New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 20 - FOREST MANAGEMENT › Part 4 - COMMERCIAL TIMBER HARVESTING REQUIREMENTS › Section 19.20.4.7 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. "Act" means the
				Forest Conservation Act, NMSA 1978, Sections
				68-2-1 to
				68-2-25.
B. "Alternate practice" means a forest
				practice standard used in place of a specific requirement in the forest harvest
				practices standards, 19.20.4.9 NMAC. The applicant may request to use an
				alternate practice in the harvest permit application or at a later time. The
				alternate practice is not effective until the division provides written
				approval.
C. "Applicant" means the
				owner.
D. "Basal area" means the
				cross sectional area of the stem at diameter at breast height or at diameter at
				root collar of all trees in a stand, generally expressed as square units per
				unit area (
e.g.
square feet per acre).
E. "Cessation of harvest activities" means
				absence of harvesting within a cutting unit for six consecutive days.
F. "Closed road" means a road constructed for
				the harvest that will be closed upon the harvest's completion.
G. "Commercial forest species" means:
SCIENTIFIC NAME
COMMON NAME
Abies concolor
white fir
Abies lasiocarpa
subalpine fir
Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica
corkbark fir
Cupressus arizonica
Arizona cypress
Juniperus coahuilensis or erythrocarpa
redberry juniper/rose-fruited juniper
Juniperus deppeana
alligator juniper
Juniperus monosperma
one seed juniper
Juniperus osteosperma
Utah juniper
Juniperus pinchotii
Pinchot juniper/redberry juniper
Juniperus scopulorum
Rocky Mountain juniper
Picea engelmannii
Engelmann spruce
Picea pungens
Colorado blue spruce
Pinus aristata
bristlecone pine
Pinus arizonica
Arizona pine
Pinus cembroides
Mexican piñon
Pinus discolor
border piñon
Pinus edulis
piñon
Pinus engelmannii
Apache pine
Pinus flexilis
limber pine
Pinus leiophylla
Chihuahuan pine
Pinus monophylla
singleleaf piñon
Pinus ponderosa
ponderosa pine
Pinus strobiformis
southwestern white pine
Populus tremuloides
quaking aspen
Pseudotsuga menziesii
Douglas-fir
Quercus spp.
oak species when in tree form or when harvested with
							 other commercial forest species
H.
				"Construction project" includes clearing of right of ways for utilities,
				pipelines, fences or roads, except for roads facilitating harvesting of
				commercial forest species; clearing for construction of residences or
				businesses with an approved building permit; or clearing related to the
				development of other regulated industries such as mining or
				landfills.
I. "Continuing
				violation" means that a permittee or responsible person or entity has received
				a notice of deficient condition and has failed to take corrective
				action.
J. "Contract harvester"
				means a person or entity, other than the owner or the owner's direct employees,
				harvesting commercial forest species.
K. "Contractor" means a person or entity that
				the applicant or permittee has reached an agreement with to harvest or purchase
				commercial forest species.
L.
				"Cutting unit" means an area within the forest harvest practice plan not
				exceeding 300 forested acres. The designation of each unit is based on the
				topography of the area to be harvested, the number of persons to be engaged in
				the harvest, transportation, climate and other relevant factors. The applicant
				shall divide an area larger than 300 forested acres into two or more cutting
				units, unless the division determines that a larger area is appropriate because
				of the topography, equipment or the harvest's objectives and number of persons
				to be participating in harvest activities.
M. "Damaged trees" means trees over three
				feet in height not intended for harvest that, as a result of the harvest, are
				damaged or knocked down to the extent that mortality or serious deterioration
				is likely to occur or partially pushed over so as to result in permanent lean
				or visible damage to the root system.
N. "Deficient condition" means a harvest
				activity not in conformance with the act, 19.20.4 NMAC or a harvest permit. It
				also means the failure to have statements of understanding for each person or
				entity conducting major harvest activities.
O. "Diameter at breast height" means the
				tree's outside bark diameter measured at four and one half feet above the
				forest floor on the tree's uphill side. For the purposes of determining breast
				height, the forest floor includes the duff layer that may be present, but does
				not include unincorporated woody debris that may rise above the ground
				line.
