2015 WISCONSIN ACT 358
(Vetoed in Part)
An Act to repeal 77.06 (5), 77.07, 77.82 (1) (bn), 77.82 (4g), 77.83 (1) (a) 1. and 2., 77.83 (2) (am), 77.83 (4) (b), 77.86 (2), 77.87, 77.88 (2) (a) 1., 77.88 (2) (e), 77.88 (3g), 77.88 (4), 77.88 (5) (a) 1. and 2., 77.88 (5) (ab), 77.88 (5) (ar), 77.88 (5) (b), 77.88 (5) (c) and 77.91 (3); to renumber 77.83 (4) (a) and 77.88 (2) (d) 2.; to renumber and amend 77.06 (1) (b) 2., 77.82 (12), 77.83 (1) (a) (intro.), 77.86 (1) (b) 2., 77.88 (2) (a) (intro.), 77.88 (2) (a) 2., 77.88 (2) (a) 3., 77.88 (2) (d) 1., 77.88 (2) (f), 77.88 (3) and 77.88 (5) (a) (intro.); to amend 20.370 (1) (cr), 26.06 (1), 74.25 (1) (a) 6., 74.30 (1) (f), 75.36 (2) (a), 77.06 (1) (a), 77.06 (1) (c), 77.10 (1) (a), 77.81 (6), 77.82 (1) (a) 1., 77.82 (1) (b) 3., 77.82 (2) (dm), 77.82 (4), 77.82 (11), 77.83 (1) (b) 1., 77.88 (2) (am), 77.88 (2) (b), 77.88 (2) (c), 77.88 (3) (title), 77.88 (5) (am) 1., 77.88 (5m), 77.88 (8) (b), 77.88 (11), 77.89 (1) (a), 77.89 (2) (a) and 77.91 (3m); and to create 20.370 (5) (dy), 23.0951, 77.06 (1) (b) 2. b., 77.06 (1) (b) 2. c., 77.06 (1) (b) 2. d., 77.06 (1) (b) 2. e., 77.81 (2r), 77.81 (4m), 77.82 (1) (b) 4., 77.82 (1) (bp), 77.82 (12) (a) 2., 77.82 (12) (a) 4., 77.82 (12) (a) 5., 77.82 (12) (a) 6., 77.83 (1) (am), 77.83 (1) (d), 77.83 (2) (ar), 77.86 (1) (b) 2. a., 77.86 (1) (b) 2. b., 77.86 (1) (b) 2. c., 77.86 (1) (b) 2. d., 77.86 (1) (b) 2. e., 77.86 (1) (e), 77.86 (1) (f), 77.88 (2) (a) (title), 77.88 (2) (ac) (title), 77.88 (2m), 77.88 (3) (am), 77.88 (3) (b) 1. (intro.) and 2., 77.88 (3) (d), 77.88 (3j), 77.88 (3k), 77.88 (3L), 77.88 (4m), 77.88 (5) (ac), 77.88 (5) (af), 77.88 (5) (am) (title), 77.89 (1) (c), 77.91 (6) (d) and 77.91 (8) of the statutes; relating to: taxes on managed forest lands, eligibility for the managed forest land program, management plans for managed forest land, sale or transfer of managed forest land, productivity of managed forest land, closed managed forest land, forest production areas, natural heritage inventory, wildlife action plans, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
358,1
Section
1. 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated:
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See PDF for table 
358,2
Section
2. 20.370 (1) (cr) of the statutes is amended to read:
20.370 (1) (cr) Forestry — recording fees. All moneys received under ss. 77.82 (2m) (d) and (4) and 77.88 (2) (d) (ac) 1. for the payment of fees to the registers of deeds under s. 77.91 (5).
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Section
3. 20.370 (5) (dy) of the statutes is created to read:
20.370 (5) (dy) Resource aids — distribution of closed acreage fees. The amounts in the schedule for the payments to municipalities under s. 77.89 (1) (c) and the payments to counties and municipalities under 2015 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 100 (2).
358,4
Section
4. 23.0951 of the statutes is created to read:
23.0951 Wildlife action plan. The department may prepare a state wildlife action plan that identifies which native wildlife species with low or declining populations are most at risk and provides guidance for activities to conserve those species. The plan may not require action by property owners or the department. The department may not require that the plan be used as guidance on official department forms.
