Subd. 1. Membership.

The Minnesota forest resources council has 13 members appointed by the governor. Council membership must include one representative from each of the following:

1. (1) an organization representing environmental interests within the state;
2. (2) an organization representing the interests of management of game species;
3. (3) a conservation organization;
4. (4) an association representing forest products industry within the state;
5. (5) a commercial logging contractor active in a forest product association;
6. (6) a statewide association representing the resort and tourism industry;
7. (7) a faculty or researcher of a Minnesota research or higher educational institution;
8. (8) an owner of nonindustrial, private forest land of 40 acres or more;
9. (9) an agricultural woodlot owner;
10. (10) the department;
11. (11) a county land commissioner who is a member of the Minnesota association of county land commissioners;
12. (12) the United States Forest Service unit with land management responsibility in Minnesota; and
13. (13) a labor organization with membership having an interest in forest resource issues.

Subd. 2. Purpose.

The council shall develop recommendations to the governor and to federal, state, county, and local governments with respect to forest resource policies and practices that result in the sustainable management, use, and protection of the state's forest resources. The policies and practices must:

1. (1) acknowledge the interactions of complex sustainable forest resources, multiple ownership patterns, and local to international economic forces;
2. (2) give equal consideration to the long-term economic, ecological, and social needs and limits of the state's forest resources;
3. (3) foster the productivity of the state's forests to provide a diversity of sustainable benefits at site-levels and landscape-levels;
4. (4) enhance the ability of the state's forest resources to provide future benefits and services;
5. (5) foster no net loss of forest land in Minnesota:
6. (6) encourage appropriate mixes of forest cover types and age classes within landscapes to promote biological diversity and viable forest-dependent fish and wildlife habitats;
7. (7) encourage collaboration and coordination with multiple constituencies in planning and managing the state's forest resources; and
8. (8) address the environmental impacts and their mitigations as recommended in the generic environmental impact statement on timber harvesting.

Subd. 3. Council meetings.

The council shall establish procedures for conducting its meetings in accordance with section 471.705 that include provisions for seeking and incorporating public input.

Subd. 4. Council officers and staff.

The council shall elect a chair from among its members. The council may employ an executive director and administrative assistant. Technical expertise that will enable the council to carry out its functions must be provided to the council by those interests represented on the council.

Subd. 5. Membership regulation.

Terms, compensation, nomination, appointment, and removal of council members are governed by section 15.059. Section 15.059, subdivision 5, does not govern the expiration date of the council.

Subd. 6. Report.

By January 1, 1997, the council shall prepare a report to the governor and legislature on the status of the state's forest resources, and strategic directions to provide for their management, use, and protection. Information generated by the reporting requirements in this chapter must be incorporated in the council's report. To the extent possible, the council's report must also identify the activities and accomplishments of various programs that directly affect the state's forest resources.

Subd. 7. Review of forest resources plan and assessment.

The council shall undertake a review of the forest resource management plan and forest assessment requirements contained in section 89.011, and report to the commissioner no later than July 1, 1996, on the appropriateness and effectiveness of these requirements, including recommendations for enhancing existing forest resource planning processes. The council shall review draft statewide and district forest resource planning documents, and incorporate the findings, including any recommendation, of such reviews in its biennial report specified in subdivision 6.