                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EXEMPTIONS FROM ARTICLE (§ 10.1-1163)

A. This article shall not apply to any acre of land on which there are present
at the time of final cutting of the timber 400 or more loblolly or white pine
seedlings, singly or together, four feet or more in height.

B. This article shall not apply to any person who clears or who procures another
to clear his land for bona fide agricultural or improved pasture purposes or for
the purpose of subdividing such land for sale for building sites. For the
purpose of this article, evidence of intent of bona fide agricultural or
improved pasture use shall require, as a minimum and within twelve months from
the date of completion of commercial cutting, that the land intended for such
use be cleared of all trees, snags, brush, tree tops, and debris by piling and
burning or otherwise disposing of same, or by enclosing the area with a
well-constructed fence and planting grass seed thereon so as to make a bona fide
improved pasture. In the case of clearing for building sites evidence of intent
shall be the construction of dwellings or other bona fide structure in progress
or completed within two years from the date of completion of commercial cutting.

C. This article shall not apply to land which has been zoned for a more
intensive land use than agricultural or forestal use.

D. The provisions of this article shall not apply to any acre or acres of forest
land for which a planting, cutting or management plan has been prepared,
designed to provide conservation of natural resources, and which plan has been
submitted to and approved by the State Forester previous to the cutting of any
trees on the acre or acres concerned. If such plan has been submitted to the
State Forester by registered or certified mail and he has not approved the plan,
or disapproved it with a statement in writing of his reasons therefor, within a
period of sixty days from the date of submission, the plan shall be deemed
approved and shall be effective for the purposes of this section.

E. The State Forester may grant exemptions from this article to individual
landowners who wish to grow hardwoods on their property. The State Forester may
place conditions on the exemption as he deems advisable for the conservation of
natural resources.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 10-81, 10-82, 10-83; 1950, p. 58; 1952, c. 412; 1956,
c. 75; 1960, c. 244; 1988, c. 891; 1996, c. 285; 1997, c. 146.