NR 46.15 (17g) “Hunting blind” means a structure that is used exclusively for hunting.
NR 46.15 (17r) “Improvements associated with a building” means any of the following:
(a) A structure or fixture that is attached to a building or that is appurtenant to a building.
(b) A structure or fixture that provides a specific purpose or use related to the use of a building.
(c) A structure or fixture for which the intent is that it becomes a permanent addition to a building.
NR 46.15 (20s) “Material change” means a change in statute or administrative code that has a significant negative impact on an existing managed forest law order, as determined by the department when not explicitly stated by the legislature.
NR 46.15 (21m) “Non-productive area” or “non-productive land” means land incapable of producing wood products or land designated by the landowner as part of their 20% allowance of land not producing merchantable timber.
NR 46.15 (26r) “Restoration” means the management of land to resume compliance with productivity requirements as established in s. 77.82 (1) (a) 2., Stats., and density requirements established in s. NR 46.17 (1) (c) 2. NR 46.15 (30m) “Structures and fixtures needed for sound forestry” means a structure or fixture that is placed on the land for the sole purpose of conducting a forest management practice that is either in the management plan, or agreed upon the by department and the owner.
NR 46.15 (32m) “Utilities” means any of the following:
(a) Indoor plumbing including water and sewer, piped to either a municipal or septic system.
(b) Electrical service by connection to the lines of a power company.
(c) Telephone service based locally.
SECTION 12. NR 46.15 (33) is amended to read:
NR 46.15 (33) “Wood products” or “forest products” means those items listed on the current schedule of stumpage values for severance or yield tax in s. NR 46.30. SECTION 13. NR 46.16 (1) (intro.) and (a) are amended to read:
NR 46.16 (1) Application deadlines. An application for a new designation or a renewal of land as managed forest land shall be signed by all owners on forms provided by the department and filed as follows:
NR 46.16 (1) (a) Applications shall be postmarked or received by the department no later than June 1 to be considered for designation effective the following January 1.
SECTION 14. NR 46.16 (1) (cm) is repealed.
SECTION 15. NR 46.16 (1) (d) and (1) (e) and (2) (h) and (2) (Note) and (5) and (7) are amended to read:
NR 46.16 (1) (d) Lands subject to an ownership change after the application deadline, but before the order of designation has been issued, may not be designated as managed forest land for the year for which the original application was submitted. Ownership changes taking place after the issuance of an order of designation shall be processed as a normal transfer after January 1. The new owner shall may submit a new and complete application by the next applicable deadline. The department may designate land included on the application that remains under the original ownership effective January 1 of the year for which the original application was submitted providing the remaining land qualifies for entry. Ownership changes taking place after the issuance of an order of designation, but before January 1, shall be processed as a normal transfer after January 1, or the order shall be rescinded.
NR 46.16 (1) (e) Each application submitted to the department for a new designation or a conversion of forest cropland to managed forest land shall include a nonrefundable application fee of $30.00 per county in which the land that is the subject of the application is located. This fee shall be submitted to the department within 14 days of the submission of the application along with a printed remittance form provided by the department.
NR 46.16 (2) (h) Reconnaissance data and scheduled practices on electronic forms provided by the department.
NR 46.16 (2) Note: Forms can be obtained by contacting the Division of Forestry, Bureau of Forest Management, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707 electronically through the Wisconsin Forest Inventory and Reporting System (WisFIRS).
NR 46.16 (5) Same ownership. All eligible land under the same ownership and located in the same municipality when applied for designation or renewal in the same year, shall be designated under the same order of designation. All eligible land under the same ownership that crosses any municipal boundary where land designated for entry in any one municipality is less than 10 acres in the minimum parcel size or less than 80% productive, when applied for designation in the same year, shall be designated under the same order of designation. This subsection does not apply to land added to an existing MFL entry under sub. (7).
NR 46.16 (7) Additions. An owner may apply to the department to designate 10 or more acres of land as managed forest land which is add land to a current MFL order. To be eligible, the addition shall be a parcel that is at least 3 acres in size and that is contiguous to land that was is designated as managed forest land on or after April 28, 2004 as an addition to the previously designated and contiguous managed forest land the date the application for addition is submitted. If the application for an addition is for land which is contiguous to land that was designated as managed forest land on or after April 28, 2004 in an adjacent municipality, the land must be designated under a separate order if it meets the eligibility requirements under s. NR 46.17 and s. 77.82 (1) (a), Stats. Land contained in an application for addition shall meet all current eligibility requirements under s. NR 46.17 and s. 77.82 (1) (a), Stats., except for minimum acreage and productivity requirements, which shall be met at the time land is designated as managed forest land. Land contained in an application for addition shall have the same ownership as the existing entry. SECTION 16. NR 46.16 (7m) and (10) are created to read:
NR 46.16 (7m) Renewals. (a) All land designated as managed forest land may be eligible for renewal. The department shall approve applications for an additional 25- or 50-year period at the end of an existing order period if all of the following are met:
1.The land meets all eligibility requirements outlined in s. NR 46.17 and s. 77.82 (1), Stats., 2. Items listed in s. 77.82 (3) (c), Stats., have been updated within the 5 years prior to the date of the application for renewal and practices in s. NR 46.18 (2) and (3) have been scheduled during the renewal order period; or a new management plan is submitted with the renewal application that meets all management plan requirements for new entries. 3. The owner is in compliance with all aspects of the management plan that is in effect on the date that the application for renewal is filed.
