1.1    .................... moves to amend H. F. No. 1651, the first committee engrossment,
1.2as follows:
1.3Page 41, after line 34, insert:

1.4    "Sec. 23. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 90.161, is amended by adding a subdivision
1.5to read:
1.6    Subd. 4. Change of security. Prior to any harvest activity, or activities incidental
1.7to the preparation for harvest, a purchaser having posted a bond for 100 percent of the
1.8purchase price of a sale may request the release of the bond and the commissioner
1.9shall grant such release upon cash payment to the commissioner of the down payment
1.10requirement of the sale, plus interest."
1.11Page 74, after line 17, insert:

1.12    "Sec. 71. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 282.04, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.13    Subdivision 1. Timber sales; land leases and uses. (a) The county auditor may
1.14sell timber upon any tract that may be approved by the natural resources commissioner.
1.15The sale of timber shall be made for cash at not less than the appraised value determined
1.16by the county board to the highest bidder after not less than one week's published notice
1.17in an official paper within the county. Any timber offered at the public sale and not sold
1.18may thereafter be sold at private sale by the county auditor at not less than the appraised
1.19value thereof, until the time as the county board may withdraw the timber from sale. The
1.20appraised value of the timber and the forestry practices to be followed in the cutting of
1.21said timber shall be approved by the commissioner of natural resources.
1.22    (b) Payment of the full sale price of all timber sold on tax-forfeited lands shall be
1.23made in cash at the time of the timber sale, except in the case of oral or sealed bid auction
1.24sales, the down payment shall be no less than 15 percent of the appraised value, and the
1.25balance shall be paid prior to entry. In the case of auction sales that are partitioned and
1.26sold as a single sale with predetermined cutting blocks, the down payment shall be no less
2.1than 15 percent of the appraised price of the entire timber sale which may be held until the
2.2satisfactory completion of the sale or applied in whole or in part to the final cutting block.
2.3The value of each separate block must be paid in full before any cutting may begin in that
2.4block. With the permission of the county contract administrator the purchaser may enter
2.5unpaid blocks and cut necessary timber incidental to developing logging roads as may
2.6be needed to log other blocks provided that no timber may be removed from an unpaid
2.7block until separately scaled and paid for. If payment is provided as specified in this
2.8paragraph as security under paragraph (a) and no cutting has taken place on the contract,
2.9the county auditor may credit the security provided, less any down payment required for
2.10an auction sale under this paragraph, to any other contract issued to the contract holder
2.11by the county under this chapter to which the contract holder requests in writing that it
2.12be credited, provided the request and transfer is made within the same calendar year as
2.13the security was received.
2.14    (c) The county board may require final settlement on the basis of a scale of cut
2.15products sell any timber, including biomass, as appraised or scaled. Any parcels of land
2.16from which timber is to be sold by scale of cut products shall be so designated in the
2.17published notice of sale under paragraph (a), in which case the notice shall contain a
2.18description of the parcels, a statement of the estimated quantity of each species of timber,
2.19and the appraised price of each species of timber for 1,000 feet, per cord or per piece, as
2.20the case may be. In those cases any bids offered over and above the appraised prices shall
2.21be by percentage, the percent bid to be added to the appraised price of each of the different
2.22species of timber advertised on the land. The purchaser of timber from the parcels shall
2.23pay in cash at the time of sale at the rate bid for all of the timber shown in the notice of
2.24sale as estimated to be standing on the land, and in addition shall pay at the same rate for
2.25any additional amounts which the final scale shows to have been cut or was available for
2.26cutting on the land at the time of sale under the terms of the sale. Where the final scale
2.27of cut products shows that less timber was cut or was available for cutting under terms
2.28of the sale than was originally paid for, the excess payment shall be refunded from the
2.29forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the purchaser, to be audited and allowed by the
2.30county board as in case of other claims against the county. No timber, except hardwood
2.31pulpwood, may be removed from the parcels of land or other designated landings until
2.32scaled by a person or persons designated by the county board and approved by the
2.33commissioner of natural resources. Landings other than the parcel of land from which
2.34timber is cut may be designated for scaling by the county board by written agreement
2.35with the purchaser of the timber. The county board may, by written agreement with the
2.36purchaser and with a consumer designated by the purchaser when the timber is sold by the
3.1county auditor, and with the approval of the commissioner of natural resources, accept the
3.2consumer's scale of cut products delivered at the consumer's landing. No timber shall be
3.3removed until fully paid for in cash. Small amounts of timber not exceeding $3,000 in
3.4appraised valuation may be sold for not less than the full appraised value at private sale
3.5to individual persons without first publishing notice of sale or calling for bids, provided
3.6that in case of a sale involving a total appraised value of more than $200 the sale shall be
3.7made subject to final settlement on the basis of a scale of cut products in the manner above
3.8provided and not more than two of the sales, directly or indirectly to any individual shall
3.9be in effect at one time.
