CHAPTER 75

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 10-75 and 10-76 as amended, 10-77, 10-78,
10-79 as amended, 10-81, 10-82 and 10-83 as amended, of the Code of
Virginia, and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections num-
bered 10-74.2, 10-76.1 and 10-79.1, the amended and new sections all
being a part of Title 10, Chapter 4, Article 6 of the Code of Virginia,
relating to conservation of certain trees, so as to make its provisions
applicable to additional kinds of trees, make violations thereof a mis-
demeanor and require violators to post certain bond; and to repeal
§ 10-80 as amended, of the Code of Virginia which makes Title 10,
Chapter 4, Article 6 of the Code inapplicable to certain counties.
CH. 75] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 7

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: -
1. That §§ 10-75 and 10-76 as amended, 10-77, 10-78, 10-79 as amended,
10-81, 10-82 and 10-83 as amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended and
reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia be amended by adding sections
numbered 10-74.2, 10-76.1 and 10-79.1 as follows:

Article 6
* Seed Trees

§ 10-74.2. The provisions of this article requiring the leaving of pond
pine or white pine or tulip poplar seed trees on an acre or acres shall not
apply to timber cutting rights acquired prior to July one, nineteen hundred
fifty-six; provided further that the provisions of this article shall not apply
in those counties in which this article is not effective on June thirty, nine-
teen hundred fifty-six, to loblolly, shortleaf, pond or white pine or tulip
poplar cutting rights acquired prior to July one, nineteen hundred fifty-siz.

§ 10-75. For the purpose of this article:

“Tree” means any tree of a currently commercially valuable species
which is * six inches or more in diameter; and

“Diameter” means the distance through a tree at the point of average
thickness as measured from outside of bark to outside of bark at a point on
the trunk * ten inches above the general ground level; and

“Person” means any landowner, owner of timber, owner of timber
rights, sawmill operator, sawmill owner, veneer wood operator, pulpwood
contractor or any person engaged in the business of severing timber from
the stump.

§ 10-76. Every landowner who cuts, or permits to be cut, or any person
who is responsible for cutting, or actually cuts, or any person who procures
another to cut, or any person who owns the timber at the time of cutting
and knowingly and wilfully allows to be cut, for commercial purposes,
timber from one acre or more of land on any acre on which loblolly pine
(Pinus taeda), * shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), pond pine (Pinus sero-
tina), or white pine (Pinus strobus), singly or together, occur and const
tute ten per cent or more of the live trees on each acre or acres, shall re-
serve and leave uncut and uninjured not less than four cone-bearing loblolly,
* shortleaf, pond or white pine trees * fourteen inches or larger in diameter
on each acre thus cut and upon each acre on which loblolly, * shortleaf, pond
or white pine, singly or together, occur as aforesaid; provided that where
there are not present four cone-bearing loblolly, * shortleaf, pond or white
pine trees fourteen inches or larger in diameter on any particular acre,
there shall be left uncut and uninjured in place of each cone-bearing loblolly,
* shortleaf, pond or white pine tree of this required diameter class not
present two such cone-bearing pine trees of the largest diameter present
less than fourteen inches in diameter. Such pine trees shall be left uncut
for the purpose of reseeding the land and shall be healthy, windfirm, and
of well developed crowns, evidencing seed bearing ability by the presence
of cones in the crowns. *

§ 10-76.1. Every landowner who cuts, or permits to be cut, or any
person who is responsible for cutting, or actually cuts, or any person who
procures another to cut, or any person who owns the timber at the time of
cutting and knowingly and wilfully allows to be cut, for commercial pur-
poses, timber from one acre or more of land on any acre or acres on which
tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) occurs shall reserve and leave uncut
and uninjured not less than two tulip poplar trees fourteen inches or
larger in diameter on each acre thus cut and on each acre or acres on which
tulip poplar occurs as aforesaid; provided, that where there are not present
two tulip poplar trees fourteen inches in diameter on any particular acre,
there shall be left uncut and uninjured in place of each such tulip poplar
tree of this required diameter class not present two tulip poplar trees of
78 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [VA., 1956

the largest diameter present less than fourteen inches in diameter. Such
tulip poplar trees shall be left uncut for the purpose of reseeding the land
and shall be healthy, windfirm and of well developed crowns.

§ 10-77. Pine and tulip poplar trees, which are left uncut for purposes

of reseeding, shall be the property of the landowner but shall not be cut
until at least ten years have elapsed after the cutting of the timber on
such lands.
§ 10-78. The State Forester shall distribute notices calling attention
to the Provisions of this article * in conspicuous places in all counties
where * such pine and tulip poplar timber grows in appreciable quantities,
and may cause such notices to be published in newspapers of general circu-
lation in such counties.