(b) 1. If there is a parcel within the order that is less than 20 acres but greater than or equal to 10 acres, the land may be renewed once.
2. If the current entry contains a parcel of MFL land that is less than 20 acres and that parcel will remain less than 20 acres in the renewal period, then the parcel on the renewal application shall be identical to the current enrollment without any changes to acreage other than those provided for in s. NR 46.27 (1). If such a parcel includes an ineligible building or improvement, a withdrawal under s. 77.88 (3j), Stats., may be used to rectify the situation and allow the existing and renewed lands to be identical on the renewal application, subject to constraints provided for in s. 77.88 (3j) (b), Stats. To be considered identical, the withdrawal form shall be submitted before the department can approve the renewal application. NR 46.16 (10) Application submission and data collection. All applications submitted to the department shall be completed and submitted electronically through the Wisconsin Forest Inventory and Reporting System (WisFIRS) by a certified plan writer, unless a certified plan writer is unavailable, as provided for in s. 77.82 (3) (am), Stats. SECTION 17. NR 46.165 (3) (c) is amended to read:
NR 46.165 (3) (c) Completes the a basic training session sponsored by the department.
SECTION 18. NR 46.17 (1) (b) is amended to read:
NR 46.17 (1) (b) No more than 20% of a managed forest land parcel may consist of land unsuitable for producing merchantable timber as provided in s. 77.82 (1) (b) 1., Stats., or non-stocked non-productive land as defined in s. NR 46.15 (21m) or a combination of those types of land. SECTION 19. NR 46.17 (1) (c) is created to read:
NR 46.17 (1) (c) 1. If the portion of land considered capable of producing merchantable timber in par. (a) does not currently meet density requirements established in subd. 2., it may be designated as managed forest land if the department determines that stocking levels can be increased to be consistent with density requirements and mandatory practices needed to achieve density requirements are established in the management plan, to be completed within a reasonable timeframe.
2. Density requirements established in the table below do not address other stand-level regeneration guidelines, such as adequate levels of pre-harvest and post-harvest advanced regeneration or percent stocking to ensure continued stand productivity. On a site-by-site basis, site conditions, species, and other regeneration guidelines specific to Wisconsin cover types may be evaluated to determine an alternative density requirement.
Stand Size Classes | Tree Diameter Ranges at 4.5 Feet From Ground Level | Minimum Medium Density |
Seedlings | 0”−1” | 800 trees per acre for natural stands. 400 trees per acre for planted stands. |
Saplings | 1”−5” | 400 trees per acre for natural stands. 300 trees per acre for planted stands. |
Pole timber For conifer species For other species | 5”−9” 5”−11” | 7 cords per acre |
Sawtimber For conifer species For other species | 9”+ 11” | 3,000 board feet per acre. |
SECTION 20. NR 46.17 (3) is repealed and recreated to read:
NR 46.17 (3) Buildings on managed forest land. (a) Buildings or improvements associated with buildings.
1. For lands designated or renewed as managed forest land in 2017 and later, a building or an improvement associated with a building that is placed or constructed on land renders the land not eligible for designation.
2. For lands designated as managed forest land prior to 2017, a building is allowed if it is not considered developed for human residence as defined in s. NR 46.15 (9). (b) Hunting blinds. Tree stands and hunting blinds are permitted on lands enrolled in the managed forest law program if they meet all of the following criteria:
1. Are not connected to utilities;
2. Are not used as a human residence;
3. Do not interfere with forestry practices; and
4. Are either:
i. Tree stands and hunting blinds owned by, or constructed with permission of, the landowner; or
ii. Portable tree stands and hunting blinds placed on land designated as open to public access by a member of the public, and completely removed each day at the close of shooting hours.
(c) Structures and fixtures needed for sound forestry. Structures and fixtures placed on land enrolled in managed forest law for this purpose shall be removed following the completion of the practice. Structures and fixtures needed for sound forestry cannot include those that meet the definition of a building.
SECTION 21. NR 46.17 (3) Note 1 is repealed.
SECTION 22. NR 46.17 (4) and (5) are created to read:
