MONTANA 



Under legislation adopted in 1957 (Revised 

 Statutes Section 84-429.12), the Board of 

 Equalization was called upon to provide a "gen- 

 eral and uniform" method of classifying lands 

 for assessment. Timberlands were specifically 

 included in this requirement. 



The timberland aspects of the project were 

 divided into four phases: 



I Area determination 

 II Timber stand volume table prepara- 

 tion 



III Valuation table preparation 



IV Tax assessment 



Phases I and II were accomplished in the 

 main by the State Forester assisted for timber 



stand volume table determination by representa- 

 tives of the timber industry and Federal For- 

 esters. An Operational Manual for Inven- 

 tory of Private Forest Land — Phase I Area 

 Determination was published in 1958. This 

 manual of about 40 pages outlines the general 

 plan for forest land and timber assessments. 

 With specific reference to area determination, 

 the manual covers forest land area determina- 

 tion and classification, field checking proce- 

 dures, preparation of base maps, and area cal- 

 culation. Land use, forest type, stand-size, 

 stocking, access, and topography classes are de- 

 fined. The access and topography classification 

 is shown in the table reproduced below. 



Access and Topography Classification Table 



Access and 

 topography 



Road development 

 characteristic to tract 



Topography on tract 



Distance from man- 

 ufacturing point** 



Total grade 

 in class* 



FAVORABLE 



Grade R-l 



Tract within 1 mile of usable 



road. Easy Road construction. 



No rock outcrops or swamp 



barriers. 



Grade T-l 



Flat to gentle Slopes generally 



under 40%. No rock outcrops 



or swamps. Good tractor logging 



grd. 



Grade D-l 



Less than 25 miles 



3 and 4 



AVERAGE 



Grade R-2 



Tract 1 to 3 miles from usable 

 road. No difficult road prob- 

 lems. Average construction. 



Grade T-2 



Variable slopes under 60%. Some 

 rock outcrop or swampy ground. 

 Average logging conditions. 



Grade D-2 

 25 to 50 miles 



5, 6 and 7 



DIFFICULT 



Grade R-3 



Tract 3 to 6 miles from usable 

 road. Also includes tracts closer, 

 but with difficult construction 

 problems such as rock or water 

 barriers and rough terrain. 



Grade T-3 



Rough, broken ground. Steep 

 slopes. Numerous rock outcrops 

 and bluffs or other features 

 which make logging difficult. 



Grade D-3 

 50 to 90 miles 



8 and 9 



IMPRACTICAL 



Grade R-4 



Tract over 6 miles from usable 



road. 



Grade T-3 



(Same as above) 



Grade D-4 

 90-120 miles 



10 and Over 



UNPRODUCTIVE 



Any one of the following factors will place the tract into this class: 



Extreme physical barriers preventing accessibility. Extreme low grade of land and timber. 



(See specifications for unproductive noncommercial forest land) 



If legal barriers, (Rights of way, etc.) or reservations for recreation, watershed or other use which will 



prevent logging for an indefinite period do exist, determination will be made by the County Assessors. 



* Class of Accessibility and Topography is determined by the sum of the numerical values of the grade average to tract in 

 each of the divisions of this classification. 



**A manufacturing point is defined as: a location with planer facilities to produced finished (S 4 S) lumber (or equivalent) 

 which has been, or appears will be, in continuous seasonal operation for five (5) years and has an annual output of at least one 

 million board feet (1,000 Mbf). 



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