Most protective regulatory statutes apply to Federal and State land.
Few of the protective regulatory policies are specifically directed at managing private forests. In the vast majority of cases, forestry is affected only when certain activities are deemed to have the potential to impair water quality, air quality, or critical habitat for endangered species.
Most forestry operations are exempted from the permit requirements of Federal and State nonpoint-source pollution programs. Although provisions exist to encourage operators to meet voluntary best management practices (BMPs) and to bring polluters into compliance, these rely more heavily on education and technical assistance and less on fines and penalties.
In the majority of instances, implementation and enforcement duties for Federal protective regulatory statutes have been delegated to the States.
While meeting their environmental objectives, protective regulatory policies reduce overall production and raise unit costs for people who are raising timber crops.
