The complete overhaul of the 50-year-old regulation aims to ease administrative burdens on participating forest owners while maintaining and improving sustainable timber management on registered lands. The DEC is hosting two virtual public comment hearings on the proposed changes on January 21, 2025 and is accepting public comments until January 27, 2025.

“Healthy, well-managed forests are essential to supporting our economy, protecting water and air quality, providing habitat for wildlife, and improving forest carbon storage and sequestration,” Mahar said. “Since private forests represent approximately 74 percent of New York State’s total forest land area, the Forest Tax Act program provides important incentives for long-term timber resource management under under the direction of a professional forester, and the changes proposed today will ensure that this program continues to provide the support necessary for the growth of our forests of the future. I encourage all interested stakeholders to review the proposal and provide comments to help us modernize this important conservation tool.

New York State enacted Forest Tax Law 480a in 1974 to encourage long-term management of forested lands to produce forest crops and thereby increase the likelihood of a more stable forest economy. Through the new and revised regulations, the DEC seeks to build upon and enhance this successful program to ensure the continued sustainability of forest ownership over time. In 2022, draft regulations were published and public comments were collected. The recently published draft regulation incorporates these comments.

The proposed changes include, but are not limited to:

• Extend the period covered by an approved forest management plan from 15 to 20 years and require fewer plan updates;
• Provide more flexibility to registered landowners to carry out forestry treatments by changing the work schedule from annual deadlines to a 10-year work window;
• Strengthen requirements for forest sustainability on listed lands, for example by requiring efforts to establish adequate forest regeneration and explicitly prohibiting high classification (removing most commercially valuable trees at the expense of future growth and future financial return, often leaving a forest in poor condition); And
• Establish a training requirement for consulting foresters working with forest tax law clients to help set clear expectations and standardize the administration of forest tax law across the State.

The proposed changes would come into effect on March 1, 2025.

Virtual public comment hearings will take place on January 21, 2025, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Public comments will be accepted until January 27, 2025 by writing to: NYSDEC Private Lands and Forest Utilization Section, Bureau of Forest Resource. Management 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-7254 or by email at: [email protected].

For more information on the new and revised regulations, as well as how to participate in public comment hearings, visit the DEC website.