P. "Diameter at root collar"
				means the diameter of the tree's trunk measured outside the bark at ground
				level.
Q. "District forester" means
				the supervisory forester of one of the six district offices located in
				Bernalillo, Capitan, Chama, Cimarron, Las Vegas and Socorro.
R. "Division" means the New Mexico energy,
				minerals and natural resources department, forestry division or forestry
				division personnel.
S. "Erosion
				control measure" means a method of reducing soil erosion including seeding,
				using mulch or slash for ground cover, reducing slope of roads and skid trails,
				installing water bars, crowning roads, outsloping roads, dipping roads with
				lateral relief ditches, culverts and avoidance of excessive slopes.
T. "Evidence of ownership" means a deed or
				other document, recorded with the county clerk in the county where the
				commercial forest species are located, containing a property description
				included in the harvest permit application evidencing ownership of the land
				surface or the right to control the land including harvesting commercial forest
				species, or a timber deed including the commercial forest species subject to
				the harvest permit application. Evidence of ownership does not include
				commercial forest species purchased through a contract, purchase agreement or
				similar document that indicates that the commercial forest species' ownership
				will transfer after the trees are harvested.
U. "Excessive slope" means a slope of more
				than 40 percent over a ground distance of 80 yards or more.
V. "Felling equipment" means equipment used
				to sever the tree stem from its stump such as chainsaws, feller-bunchers and
				harvesters.
W. "Firewood" means any
				part or portion of a tree that has been cut and removed from its original
				location and is to be used for heating or cooking in an open pit, grill,
				fireplace or stove. Firewood does not mean wood that is used in biomass
				facilities to create electricity or thermal heat or wood that is used to create
				ethanol.
X. "Forest" means an area
				of at least one acre with at least 10 percent tree crown cover.
Y. "Gully erosion" means erosion caused by
				water accumulating in narrow channels and removing the soil from the channel to
				depths of one foot or more and that carries sediment downstream.
Z. "Harvest or harvesting" means activities
				related to removing a commercial forest species or its products from the
				property where the activities are occurring, including: constructing haul roads
				and skid trails; cutting and severing, pushing over, plucking, chipping or
				masticating standing trees; skidding or removing trees to landings;
				transporting the tree or wood products from the cutting site or landing;
				installing erosion control measures; or supervising or directing such
				activities. Harvest or harvesting does not mean digging commercial forest
				species that are planted and cultivated for balled and burlap stock,
				landscaping or live Christmas trees; or removal by any means during
				maintenance, renovation or removal of a windbreak.
AA. "Harvest permit" means the harvest permit
				application, the forest harvest practice plan and the harvest permit approval
				letter.
BB. "Intermittent
				watercourse" means a stream or reach of stream, as shown on a United States
				geological survey 1:24000 scale topographic map or as otherwise identified on
				the property by the division or the owner, that contains water only at certain
				times of the year, such as when it receives flow from springs, melting snow or
				precipitation.
CC. "Lake" means an
				inland body of freshwater, but does not include stock ponds or
				windmills.
DD. "Landowner" means a
				person or entity, or the person or entity's agent, owning or having a right to
				control the surface of the land where the commercial forest species to be
				harvested are located.
EE. "Lateral
				yarding distance" means the maximum distance perpendicular to each side of a
				cable within which a log can be attached for yarding.
FF. "Leave trees" means those trees to be
				left in the cutting unit after the harvest is completed.
GG. "Long butting" means the cutting of a
				portion of the main stem that does not meet the utilization standards provided
				in Subsection H of 19.20.4.9 NMAC.
HH. "Lop and scatter" means a hand method of
				removing the upward-extending branches from tops of felled trees to keep slash
				low to the ground, to increase the decomposition rate, to lower the fire hazard
				or as a pretreatment prior to burning.
II. "Major harvest activity" means felling
				trees; skidding or yarding; and construction of roads, skid trails and
				landings.
JJ. "Mineral soil" means
				the portion of the soil immediately below the litter and duff layers.
KK. "Multiple cutting unit permit" means a
				harvest permit for an area with two or more designated cutting units.
LL. "Municipal lands" means the
				territory a municipality has incorporated or annexed pursuant to NMSA 1978,
				Sections
				3-2-1
et seq
., Sections
				3-3-1
et seq
. or Sections
				3-7-1
et seq
.
