California Code of Regulations › Title 18 - Public Revenues › Division 1 - State Board of Equalization-Property Tax (California Department of Tax and Fee Administration - Timber Yield Tax, See Chapter 11) › Chapter 11 - California Department of Tax and Fee Administration - Timber Yield Tax › Article 1 - Valuation of Timberland and Timber › Section 1021 - Timberland Grading Rule

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a)
				  General. Beginning with the 1977-78 fiscal year, privately owned land and land
				  acquired for state forest purposes which is primarily devoted to and used for
				  growing and harvesting timber and is zoned for a minimum 10-year period as
				  timberland production zone (TPZ) will be valued for property taxation on the
				  basis of its use for growing and harvesting timber, plus the value, if any,
				  attributable to existing, compatible, nonexclusive uses of the land.
(b) Site Quality. Timberland is rated for
				  productivity based upon its ability to produce wood growth on trees. Five
				  general site classes are established wherein Site I denotes areas of highest
				  productivity, Site II and Site III denote areas of intermediate productivity,
				  and Site IV and Site V denote areas of lowest productivity. The five site
				  quality classes are set forth within each of three general forest types:
				  redwood, Douglas fir, and mixed conifers.
Land zoned as timberland production zone (TPZ) shall be
					 graded by the assessor using the following site classification table as a
					 measure of land productivity.
TIMBERLAND PRODUCTION ZONE SITE CLASSIFICATION
					 TABLE
Productivity Potential
Young-Growth
							 Redwood
1
Douglas Fir
2
Ponderosa Pine Jeffrey Pine, Mixed Conifer & True
							 Fir
3
Site Class
Site Index
Site
							 Class
Site Index
Site Class
Site Index
Site
							 Index
Feet @ 100
							 yrs.
Feet @ 100 yrs.
Feet @ 100
							 yrs.
Feet @ 300 yrs.
180 or
194
							 or
114 or
163 or
Highest
I
more
I
more
I
more
more
Intermediate
II
155-179
II
164-193
II
93-113
138-162
III
130-154
III
134-163
III
75-92
113-137
Lowest
IV
105-129
IV
103-133
IV
60-74
88-112
Less Than
Less
							 Than
Less Than
Less Than
V
105
V
103
V
60
88
1 Lindquist, James L., and
							 Marshall N. Palley. Empirical yield tables for young-growth redwood, Calif.
							 Agr. Exp. Stn. Bull. 796, 47 pp., 1963.
2 McArdle, Richard E., and
							 Walter H. Meyer. The yield of Douglas fir in the Pacific Northwest. USDA Tech.
							 Bull. 201, 74 pp., Rev. 1961. Adjusted to average height of dominant trees
							 after Forest Research Note No. 44, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range
							 Experiment Station, by Forest Survey, Calif. Forest and Range Exp. Stn.,
							 1948.
3 Dunning, Duncan. A site
							 classification for the mixed conifer selection forests of the Sierra Nevada.
							 USDA Forest Serv. Calif. Forest and Range Exp. Stn. For. Res. Note 28, 21 pp.,
							 1942.
YOUNG-GROWTH REDWOOD
Site index based on average height of dominant trees at
					 breast height age of 100 years. Use in young-growth redwood stands in which
					 more than 20 percent of the stand by basal area is redwood and when sufficient
					 dominant redwood trees are available to determine site index.
DOUGLAS FIR
Site index based on average height of dominant trees at age
					 100 years. Use in young-growth redwood stands in which 20 percent or less of
					 the stand by basal area is redwood or when sufficient dominant redwood trees
					 are not available to determine site index. Use also in old-growth redwood
					 stands. In such cases, measure Douglas fir trees for determining site index.
					 Also use for Sitka spruce, grand fir, hemlock, bishop's pine, and Monterey pine
					 stands.
PONDEROSA PINE, JEFFREY PINE, MIXED CONIFER, AND TRUE
					 FIR
Site index based on average height of dominant trees at age
					 100 and 300 years. Use also for lodgepole pine stands. For old-growth stands,
					 use height of dominants at age 300 years.
(c) Operability. Timberland shall be rated
				  for operability based upon such factors as accessibility, topography, and
				  legislative or administrative restraints. On or before December 31, 1979, two
				  classes of operability shall be used by the assessor and designated as operable
				  or inoperable. Areas of inoperable land must be identified by the assessor. For
				  the purpose of land site classification, inoperable means that any of the
				  following circumstances are applicable:
(1)
				  Extreme physical barriers prevent access.
(2) Legal or administrative restraints
				  prevent access or harvest.
(3)
				  Rocky ground, steep slopes, or sterile soil prevent growing or harvesting
				  merchantable timber.