West Virginia Code § 19-1A-3

Division of Forestry; Division Director; duties, powers, dedication of
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certain moneys; creation of a special revenue account.
The Division of Forestry heretofore created is hereby continued. And, except as otherwise
provided in this article, all powers and duties previously exercised by the Director of Natural
Resources under subsection (13), section seven, article one and article three, chapter twenty
of this code, except those powers and duties relating solely to wildlife arease as described in
section three, article three, chapter twenty of this code, heretofore transferred to the
Division of Forestry, are hereby continued in the Division of Forestry, erxcept Kanawha State
Forest as hereinafter provided. The Division of Forestry has within its jurisdiction and
supervision the state forests, other forests and woodland areas, the protection of forest
areas from injury and damage by fire, disease, insects and other pestilences and forces, the
management of forest areas for natural resources, conservattion and undeveloped
recreational activities, administration of the southeastern interstate forest fire protection
compact and other compacts and agreements relating to forest management and husbandry,
and the administration and enforcement of laws relating to the conservation, development,
protection, use and enjoyment of all forest land areas of the state consistent with the
provisions of sections one and two of this article. All moneys collected from the sale of
timber realized through management of the state-owned forests and the sale of seedlings
from the tree nurseries shall be paid into the state Treasury and shall be credited to a
special account within the Division of Forestry and used exclusively for the purposes of this
article and article three, chapter twenty of this code.
The Division of Forestry has jurisdiction to regulate the growing, digging, collecting,
gathering, possession anLd sale of ginseng as provided in section three-a, of this article.
The chief of the Division is the Director of the Division of Forestry who shall be appointed
and qualified as provided in section five of this article.
The Director of the Division of Forestry shall study means and methods of implementing the
proWvisions of section fifty-three, Article VI of the Constitution of West Virginia, relating to
forest lands, and shall prepare and recommend legislation thereon.
The Division lines within the state Forests between improved recreation areas under the
management of the Division of Natural Resources and the demonstration forests under the
management of the Division of Forestry, heretofore established by agreement, are hereby
continued with the exception of Kanawha State Forest where the entire forest will be
managed by and under the jurisdiction of the Division of Natural Resources for multiple uses
and the Division of Natural Resources shall continue to provide recreational opportunities,
including, but not limited to, mountain-biking trails, hiking trails, horseback-riding trails and
hunting, fishing and trapping lands. The forest may not be designated as a state park or
state recreation area; however, any sale of timber from Kanawha State Forest shall continue
to be prohibited.
In the event of disagreement over the placement of a Division line or dual occupancy of a
building, the disposition shall be decided by the Legislature's Joint Committee on
Government and Finance at a regularly scheduled meeting.

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