Bill Text: MI SB0078 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Natural resources; wildlife; designation under NREPA of areas to achieve or maintain biodiversity; prohibit by DNR and remove biological diversity from list of state forest management goals. Amends secs. 504, 35101, 35501, 35502, 35503 & 52502 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.504 et seq.) & repeals secs. 35504 - 35506 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.35504 - 324.35506).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2014-12-31 - Vetoed By Governor 01/15/2015 [SB0078 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-SB0078-Engrossed.html
SB-0078, As Passed Senate, March 5, 2013
SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 78
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
by amending sections 504, 35101, 35501, 35502, 35503, and 52502
(MCL 324.504, 324.35101, 324.35501, 324.35502, 324.35503, and
324.52502), section 504 as amended by 2009 PA 47, section 35101 as
amended by 1996 PA 290, sections 35501, 35502, and 35503 as added
by 1995 PA 59, and section 52502 as added by 2004 PA 125; and to
repeal acts and parts of acts.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 504. (1) The department shall promulgate rules to protect
and preserve lands and other property under its control from
depredation, damage, or destruction or wrongful or improper use or
occupancy.
(2) Subject to subsection (4), the department shall do all of
the following:
(a) Keep land under its control open to hunting unless the
department determines that the land should be closed to hunting
because of public safety, fish or wildlife management, or homeland
security concerns or as otherwise required by law.
(b) Manage land under its control to support and promote
hunting opportunities to the extent authorized by law.
(c) Manage land under its control to prevent any net decrease
in the acreage of such land that is open to hunting.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), by April 1, 2010 and each year
thereafter, the department shall submit to the legislature a report
that includes all of the following:
(a) The location and acreage of land under its control
previously open to hunting that the department closed to hunting
during the 1-year period ending the preceding March 1, together
with the reasons for the closure.
(b) The location and acreage of land under its control
previously closed to hunting that the department opened to hunting
during the 1-year period ending the preceding March 1 to compensate
for land closed to hunting as described under subdivision (a).
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to commercial
forestland as defined in section 51101.
(5) This section does not authorize the department to
promulgate a rule that applies to commercial fishing except as
otherwise provided by law.
(6) The department shall not promulgate or enforce a rule that
prohibits an individual who is licensed or exempt from licensure
under 1927 PA 372, MCL 28.421 to 28.435, from carrying a pistol in
compliance with that act, whether concealed or otherwise, on
property under the control of the department.
(7) The department, director, or commission shall not
promulgate or enforce a rule or issue or enforce an order under
this act that designates or classifies an area of land specifically
for the purpose of achieving or maintaining biological diversity,
as defined in section 35501, and such a rule or order is void.
(8) (7)
The department shall issue orders
necessary to
implement
rules promulgated under this section. These orders shall
be
are effective upon posting.
(9) (8)
A person who violates a rule
promulgated under this
section or an order issued under this section is responsible for a
state civil infraction and may be ordered to pay a civil fine of
not more than $500.00.
Sec. 35101. As used in this part:
(a) "Natural area" means a tract of state land or water, which
may be coextensive with or part of a wilderness area or wild area,
that
is under control of the department, and
that is dedicated and
regulated
by the department pursuant to this part, which and that
meets all of the following requirements:
(i) Has retained or reestablished its natural character, or has
unusual flora and fauna or biotic, geologic, scenic, or other
similar features of educational or scientific value, but it need
not be undisturbed.
(ii) Has been identified and verified through research and
study by qualified observers.
(iii) May be coextensive with or part of a wilderness
area or
wild
area.
(b) "Wild area" means a tract of undeveloped state land or
water
that is under control of the department, and
that is
dedicated and regulated by the department pursuant to this part,
which:and that meets all of the following
requirements:
(i) Is less than 3,000 acres of state land.
(ii) Has outstanding opportunities for personal exploration,
challenge, or contact with natural features of the landscape and
its biological community.
(iii) Possesses 1 or more of the characteristics of a wilderness
area.
(c) "Wilderness area" means a tract of undeveloped state land
or water under control of the department and dedicated and
regulated
by the department pursuant to this part which:that meets
all of the following requirements:
(i) Has 3,000 or more acres of state land or is an island of
any size.
(ii) Generally appears to have been affected primarily by
forces of nature with the imprint of the work of humans
substantially unnoticeable.
(iii) Has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive
and unconfined type of recreation.
(iv) Contains ecological, geological, or other features of
scientific, scenic, or natural history value.
Sec. 35501. As used in this part:
(a) "Biological diversity" means the full range of variety and
variability within and among living organisms and the natural
associations in which they occur. Biological diversity includes
ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity.
(b)
"Committee" means the joint legislative working committee
on
biological diversity created pursuant to section 35504.
(c)
"Conserve", "conserving", and "conservation" mean
measures
for maintaining natural biological diversity and measures
for
restoring natural biological diversity through management
efforts,
in order to protect, restore, and enhance as much of the
variety
of native species and communities as possible in quantities
and
distributions that provide for the continued existence and
normal
functioning of native species and communities, including the
viability
of populations throughout the natural geographic
distributions
of native species and communities.
(b) "Conservation of biological diversity" means measures for
maintaining, managing, or enhancing biological diversity while
ensuring accessibility, productivity, and use of the natural
resources for present and future generations.
(c) (d)
"Ecosystem" means an
assemblage of species, together
with the species' physical environment, considered as a unit.