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Section
5. 26.06 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
26.06 (1) Foresters, forest supervisors, rangers and wardens of the department and the cruisers and foresters of the board of commissioners of public lands have the enforcement powers specified in s. 26.97 with respect to, and may seize, without process, any forest products unlawfully severed from public lands of the state, federal lands leased to the state, county forest lands entered under s. 28.11, forest croplands entered under subch. I of ch. 77 or managed forest land designated under subch. VI of ch. 77. Seized products cut from lands under the control of the board of commissioners of public lands shall be held for the commissioners and those cut from forest croplands, managed forest land or county forest shall be held for the owner, and subject to the payment of severance taxes, yield taxes or severance share thereon to the state. Products cut from state forest lands or federal lands leased to the department shall be appraised and sold. Products appraised at more than $500 shall be sold on sealed bids not less than 10 days after a class 1 notice has been published, under ch. 985, in the county where the material is located. Any sheriff may seize and hold for the owner thereof any forest products unlawfully severed or removed.
358,6
Section
6. 74.25 (1) (a) 6. of the statutes is amended to read:
74.25 (1) (a) 6. Pay to the county treasurer
20% 20 percent of collections of occupational taxes on coal docks, 20% 20 percent of collections of the taxes imposed under ss. 77.04 and 77.84 (2) (a) and, (am), and (bp), and all 20 percent of collections of payments for lands under s. 77.84 (2) (b), and (bm), and (bp).
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7. 74.30 (1) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:
74.30 (1) (f) Pay to the county treasurer 20% 20 percent of collections of occupational taxes on coal docks, 20% 20 percent of collections of the taxes imposed under ss. 77.04 and 77.84 (2) (a) and, (am), and (bp), and all 20 percent of collections of payments for lands under s. 77.84 (2) (b), and (bm), and (bp).
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Section
8. 75.36 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
75.36 (2) (a) If property is acquired by a county taking a tax deed under this chapter, the county is not required to pay any special charges or special assessments until the property is sold by the county. In the case of lands designated as forest croplands or managed forest lands, the county is not required to pay any taxes under s. 77.04, 77.07 or 77.87 until the forest crop is cut. The liens of the tax certificate and of all general property taxes, special assessments, special charges and special taxes levied against the property shall merge in the county's title.
77.06 (1) (a) No person shall cut any merchantable wood products on any forest croplands where the forest crop taxes are delinquent nor until 30 days after the owner has filed with the department of natural resources a notice of intention to cut, specifying by descriptions and the estimated amount of wood products to be removed and the proportion of present volume to be left as growing stock in the area to be cut. The department of natural resources may require a bond executed by some surety company licensed in this state or other surety for such amount as may reasonably be required for the payment to the department of natural resources of the severance tax hereinafter provided. Merchantable wood products include all wood products except wood used for fuel by the owner.
358,10
Section
10. 77.06 (1) (b) 2. of the statutes, as created by
2015 Wisconsin Act 55, is renumbered 77.06 (1) (b) 2. (intro.) and amended to read:
77.06 (1) (b) 2. (intro.) If
The department of natural resources may not prescribe the amount of forest products to be cut if the notice of intention to cut was provided to the department of natural resources by a any of the following:
a. A cooperating forester authorized under s. 28.05 to assist the state in the harvesting and sale of timber, or by a forester accredited by the Society of American Foresters, Association of Consulting Foresters, or Wisconsin Consulting Foresters, the department may not prescribe the amount of forest products to be removed.
358,11
Section
11. 77.06 (1) (b) 2. b. of the statutes is created to read:
77.06 (1) (b) 2. b. A forester accredited by the Society of American Foresters, Association of Consulting Foresters, or Wisconsin Consulting Foresters.
358,12
Section
12. 77.06 (1) (b) 2. c. of the statutes is created to read:
77.06 (1) (b) 2. c. A person who holds at least a bachelor's degree from a forestry program provided by a nationally or regionally accredited institution of higher education and who has 5 years of experience engaged in the full-time profession of managing forests, including timber harvesting, wildlife management, water quality, and recreation to maintain a healthy and productive forest.
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Section
13. 77.06 (1) (b) 2. d. of the statutes is created to read:
77.06 (1) (b) 2. d. A person who holds a degree or diploma from a 2-year forestry program provided by an accredited technical or vocational school and who has 5 years of experience engaged in the full-time profession of managing forests, including timber harvesting, wildlife management, water quality, and recreation to maintain a healthy and productive forest.
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Section
14. 77.06 (1) (b) 2. e. of the statutes is created to read:
77.06 (1) (b) 2. e. A person who has 5 years of experience engaged in the full-time profession of managing forests, including timber harvesting, wildlife management, water quality, and recreation to maintain a healthy and productive forest.