3.10    (d) As directed by the county board, the county auditor may lease tax-forfeited land
3.11to individuals, corporations or organized subdivisions of the state at public or private sale,
3.12and at the prices and under the terms as the county board may prescribe, for use as cottage
3.13and camp sites and for agricultural purposes and for the purpose of taking and removing of
3.14hay, stumpage, sand, gravel, clay, rock, marl, and black dirt from the land, and for garden
3.15sites and other temporary uses provided that no leases shall be for a period to exceed ten
3.16years; provided, further that any leases involving a consideration of more than $12,000 per
3.17year, except to an organized subdivision of the state shall first be offered at public sale in
3.18the manner provided herein for sale of timber. Upon the sale of any leased land, it shall
3.19remain subject to the lease for not to exceed one year from the beginning of the term of the
3.20lease. Any rent paid by the lessee for the portion of the term cut off by the cancellation
3.21shall be refunded from the forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the lessee, to be
3.22audited and allowed by the county board as in case of other claims against the county.
3.23    (e) As directed by the county board, the county auditor may lease tax-forfeited land
3.24to individuals, corporations, or organized subdivisions of the state at public or private sale,
3.25at the prices and under the terms as the county board may prescribe, for the purpose
3.26of taking and removing for use for road construction and other purposes tax-forfeited
3.27stockpiled iron-bearing material. The county auditor must determine that the material is
3.28needed and suitable for use in the construction or maintenance of a road, tailings basin,
3.29settling basin, dike, dam, bank fill, or other works on public or private property, and
3.30that the use would be in the best interests of the public. No lease shall exceed ten years.
3.31The use of a stockpile for these purposes must first be approved by the commissioner of
3.32natural resources. The request shall be deemed approved unless the requesting county
3.33is notified to the contrary by the commissioner of natural resources within six months
3.34after receipt of a request for approval for use of a stockpile. Once use of a stockpile has
3.35been approved, the county may continue to lease it for these purposes until approval is
3.36withdrawn by the commissioner of natural resources.
4.1    (f) The county auditor, with the approval of the county board is authorized to grant
4.2permits, licenses, and leases to tax-forfeited lands for the depositing of stripping, lean
4.3ores, tailings, or waste products from mines or ore milling plants, upon the conditions and
4.4for the consideration and for the period of time, not exceeding 15 years, as the county
4.5board may determine. The permits, licenses, or leases are subject to approval by the
4.6commissioner of natural resources.
4.7    (g) Any person who removes any timber from tax-forfeited land before said
4.8timber has been scaled and fully paid for as provided in this subdivision is guilty of a
4.9misdemeanor.
4.10    (h) The county auditor may, with the approval of the county board, and without first
4.11offering at public sale, grant leases, for a term not exceeding 25 years, for the removal
4.12of peat and for the production or removal of farm-grown closed-loop biomass as defined
4.13in section 216B.2424, subdivision 1, or short-rotation woody crops from tax-forfeited
4.14lands upon the terms and conditions as the county board may prescribe. Any lease for
4.15the removal of peat, farm-grown closed-loop biomass, or short-rotation woody crops
4.16from tax-forfeited lands must first be reviewed and approved by the commissioner of
4.17natural resources if the lease covers 320 or more acres. No lease for the removal of
4.18peat, farm-grown closed-loop biomass, or short-rotation woody crops shall be made by
4.19the county auditor pursuant to this section without first holding a public hearing on the
4.20auditor's intention to lease. One printed notice in a legal newspaper in the county at least
4.21ten days before the hearing, and posted notice in the courthouse at least 20 days before
4.22the hearing shall be given of the hearing.
4.23    (i) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (c) to the contrary, the St. Louis
4.24County auditor may, at the discretion of the county board, sell timber to the party who
4.25bids the highest price for all the several kinds of timber, as provided for sales by the
4.26commissioner of natural resources under section 90.14. Bids offered over and above the
4.27appraised price need not be applied proportionately to the appraised price of each of
4.28the different species of timber.
4.29    (j) In lieu of any payment or deposit required in paragraph (b), as directed by the
4.30county board and under terms set by the county board, the county auditor may accept an
4.31irrevocable bank letter of credit in the amount equal to the amount otherwise determined
4.32in paragraph (b). If an irrevocable bank letter of credit is provided under this paragraph,
4.33at the written request of the purchaser, the county may periodically allow the bank letter
4.34of credit to be reduced by an amount proportionate to the value of timber that has been
4.35harvested and for which the county has received payment. The remaining amount of
4.36the bank letter of credit after a reduction under this paragraph must not be less than 20
5.1percent of the value of the timber purchased. If an irrevocable bank letter of credit or
5.2cash deposit is provided for the down payment required in paragraph (b), and no cutting
5.3of timber has taken place on the contract for which a letter of credit has been provided,
5.4the county may allow the transfer of the letter of credit to any other contract issued to the
5.5contract holder by the county under this chapter to which the contract holder requests in
5.6writing that it be credited."