forest tree species so as to protect reproduction and residual stands, to reduce the risk from fire, insects, and disease, to optimize the conditions for future regeneration of forest tree species, and to maintain air and water quality and fish and wildlife habitat.
(e) Coordinate the notification requirement of this subpart, the application requirement of section 50148, and all other submission requirements imposed upon members so as to minimize the requirements for submission of information.
(f) Provide for public uses of member forest land within the district, consistent with the purposes of this part.
History: Add. 1995, Act 57, Imd. Eff. May 24, 1995
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: NREPA
324.50141 Notification of compliance with forest practice rules; forest management plan; forms; contents of notification; notice of change in information; validity of notification.
Sec. 50141.
(1) A member shall notify the district of compliance with the forest practice rules by submitting a forest management plan on forms prescribed and provided by the board. The notification shall include the name and address of the member, the legal description of the area in which the forest management plan is to be implemented, the specific forest practices to be conducted during the plan, and other information the board considers necessary.
(2) The member shall notify the board of each subsequent change in the information provided in the notification within 30 days after the change.
(3) The notification shall be valid for not more than 5 years after the date of original notification.
History: Add. 1995, Act 57, Imd. Eff. May 24, 1995
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: NREPA
324.50142 Violation of district forest practice rule; notice; order; hearing.
Sec. 50142.
(1) If the board determines that a district forest practice rule was violated, it shall notify the member of the violation within 10 days after its determination. The notice shall specify the nature of the violation charged and identify the damage or unsatisfactory condition that has occurred as a result of the violation.
(2) When a notice of violation is served, the board:
(a) Shall issue and serve an order directing that further violations cease.
(b) May issue and serve an order directing the member to make reasonable efforts to repair the damage or correct the unsatisfactory condition.
(3) If the member requests a hearing within 10 days after the issuance of an order affecting the member's forest land, the board shall hold a hearing on its order within 30 days after the receipt of the request.
History: Add. 1995, Act 57, Imd. Eff. May 24, 1995
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: NREPA
324.50143 Noncompliance with order directing repair of damage or correction of unsatisfactory condition; estimate of cost; notice of estimate; review; determination of expenditure; appearance of member; itemized certified statement of expenditures; expenditures as lien; certification and filing of notice of lien; legal action; error or mistake in notice of lien; termination of lien.
Sec. 50143.
(1) If an order directs the repair of damage or correction of an unsatisfactory condition and if the member fails to comply, the board shall estimate the cost to repair the damage or the unsatisfactory condition and shall notify the member in writing of the amount of the estimate. Upon written agreement with the member to pay the cost, the district may have the damage repaired or the unsatisfactory condition corrected.
(2) If the member does not agree to pay the cost within 30 days after being notified, the board shall review the matter and determine whether the district shall repair the damage or correct the unsatisfactory condition, and shall approve the amount to be expended. The expenditure approved may include reasonable administrative costs directly associated with repairing the damage or correcting the unsatisfactory condition. The member shall be afforded the opportunity to appear before the board to present the facts pertaining to the alleged violation and the proposed expenditure.
(3) The board shall keep a complete account of expenditures incurred in repairing damage or correcting an unsatisfactory condition. Not more than 90 days after the completion of the work, the board shall prepare an itemized statement and deliver a copy to the member. An itemized certified statement of the expenditures incurred by the district shall be accepted as prima facie evidence of the expenditures in a proceeding authorized by this subpart.
(4) Upon the initiation of the forest practice work, the expenditures of a district shall become a lien upon a member's forest land located within the district. A written notice of the lien, containing a statement of the demand, an itemization of expenditures incurred, the date incurred and where incurred, and the names of the parties against whom the lien is attached, shall be certified under oath by the district and filed in the office of the register of deeds in each county where the real and personal property of the member is located, if considered necessary to recover the expenditures incurred by the district. This written notice shall be filed within 6 months but not sooner than 30 days after the date of delivery of the itemized statement referred to in subsection (3). The prosecuting attorney of a county in which a lien is filed shall bring legal action on behalf of a district to recover the debt. An error or mistake in the notice of lien of the description of real or personal property does not affect the validity of the lien, if the real or personal property can be identified by the description.
(5) A lien provided for in this section shall terminate 5 years after the date of filing of the notice of the lien unless legal action is instituted before that time.
History: Add. 1995, Act 57, Imd. Eff. May 24, 1995
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: NREPA
324.50144 Conversion of forest land to other use; procedures and criteria.
Sec. 50144.
This subpart does not prevent forest land from being converted to any other use. A board shall establish the procedures and criteria for excluding land being converted or to be converted from the requirements of this subpart. The procedures and criteria shall conform with zoning ordinances and land use plans of any other political subdivision within which forest land of a district is located.
History: Add. 1995, Act 57, Imd. Eff. May 24, 1995
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: NREPA
Rendered 8/15/2025 9:30 AM
Michigan Compiled Laws Complete Through PA 5 of 2025
Courtesy of legislature.mi.gov