Rules adopted pursuant to this section must require that timber harvesting activities be conducted with attention to long- term forest management principles. The rules must include appropriate exemptions, including, but not limited to, exemptions for landowners and land managers with independent 3rd-party certification, harvests covering small acreages and permitted land conversions. The rules must apportion appropriate legal responsibilities to landowners, foresters and loggers for compliance with the rules.

The Commissioner of Conservation shall consult with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to ensure that Bureau of Forestry rules regarding forestry practices are consistent with environmental and wildlife habitat protection.

Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A and must be submitted to the Legislature no later than March 1, 2004 for review.

PART B

Sec. B-1. Report to Legislature. No later than January 2, 2004, the Commissioner of Conservation shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry with recommendations and an implementation plan for solutions to the issue of liquidation harvesting. The commissioner shall review, at a minimum, the following:

1. Improvements to standards and guidelines for timber harvests;

2. Increased professional involvement in timber harvests;

3. Improved professional accountability of foresters;

4. Modifications to land use laws;

5. Disincentives to liquidation harvesting;

6. Incentives for landowners who receive independent, 3rd- party certification that their forest lands are well managed;

7. Economic policies to expand markets for forest products harvested from well-managed forests and to promote Maine as a