§ 10-79. Any person violating any of the provisions of this article
shall * be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be fined ten
dollars for each such seed tree cut from the land on which it is required
by this article to be left. *

It shall be the duty of the Commonwealth’s * Attorney of the county in
which the violation was committed to prosecute all violators of this article.

§ 10-79.1. Upon conviction, the Trial Justice or Circuit Court Judge
shall require the person convicted of violation to immediately post with
the court a cash deposit or the bond of a reputable security company in the
amount of twenty dollars for each and every acre, or part thereof, adjudged
to be in violation of this article.

The Trial Justice or Circuit Court Judge shall hold the cash deposit
or bond in a special account, until it is used or released as hereinafter
provided.

The cash deposit or bond shall be furnished to insure that the acre
or acres in violation shall be planted with tree seedlings of the same species
as the trees cut in violation of this article.

The person convicted of violating this article may, within one year
next following the date of conviction, plant the acre or acres in violation
with the same tree seedling species, or with species in proportion to the
species of seed trees cut, at the rate of six hundred seedlings per acre
planted in suitable open spots well distributed over each acre, and planted
in a manner and during the period of year recommended by the State
Forester. Following the planting, the person shall immediately notify the
State Forester in writing that the area has been planted. The State
Forester shall then inspect the planted area, and if he finds that the acre
or acres in violation have been planted in the manner and during the period
of year prescribed by the State Forester, he shall then notify the Trial
Justice or Circuit Court Judge in writing, who shall then release the cash
deposit or bond of the person depositing it.

If, upon inspection, the State Forester finds that the acre or acres
or any part thereof have not been planted in the manner and during the
period of year prescribed by him, or that the acre or acres have not been
planted previous to one year following date of conviction, the State
Forester shall then plant the acre or acres during the next following plant-
tng season, and do such cultural work as is advisable and made necessary
by reason of the delayed planting, keeping a careful and accurate account
of all costs incurred, including a reasonable administrative cost. Following
completion of the planting operation the State Forester shall, if a cash
deposit has been posted, submit a certified statement to the Trial Justice
or Circuit Court Judge who shall pay from the cash deposit on hand to
the State Forester the amount shown on the statement provided the
amount does not exceed twenty dollars per acre or part of acre; if a bond
has been posted, the State Forester shall submit such statement to the
Commonwealth’s Attorney of the county in which the violation was com-
CHS. 75, 76] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 73

mitted, who shall proceed to collect the amount thereof and remit the
same to the State Forester. Any balance of a cash deposit remaining after
the payment of the State Forester’s cost of planting as shown on his
statement shall be returned to the person making such deposit.

In no case shall the State Forester be required to expend more than.
twenty dollars per acre for planting and cultural operations. :

§ 10-81. This article shall not apply to any acre of land on which
there are present at the time of final cutting of the timber as many as *
six hundred or more loblolly, * shortleaf, pond or white pine or tulip
poplar seedlings, singly or together, six feet or more in height. *

§ 10-82. Nothing contained in this article shall apply to any land-
owner or person who clears or who procures another to clear his land
for bona fide agricultural or improved pasture purposes or for the pur-
pose of subdividing such land for sale for building sites. For the pur-
pose of this article, evidence of intent of bona fide agricultural or improved
pasture use shall require, as a minimum and within twelve months from
the date of completion of commercial cutting, that the land intended for
such use shall be cleared of all trees, snags, brush, tree tops, and debris by
piling and burning or otherwise disposing of same, or * by enclosing the
* area with a well constructed fence and planting grass seed thereon so
as to make a bona fide improved pasture; and in the case of clearing for
building sites that the construction of dwellings or other bona fide struc-
ture shall be in progress or completed within * two years from * date
of completion of * commercial cutting.

§ 10-88. The provisions of this article shall not apply to any acre or
acres of forest land for which a planting, cutting or management plan
has been prepared, designed to procure the reproduction of and maintain,
the growth of young thrifty trees of commercially valuable species, and
which plan has been submitted to and approved by the State Forester
previous to the cutting of any trees on the acre or acres concerned; nor
shall the provisions of this article * which required the leaving of pine
seed trees on acres where less than fifty per cent of the trees are loblolly
or shortleaf pine, singly or together, apply to timber cutting rights ac-
quired prior to July one, nineteen hundred fifty. ¢
2. § 10-80, as amended, of the Code of Virginia is repealed.