A. There is hereby levied an annual assessment of eight cents per acre on each acre of timberland in the state to be paid by the owners thereof, which shall be known as the forest protection assessment. “Timberland”, as used in this Part, means bona fide timberland being assessed at its use value as defined and determined pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:2301 et seq.

            B. The assessment shall be entered on the tax rolls by the assessor and shall be paid by the owner of such timberland to the sheriff and ex officio tax collector of the parish in which the timberland is located in the same manner as parish ad valorem taxes and, when collected, shall be remitted to the state treasurer to be used solely as provided in this Part.

            C.(1) After compliance with the requirements of La. Const. Art. VII, § 9(B) , relative to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, and prior to monies being placed in the state general fund, an amount equal to that deposited as required in Subsection B of this Section shall be credited to a special fund hereby created in the state treasury to be known as the “Forest Protection Fund” hereafter in this Section, the “fund”.

            (2) The monies in the fund, exclusive of monies in the Wildfire Suppression Subfund, shall be expended by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry for the acquisition and maintenance of equipment for the protection of forest lands from damage by fire or other causes and only in the amounts appropriated annually by the legislature. All unexpended and unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of the fiscal year, exclusive of monies in the Wildfire Suppression Subfund, shall revert to the Louisiana Agricultural Finance Authority.

            D.(1) There is hereby established in the state treasury a special subfund in the Forest Protection Fund to be known as the “Wildfire Suppression Subfund”, hereafter in this Subsection, the “subfund”.

            (2) Funds equal to twenty-five percent of that portion of the severance tax on timber allocated to the state by La. Const. Art. VII, § 4(D) shall be deposited immediately upon receipt into the state treasury.

            (3) Beginning with the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year and for each fiscal year thereafter, and after compliance with the requirements of La. Const. Art. VII, § 9(B) relative to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, and prior to monies being placed in the state general fund, an amount equal to that deposited as required by this Subsection shall be credited to the subfund. The subfund shall be used solely as provided in Paragraph (4) of this Subsection and only in the amounts appropriated by the legislature. Monies in the subfund shall be invested by the state treasurer in the same manner as monies in the state general fund and interest earned on the investment of these monies shall be credited to the subfund. All unexpended and unencumbered monies in the subfund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the subfund.

            (4) The monies in the subfund shall be used solely by the department for forest fire suppression with an intent that money is primarily used for the purpose of appointment and retention of forest firefighters within the office of forestry.

            E. No amount appropriated pursuant to this Section shall displace, replace, or supplant appropriations from the state general fund for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. This Subsection shall mean that no appropriation for any fiscal year from the Forest Protection Fund and Wildfire Suppression Subfund shall be made for any purpose for which a general fund appropriation was made in the previous year unless the total appropriations for the fiscal year from the state general fund for such purpose exceed general fund appropriations for the previous year.

            Acts 1990, No. 5, §1, eff. May 30, 1990; Acts 2015, No. 315, §1; Acts 2020, 2^nd Ex. Sess., No. 25, §1, eff. Oct. 28, 2020.