(d) (e)
"Ecosystem diversity"
means the distinctive
assemblages of species and ecological processes that occur in
different physical settings of the biosphere.
(e) (f)
"Genetic diversity" means
the differences in genetic
composition within and among populations of a given species.
(f) (g)
"Habitat" means the area
or type of environment in
which an organism or biological population normally lives or
occurs.
(h)
"Reporting department" means a state department or agency
that
is required by the committee under this part to file 1 or more
reports.
(g) (i)
"Species diversity" means
the richness and variety of
native species.
(j)
"State strategy" means the recommended state strategy
prepared
by the committee.
(k)
"Sustained yield" means the achievement and maintenance in
perpetuity
of regular periodic output of the various renewable
resources
without impairment of the productivity of the land.
Sec. 35502. The legislature finds that:
(a) The earth's biological diversity is an important natural
resource. Decreasing biological diversity is a concern.
(b)
Most losses of biological diversity are unintended
consequences
of human activity.
(b) (c)
Humans depend on biological
resources, including
plants, animals, and microorganisms, for food, medicine, shelter,
and other important products.
(c) (d)
Biological diversity is valuable as
a source of
intellectual and scientific knowledge, recreation, and aesthetic
pleasure.
(d) (e)
Conserving biological diversity has
economic
implications.
(e) (f)
Reduced biological diversity may
have potentially
serious consequences for human welfare as resources for research
and agricultural, medicinal, and industrial development are
diminished.
(f) (g)
Reduced biological diversity may
also potentially
impact ecosystems and critical ecosystem processes that moderate
climate, govern nutrient cycles and soil conservation and
production, control pests and diseases, and degrade wastes and
pollutants.
(g) (h)
Reduced biological diversity may
diminish the raw
materials available for scientific and technical advancement,
including the development of improved varieties of cultivated
plants and domesticated animals.
(h) (i)
Maintaining biological diversity
through habitat
protection and management is often less costly and more effective
than efforts to save species once they become endangered.
(i) (j)
Because biological resources will
be most important
for future needs, study by the legislature regarding maintaining
the diversity of living organisms in their natural habitats and the
costs and benefits of doing so is prudent.
Sec. 35503. (1) It is the goal of this state to encourage the
lasting conservation of biological diversity.
(2) This part does not require a state department or agency to
alter
do any of the following:
(a) Alter its regulatory functions.
(b) Designate or classify an area of land specifically for the
purpose of achieving or maintaining biological diversity.
Sec. 52502. (1) The department shall manage the state forest
in a manner that is consistent with principles of sustainable
forestry. and
in doing so
(2) In fulfilling the requirements of subsection (1), the
department shall do all of the following:
(a)
Manage forests with consideration of its their economic,
social, and environmental values by doing all of the following:
(i) Broaden Broadening the
implementation of sustainable
forestry by employing an array of economically, environmentally,
and socially sound practices in the conservation of forests, using
the best scientific information available.
(ii) Promote Promoting the efficient
utilization of forest
resources.
(iii) Broaden Broadening the practice of
sustainable forestry by
cooperating with forestland owners, wood producers, and consulting
foresters.
(iv) Plan and manage Planning and managing plantations in
accordance with sustainable forestry principles and in a manner
that
complements the management of and promotes the restoration and
conservation of natural forests.
(b)
Conserve and protect forestland by doing all of the
following:
(i) Ensure Ensuring long-term forest
productivity and
conservation of forest resources through prompt reforestation, soil
conservation, afforestation, and other measures.
(ii) Protect Protecting the water quality
in streams, lakes,
and
other waterbodies water
bodies in a manner consistent with the
department's best management practices for water quality.
(iii) Manage Subject to section 504(7), managing the quality and
distribution
of wildlife habitats and contribute to the
conservation
of biological diversity by developing and implementing
stand
and landscape-level considering
measures that promote habitat
diversity
and the conservation of forest
plants and animals
including
aquatic flora and fauna and unique ecosystems.while
balancing economic values.
(iv) Protect Protecting forests from
wildfire, pests, diseases,
and other damaging agents.
(v) Manage Managing areas of ecologic,
geologic, cultural, or
historic significance in a manner that recognizes their special
qualities.
(vi) Manage Managing activities in high
conservation value
forests
by maintaining or enhancing the attributes that define such
those forests while balancing economic values.
(c) Communicate to the public by doing all of the following:
(i) Publicly report reporting the department's progress in
fulfilling its commitment to sustainable forestry.
(ii) Provide Providing opportunities for
persons to participate
in the commitment to sustainable forestry.
(iii) Prepare, implement, and keep Preparing, implementing, and
keeping current a management plan that clearly states the long-term
objectives of management and the means of achieving those
objectives.
(d)
Monitor forest management by promoting Promote continual
improvement
in the practice of sustainable forestry and monitoring,
measuring,
and reporting monitor,
measure, and report performance
in
achieving the commitment to sustainable forestry.
(e) Consider the local community surrounding state forestland
by doing both of the following:
(i) Require Requiring that forest
management plans and
operations comply with applicable federal and state laws and
voluntary silvicultural practices.
(ii) Require Requiring that forest
management operations
maintain or enhance the long-term social and economic well-being of
forest workers and local communities.
Enacting section 1. Sections 35504 to 35506 of the natural
resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL
324.35504 to 324.35506, are repealed.
