Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 1055 – Reforestation method; notice required upon transfer
(a) The land involved in a cutting operation may be reforested pursuant to an approved reforestation plan in lieu of the natural regeneration method. The plan shall be prepared by the landowner or the landowner’s agent and shall be designed to assure the reproduction and maintenance of growth of young, vigorous pine or yellow-poplar trees.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 1055
- Cutting operation: shall mean the cutting of timber for commercial purposes from 10 acres or more of land on which loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), pond pine (Pinus serotina) or yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) singly or together occur and constitute 25 percent or more of the live trees on each acre. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 1052
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Landowner: shall mean any person holding title to the land or possessing the right to contract for the cutting operation thereon. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 1052
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Operator: shall mean any person, including a landowner, who conducts any cutting operation. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 1052
- Pine: shall mean any loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) or pond pine (Pinus serotina). See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 1052
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- timber: shall mean any tree of a currently commercially valuable species that is 6 inches or more in diameter. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 1052
(b) The reforestation plan shall be accompanied by a statement of the landowner, on a form furnished by the Department of Agriculture Forest Service, that the landowner will not perform any act or permit any act to be performed which prevents reforestation. This provision does not apply if the landowner places the land in any of the uses enumerated in § 1053(b) of this title.
(c) Ten working days prior to the initiation of the cutting operation, the landowner or the landowner’s agent or operator shall notify the State Forester of the intention to reforest and shall submit a reforestation plan.
(d) The landowner or the landowner’s agent or operator shall submit the reforestation plan to the State Forester at the Department of Agriculture Forest Service for approval.
(1) The Department of Agriculture Forest Service shall approve, approve with modifications, or reject any reforestation plan submitted within 10 working days.
(2) The determination of the Department of Agriculture Forest Service shall be in writing, setting forth the reasons for approval with modifications or rejection, and shall be forwarded to the operator or landowner.
(3) In cases where a reforestation plan has been rejected by the State Forester, the landowner or the landowner’s agent or operator shall be required to submit another reforestation plan for approval. Under no circumstances shall a cutting operation begin prior to approval of a reforestation plan by the DDA Forest Service.
(e) Prior to the sale or other transfer of rights of land or perpetual timber rights subject to a reforestation obligation, the transferor of land shall notify the transferee of the existence and nature of the obligation and the transferee shall sign a notice of reforestation obligation indicating the transferee’s knowledge thereof.
(1) The notice shall be on a form furnished by the Department of Agriculture Forest Service and shall be sent to the Department of Agriculture by the transferor at the time of sale or transfer of rights of land or perpetual timber rights.
(2) If the transferor fails to notify the transferee about the reforestation obligation, the transferor shall pay the transferee’s costs related to reforestation, including all legal costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by the transferee in enforcing the reforestation obligation against the transferor.
(3) Failure by the transferor to send the required notice to the Department of Agriculture at the time of the sale shall be prima facie evidence in any action by the transferee against the transferor for costs related to reforestation that the transferor did not notify the buyer of the reforestation obligation prior to sale.