77.06 (1) (c) Cutting in excess of the amount prescribed by the department of natural resources, or cutting that the department finds is inconsistent with sound forestry practices, shall render the owner liable to double the severance tax prescribed in s. 77.06 (5) a forfeiture equal to 20 percent of the value of the timber cut and subject to cancellation under s. 77.10.
358,16
Section
16. 77.06 (5) of the statutes is repealed.
358,18
Section
18. 77.10 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
77.10 (1) (a) The department of natural resources shall on the application of the department of revenue or the owner of any forest croplands or the town board of the town in which said lands lie and may on its own motion at any time cause an investigation to be made and hearing to be had as to whether any forest croplands shall continue under this subchapter. If on such hearing after due notice to and opportunity to be heard by the department of revenue, the town and the owner, the department of natural resources finds that any such lands are not meeting the requirements set forth in s. 77.02 or that the owner has made use of the land for anything other than forestry or has failed to practice sound forestry on the land, the department of natural resources shall cancel the entry of such description and issue an order of withdrawal, and the owner shall be liable for the tax and penalty under sub. (2). Copies of the order of withdrawal specifying the description shall be filed by the department of natural resources with all officers designated to receive copies of the order of entry and withdrawal and this subchapter shall not thereafter apply to the lands withdrawn, except s. 77.07 so far as it may be needed to collect any previously levied severance or supplemental severance tax. If the owner shall not repay the amounts on or before the last day of February next succeeding the return of such lands to the general property tax roll as provided in sub. (4), the department of natural resources shall certify to the county treasurer the descriptions and the amounts due, and the county treasurer shall sell such lands as delinquent as described in s. 77.04 (2). Whenever any county clerk has certified to the taking of tax deed under s. 77.04 (2) the department of natural resources shall issue an order of withdrawal as to the lands covered in such tax deed. Such order may also be issued when examination of tax records reveals prolonged delinquency and noncompliance with the requirements of s. 77.04 (2).
358,19
Section
19. 77.81 (2r) of the statutes is created to read:
77.81 (2r) "Large property" means one or more separate parcels of land that are under the same ownership, that collectively are greater than 1,000 acres in size, and that are managed forest land or forest croplands or a combination thereof.
358,20
Section
20. 77.81 (4m) of the statutes is created to read:
77.81 (4m) "Natural disaster" means fire, ice, snow, wind, flooding, insects, drought, or disease.
358,21
Section
21. 77.81 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:
77.81 (6) "Recreational activities" include means recreational outdoor activities that are compatible with the practice of forestry, as determined by the department. "Recreational activities" includes hunting, fishing, hiking, sight-seeing, cross-country skiing, horseback riding, and staying in cabins.
358,22
Section
22. 77.82 (1) (a) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
77.82 (1) (a) 1. It consists of at least 10 20 contiguous acres, except as provided in this subdivision. The fact that a lake, river, stream or flowage, a public or private road or a railroad or utility right-of-way separates any part of the land from any other part does not render a parcel of land noncontiguous. If a part of a parcel of at least 10 20 contiguous acres is separated from another part of that parcel by a public road, that part of the parcel may be enrolled in the program, even if that part is less than 10 20 acres, if that part meets the requirement under subd. 2. and is not ineligible under par. (b). The owner of a parcel of less than 20 acres that is subject to a managed forest land order before the effective date of this subdivision .... [LRB inserts date], may apply one time for a renewal of the order under sub. (12) without meeting the 20-acre requirement.
358,23
Section
23. 77.82 (1) (b) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
77.82 (1) (b) 3. A parcel that is developed for a human residence on which a building or an improvement associated with a building is located.
358,24
Section
24. 77.82 (1) (b) 4. of the statutes is created to read:
77.82 (1) (b) 4. A parcel that is not accessible to the public on foot by public road or from other land open to public access. This subdivision does not apply to a parcel or part of a parcel that is closed to public access under s. 77.83 (1).
358,25
Section
25. 77.82 (1) (bn) of the statutes is repealed.
358,26
Section
26. 77.82 (1) (bp) of the statutes is created to read:
77.82 (1) (bp) 1. For purposes of par. (b) 3., and except as provided in subd. 2., an improvement is any of the following:
a. Any accessory building, structure, or fixture that is built or placed on the parcel for its benefit.
b. Landscaping that is done on the parcel.
2. An improvement does not include any of the following:
a. A public or private road.
