2004 House Bill 5552 ↩

House Roll Call 102: Passed

To revise the composition of the board of the Michigan forest finance authority to include representatives of forest products industries, and the representative of a statewide, broad-based, sportsman and conservation organization (probably the Michigan United Conservation Clubs). The board governs a state forest development fund, which receives receipts from timber sales. The bill also revises the uses of that fund to include payments in lieu of taxes to local governments on state forestland, and the maintenance of certification of sustainable forestry standards in the state forests. The bill is part of a legislative package comprised of House Bills 5552 to 5554, which would require state forest management to be based on sustainable forestry principles, and requires the state to seek forest certification from an independent third party organization.