Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 77 > Chapter 5 > Part 2 - Timber Sales and Removal

• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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

• Contract harvesting costs: means expenses related to the production of log sorts or other merchantable products from a stand of timber and the transportation of the products to point-of-sale locations. See Montana Code 77-5-215
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decked: means a pile of logs or other merchantable forest products that have been prepared for sale or shipment and placed upon a landing. See Montana Code 77-5-215
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• 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
• Log sorts: means trees or portions of trees that are grouped and sorted into various product categories, including but not limited to pulp logs, sawlogs, and house logs. See Montana Code 77-5-215
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Sawlogs: means merchantable timber prepared and sorted as decked, scaled logs and sold f. See Montana Code 77-5-215
• Scaled: means the measured volume, weight, or other measurement of a log, load of logs, or other products. See Montana Code 77-5-215
• 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
• Stumpage: means the value of timber as it exists, uncut, within a harvest unit, expressed in terms of dollars per thousand board feet, dollars per ton, or other appropriate value per-unit designation. See Montana Code 77-5-215
• 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