Disposal of Forest Products and Other Vegetative Resources

1. Acceptable Appraisal Methods:

1. Ten percent of the local market selling price for the product (firewood, posts, poles, nuts, cones, transplants, etc.);
2. A comparative product sale analysis (Sawtimber or higher valued products); or
3. A residual value analysis, whereby cost obtaining and transporting the product to the market place are subtracted from the selling price at the market, including profit and risk;
4. Use the below Minimum Price List.

1. Collection of Road Maintenance Funds

1. Road maintenance funds may be collected for all vegetative products sold.  The minimum road maintenance fee collected is 20 percent of the total product value (rounded to the closet dollar).  Examples:  A two cord firewood contract sold at $5 per cord would have $2 deposited into the road maintenance account; a $3 Christmas tree tag would have $1 deposited into the road maintenance account.  Road maintenance funds are in addition to the product value (i.e., a $10 firewood contract with a $2 road maintenance charge equals a $12 total contract value).

2. Deposits of Road Maintenance Funds

1. Road maintenance funds are to be deposited into the L91200000 road maintenance fee account.  Those funds deposited come back to the office that deposited the funds minus a surcharge to manage the account.

3. Use of Road Maintenance Funds (L91200000)

1. The functional area L91200000 funds are derived primarily from the sale of forest/vegetative products, and are only to be used for the repair or maintenance of roads that service forest/vegetative product harvest areas.

2. The L91200000 road maintenance functional area is to be managed by the State Forestry Program Lead in coordination with the Division of Financial Management.

3. The State Forestry Program Lead will annually prioritize any forest products access roads requiring maintenance and provide the list to the appropriate management staff in a timely manner.

3.  The following is the policy concerning Free Use for forest and other vegetative products disposed of from BLM-administered lands within the State of Arizona.

1. The objective of the Free Use and Non-Sale Disposal authorities is to provide reasonable quantities of timber and other vegetative resources free of charge to qualified individuals, nonprofit associations or corporation, and Federal, State and local Government agencies, when it can be demonstrated that such disposal will also benefit management of the public lands.
2. A Free Use Permit will not be granted to an applicant who owns or controls land with an adequate supply of timber or materials to meet his needs (43 CFR 5511.3-2.(b)).
3. In special circumstances, where it serves the interest of the Government, and where several attempts have been made to dispose of forest and other vegetal products at minimum value, Free Use Permits may be granted to the general public.  In this situation, written documentation will be approved by the District Manager and attached to the file copy of the Free Use Permit and included in the project folder.
4. The only form authorized for issuing Free Use Permits is BLM Form 5510-1, Free Use Application and Permit.
5. Free Use Permits issued to governmental units have no dollar limit per calendar year, but the vegetative materials must be used for public projects.
6. Free Use Permits issued to nonprofit organizations have a dollar limit of $100 worth of vegetative material during any one calendar year.
7. The time limit or expiration time for any Free Use Permit may not exceed six (6) months from the effective date of the permit.
8. Under no circumstances will the products under a Free Use Permit be sold or bartered.

1. Reporting Procedures
   There are now several systems for reporting forest product sales. The Timber Sale Information System for timber sales, Stewardship Contracting Information Database for stewardship contracts, Special Forest Products (SFP) for SFP and Trespass for reporting timber trespasses.

1. Offices will utilize the SFP database to report all disposals of forest products and other vegetative resources, using forms:

2. The data entry is reported in SFP (Attachment 2).  After the permit is filled out, data entry in SFP is required.  Use the request access button on the Forest Resource Information System (FRIS) Launchpad to request access to the SFP application or contact Lisa Thornley, State Forestry Program Lead.  The FRIS Launchpad has a training video for using the SFP database.  When using Form 5450-24, the permit can be printed directly from the database.

3. See Attachment 3, Procedures for Permitting the Sale of Special Forest Products, for recommended procedures to be used when completing contracts for forest or vegetative sales.