Subd. 1. Establishment.

The commissioner shall coordinate the establishment of an interagency information cooperative. Members of the cooperative must include:

1. (1) the department;
2. (2) the land management information center;
3. (3) the Minnesota association of county land commissioners;
4. (4) the United States Forest Service; and
5. (5) other organizations as deemed appropriate by the commissioner.

Subd. 2. Purpose.

The purposes of the cooperative are to:

1. (1) coordinate the development and use of forest resources data in the state;
2. (2) promote the development of statewide guidelines and common language to enhance the ability of public and private organizations and institutions to share forest resources data;
3. (3) promote the development of information systems that support access to important forest resources data;
4. (4) promote improvement in the accuracy, reliability, and statistical soundness of fundamental forest resources data;
5. (5) promote linkages and integration of forest resources data to other natural resource information;
6. (6) promote access and use of forest resources data and information systems in decision-making by a variety of public and private organizations;
7. (7) promote expanding the capacity and reliability of forest growth, succession, and other types of ecological models; and
8. (8) conduct a needs assessment for improving the quality and quantity of information systems.

Subd. 3. Report.

The information cooperative shall report to the council its accomplishments in fulfilling the responsibilities identified in this section.

* NOTE: This section, as added *by Laws 1995, chapter 220, section 86, is repealed by Laws 1995, *chapter 220, section 141, paragraph (b), effective June 30, *2001. Laws 1995, chapter 220, section 142, as amended by Laws *1995, chapter 263, section 12; Laws 1996, chapter 351, section *1; and Laws 1999, chapter 231, section 191.