New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 6 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION › Chapter II - LANDS AND FORESTS › Part 199 - Taxation Of Forest Land › Section 199.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
When used in this Part:
(a) Approved management plan means a plan
				approved by the department for the management of an eligible tract which will
				ensure the continuing production of a merchantable forest crop selected by the
				owner. Every approved management plan must meet the standards and requirements
				of section 199.6 of this Part. Such plan must
				be prepared by or under the direct supervision of a forester who may be the
				owner or an agent of the owner, including an industrial forester or a
				cooperating consultant forester.
(b) Assessor means an elected or appointed
				officer or body of officers charged by law with the duty of assessing real
				property for the purposes of taxation or special ad valorem levies, for county,
				city, town, village, school district or special district purposes.
(c) Basal area means the total cross
				sectional area of all live tree stems expressed as square feet per acre and
				measured at a point 4 1/2feet above the ground.
(d) Certificate of approval means the
				document issued by the department evidencing that the tract is an eligible
				tract for purposes of the real property tax exemption authorized by section
				480-a
				of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL).
(e) Commercial harvest cutting means the
				removal of a forest crop from an eligible tract of forest land for which the
				owner receives economic value either from a sale or through utilization.
				Commercial harvest cutting shall not include up to 10 standard cords which may
				be cut annually for the owner's own use in accordance with sound forestry
				practices, or noncommercial cuttings prescribed in the approved management
				plan.
(f) Commitment means a
				declaration to the department and the assessor, made on an annual basis by the
				owner of a certified eligible tract, in writing, on forms provided by the
				department, committing such tract to continued forest crop production for the
				next succeeding 10 years under the approved management plan.
(g) Compatible or supportive use means any
				use of an eligible tract which is desired by the owner and compatible with or
				supportive of the continuing production of a merchantable forest crop. A use
				will be considered to be compatible or supportive unless it precludes forest
				crop production, involves permanent physical construction, or materially alters
				forest land with significant adverse impact upon the condition of forest crops.
				Compatible or supportive uses will be permissible but not mandatory components
				of approved management plans. The inclusion of a compatible or supportive use
				in an approved management plan does not represent the owner's undertaking to
				perform the use and does not imply that other compatible or supportive uses may
				not be undertaken on the eligible tract.
(h) Contiguous acres shall refer to an
				eligible tract where forest lands are adjacent or near each other. These may be
				divided by nonforest land owned and controlled by the owner, or Federal, State,
				county or town roads, easements, rights-of-way, energy transmission corridors,
				or similar facilities, as long as vehicular access necessary for forest
				management purposes is not precluded.
(i) Cooperating consultant forester means a
				forester who, or a forestry consultant firm which, has entered into an
				agreement with the department under the New York State cooperating consultant
				foresters program pursuant to section
				9-0713 of the Environmental Conservation
				Law.
(j) Department means the
				Department of Environmental Conservation.
(k) Diameter at breast height (DBH) means the
				diameter of a tree measured 4 1/2 feet from the ground.
(l) Diameter class means one of the following
				classifications of the stand:
(1)
				Seedling--sapling (SS)--the majority of dominant and codominant trees are less
				than 5.5 inches DBH.
(2) Pole
				timber (PT)--the majority of dominant and codominant trees are between 5.6
				inches and 11.5 inches DBH.
(3) Saw
				timber (ST)--the majority of dominant and codominant trees are 11.6 inches DBH
				or larger.