10.1-1124 - Counties and certain cities to pay annual sums for forest protection, etc.
§ 10.1-1124. Counties and certain cities to pay annual sums for forestprotection, etc.
A. Upon presentation to its governing body of an itemized statement dulycertified by the State Forester, each county in this Commonwealth, or citywhich enters into a contract with the State Forester under § 10.1-1125 toprovide forest fire prevention, shall repay into the state treasury annuallyany amounts expended in the preceding year by the State Forester in suchcounty or city for forest protection, forest fire detection, forest fireprevention and forest fire suppression, not to exceed in any one year anamount measured by the acreage, computed, beginning July 1, 2008, upon thebasis of seven cents per acre of privately owned forests in the county orcity and beginning July 1, 2009, nine cents per acre, according to the mostrecent United States Forest Survey. In any additions or deductions of acreagefrom that given by this survey, any land, other than commercial orchards,sustaining as its principal cover a growth of trees or woody shrubs shall beconsidered forest land, irrespective of the merchantability of the growth,and cutover land shall be considered as forest land unless it has beencleared or improved for other use. Open land shall be considered as forestland when it bears at least 80 well-distributed seedlings or sprouts of woodyspecies per acre. The amounts so repaid by the counties or cities into thestate treasury shall be credited to the Forestry Operations Fund for forestprotection, forest fire detection, forest fire prevention and forest firesuppression in the Commonwealth and, with such other funds as may beappropriated by the General Assembly or contributed by the United States orany governmental or private agency for these purposes, shall be used anddisbursed by the State Forester for such purposes. In cities this subsectionshall be subject to § 10.1-1125.
B. In any case in which the State Forester and the governing body of anycounty or city cannot agree upon the additions or deductions to privatelyowned forest acreage in a particular county or city, or to changes in forestacreage from year to year, the question shall be submitted to the judge ofthe circuit court of the county or city by a summary proceeding, and thedecision of the judge certified to the governing body and to the StateForester, respectively, shall be conclusive and final.
(Code 1950, § 10-46; 1964, c. 79; 1984, c. 715; 1986, c. 567; 1988, c. 891;2008, c. 254.)