6001 Humboldt Rd, Butte Meadows, CA 95942

Timber Production Zone

The purpose of the TPZ zone is to preserve and protect land where timber is actively being grown and harvested, as well as minimize impacts to neighboring uses from active timber operations. The California Forest Taxation Reform Act of 1976 places values on bare land that is related to its ability to grow trees, and it substitutes a percent tax on the value of timber at the time of harvest (yield tax) for the annual property tax on the trees. In exchange for this tax benefit, landowners dedicate their timberland to timber growing and compatible uses for a period of at least 10 years. Unless terminated by the County or landowner, these 10 years renew each year, thus creating a rolling minimum or self-perpetuating ten year commitment (California Board of Equalization, 2000). Lands zoned in this manner are called Timberland Production Zones (TPZ). Permitted uses include logging, timber processing, crop cultivation, the management of forest lands for timber operations and animal grazing, and compatible uses, which are uses that are determined to not significantly detract from the use of the property for, or inhibit, growing and harvesting timber. Extractive uses that are generally compatible with forestry operations, including mining and oil and gas extraction, are conditionally permitted in the TPZ zone. Minimum parcel size and development standards for development in the TPZ zone are generally equivalent to the TM zone. The TPZ zone implements the Timber Mountain land use designation in the General Plan.