MM.
				"Noxious weed" means a plant species that is not indigenous to New Mexico and
				that has been targeted pursuant to the Noxious Weed Management Act, NMSA 1978,
				Section
				76-7D-1
et seq.
for management or control because of its negative
				impact on the economy or the environment.
NN. "Owner" means the landowner, unless there
				is a timber deed owner who owns the commercial forest species that are the
				subject of the harvest permit application. Then the timber deed owner is the
				owner.
OO. "Perennial watercourse"
				means a stream or river, or reach of a stream or river, as shown on a United
				States geological survey 1:24000 scale topographic map or as otherwise
				identified on the property where the harvest will occur by the division or the
				owner, that contains water continuously throughout the years in all years; its
				upper surface, generally, is lower than the water table of the region adjoining
				the stream or river.
PP.
				"Permittee" means an owner to whom the division issues a harvest
				permit.
QQ. "Personal delivery"
				means delivery to the individual personally; or if the individual is absent,
				delivery to a person residing at the individual's usual residence who is over
				the age of 15 years.
RR. "Public
				road" means a highway or road open for public motor vehicle access including
				federal highways, state highways, state roads, county roads and United States
				forest service roads.
SS.
				"Pre-commercial thinning" means thinning that is made as an investment in the
				future growth of a stand of trees where the owner does not sell or exchange for
				service the utilized trees.
TT.
				"Responsible person or entity" means a person, partnership, corporation,
				association or other entity, other than the owner, required to sign a statement
				of understanding or, when Subsection A of 19.20.4.8 NMAC does not require a
				harvest permit, that have an active role in major harvest activities or a
				management role that may impact the harvest.
UU. "Rill erosion" means erosion that cuts a
				number of small channels less than one foot in depth into the soil by water
				moving over and concentrating in low places in the soil surface.
VV. "Rub tree" means a tree used as a pivot
				in cable yarding or on skid trails to protect the remaining trees during
				extraction.
WW. "Silviculture"
				means the theory and practice of controlling forest establishment, composition,
				growth or harvesting.
XX. "Skid
				trail" means a path built for log skidding or caused by skidding equipment's
				use.
YY. "Slash" means branches,
				boughs or pieces of a tree's main stem severed or damaged as a result of the
				harvest.
ZZ. "State forester" means
				the director of the energy, minerals and natural resources department, forestry
				division or the state forester's designee.
AAA. "Statement of understanding" means the
				statement that persons, partnerships, corporations, associations or other
				entities that have an active role in major harvest activities or a management
				role that may impact the harvest shall sign verifying that they are aware that
				they must comply with the act, 19.20.4 NMAC and the harvest permit. A
				supervisor of a business entity conducting harvest activities may sign a
				statement of understanding accepting responsibility for the entity's employees
				performing major harvest activities.
BBB. "Streamside management area" means the
				area near a lake, perennial or intermittent watercourse or a wetland designated
				for special protection in the forest harvest practice plan.
CCC. "Timber deed owner" means the owner of a
				timber deed recorded with the county clerk in the county where the commercial
				forest species are located. It does not include a person, corporation,
				partnership or other entity that has agreed to purchase commercial forest
				species through a contract, purchase agreement or similar document with title
				to be transferred after the trees are harvested.
DDD. "Tree" means a woody perennial plant
				usually having a single main stem generally with few or no branches on its
				lower part; however, species such Gambel oak (quercus gambelii) and one seed
				juniper (juniperus monosperma) may be multi-stemmed and species such as fir
				(abies), spruce (picea) and juniper (juniperus) may have many branches on the
				stem's lower part.
EEE.
				"Utilization" means the removal of trees, tree stems or portions of trees from
				areas within the harvest permit boundaries.
FFF. "Water bar" means a drainage structure
				such as a ditch, mounded earth or staked log installed across the entire width
				of a road or skid trail at an approximate 30-degree downslope angle that
				diverts water runoff into adjacent undisturbed areas.
GGG. "Wetland" means an area that is
				inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration
				sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances does support, a
				prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil
				conditions in New Mexico.
HHH.
				"Working days" means Monday through Friday, excluding state
				holidays.