Massachusetts General Laws - Classification and Taxation of Forest Lands and Forest Products - Chapter 61, Section 1

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Definitions.

Section 1. For purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings:—

“Cut”, sever or taken from the soil.

“Forest land”, land that is at least sixteen and seven-tenths per cent stocked, that contains at least seven and five-tenths square feet of basal area per acre by forest trees of any size; or that formerly had such tree cover and is not currently developed for non-forest use; or that is a plantation containing at least five hundred trees per acre.

“Forest products”, wood, timber, Christmas trees, other tree forest growth and any other hardwood product produced by forest vegetation.

“Certification”, approval of a forest management plan by the state forester.

“Contiguous land”, land separated from other land under the same ownership by a public or private way, waterway or an easement for water supply.

“Forest management plan” or “management plan”, a completed copy of a form provided by the state forester executed by the owner and the state forester that provides for a ten year program of forest management, including intermediate and regeneration cuttings.

“Cutting plan”, a completed copy of a form approved by the state forester which describes the species, dimensions, and quantity of a proposed forest crop to be harvested and which is certified by the state forester as being in accordance with the provisions of section forty to forty-six, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and thirty-two.

“Not used for purposes incompatible with forest production”, uses formally proposed or permitted that do not interfere with or reduce the quantity and quality of a continuous forest crop.

“Owner”, person or persons holding title to a parcel of forest land.

“Parcel”, land held by the same owner under a deed of title upon which no subdivision plan is on file and which has no encumbrance incompatible with the provisions of this chapter.

“Region”, one of the five geographic subdivisions of the commonwealth utilized for administrative purposes by the department of environmental management.

“Stumpage value”, fair market value of forest products immediately prior to severing.

Last modified: March 26, 2006