Law on Forest Management and Utilization (No. 60 of 1994).

This Law regulates the management and utilization of the Latvian "forest fund" which is composed of (1) forest and non-forest land allocated for use or transferred for ownership for forestry purposes; (2) forest land situated on land allocated for use or transferred into ownership for other purposes. Chapter 2 sets out the conditions for the transfer into ownership or for use (lease) of the forest fund. Land users may lease their land for forest or non forest purposes. If land is leased for forest management or utilization purposes, the lease holder is granted non-transferable rights of priority for various activities (listed in art. 32), including producing timber, hay, cattle grazing, collection of forest produce (berries, etc.). A licence to fell trees must be obtained before cutting trees on land leased for non-forest purposes. Forests are divided into 3 categories: (1) Protected forests (nature reserves, parks, etc.); (2) Restricted management forests (protected landscape areas, environmentally-sensitive areas); (3) Exploitable forests (all other forest). Specially protected forests may be designated within categories 2 and 3.
Forest management (art. 20) is defined as including water conservation and protection of forest-related environmental media, protection of forests from pests, fires and other damages, reforestation. The rights and obligations of Forest Managers (persons who lease or own land for forest management or use) are set out in chapter 4, and include fulfilling the requirements in art. 20, hiring specialists if area exceeds 1,000 hectares and reporting yearly to the State Forest Service. Forest users (physical persons or legal entities) must obtain permits from the latter in order to carry out felling, exploitation of forest resources, etc. Forest use rights terminate if forest managers change or surrender their right, or due to illegal activities.
Chapter 8 regulates the exploitation of forest produce in detail, setting out methods of cutting timber, rotation ages of tree species and total allowable annual cut and quotas. Chapter 9 regulates secondary uses of forests (hay and cattle grazing, apiaries, research, etc.). Supervision and enforcement are provided for in chapter 11 and are the responsibility of the State Forest Service together with local governments and environmental protection institutions. Forest surveys (resource inventory and forest management data) shall be carried out every 10-15 years by the State Forestry Service and shall be used as a basis for forest management plans for each forest manager occupying an area larger than 10 hectares.
The remainder of this law deals with dispute settlement procedures before the State Forestry Service, offences and penalties and compensation for loss or damages to forest managers or to forest resources.