77-5-216. Contract harvesting authorized. (1) Under direction of the board and after submitting the various portions of the sale for bid, as described in 77-5-201, the department is authorized to sell timber and forest products from contract harvesting sales through the competitive bidding process pursuant to 77-5-201(1) and (2) and to contract with firms and individuals for the removal of timber and forest products from state trust lands, the preparation of those materials into merchantable form, the transportation of those materials to a point of sale, and other purposes that the department determines to be necessary.

Terms Used In Montana Code 77-5-216

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Contract harvesting: means a timber harvest or timber sale occurring on state trust lands by which:

    (a)the department solicits bids and contracts with a firm or individual awarded the bid to:

    (i)perform all necessary work to harvest and process trees into merchantable forest products;

    (ii)sort trees pursuant to contract specifications and department use standards; and

    (iii)transport and deliver the products to forest product purchasers; and

    (b)the department sells the forest products to one or more forest product purchasers through the competitive bidding process pursuant to 77-5-201(1) and (2). See Montana Code 77-5-215

  • Forest health concerns: means issues that can be addressed through management or harvest of merchantable or nonmerchantable trees and includes:

    (a)forested lands that are overcrowded or stagnant and that are showing declining annual growth;

    (b)wildland-urban interface areas where timber harvest or forest management is necessary to prevent catastrophic or other damage to forested lands, livestock, buildings, or other infrastructure;

    (c)fire fuel buildup and treatment on forested lands;

    (d)forested lands susceptible to imminent or repeated insect or disease attack and timber degradation;

    (e)forested lands that are in a high state of decline or decay or are rapidly deteriorating;

    (f)forested lands with high recreational use and high degradation risk; and

    (g)forested lands under drought stress. See Montana Code 77-5-215

  • Forest products: means any product produced from the forest that the department can sell through competitive bid or direct negotiation. See Montana Code 77-5-215
  • Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
  • Timber: means any wood growth on state trust land, mature or immature, alive or dead, standing or down, that is capable of furnishing merchantable raw material used in the manufacture of lumber or other forest products. See Montana Code 77-5-215

(2)Except as provided in subsection (3), the department may not conduct contract harvesting on state trust lands in an amount greater than 10% of the annual sustained yield.

(3)If the department is addressing forest health concerns as provided in 77-5-217, the department may exceed the annual sustained harvest level by up to 10% using contract harvesting, provided that the contract harvest volume in excess of the annual sustained harvest level contains no more than 25% merchantable sawlog volume.