Decree No. 101-CP stipulates the organizational system and duties, powers of the people's forest rangers from central to district level.

DECREE

Regulations on the organizational structure and tasks, powers of the people's forest rangers force.

On the basis of Article 16 and Article 17 of the Ordinance on Forest Protection adopted by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on September 6, 1972 and promulgated by the Decree of the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam No. 147-LCT on September 11, 1972;

__________________________

 THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

At the proposal of the General Director of the Forestry General Department

On the basis of the resolution of the Council of Ministers at the regular session of the Council of Ministers on March 2, 1973.

I. THE ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE PEOPLE'S FOREST RANGERS

DECREE

- The people's forest rangers force is organized within the forestry sector into a system from central to district level, under the unified direction of the General Director of the Forestry General Department.

Article 1. - The organizational system of the people's forest rangers includes:

Article 2. - At the central level: The People's Forest Rangers Bureau under the Forestry General Department;

- In provinces and centrally-administered cities with forests: The People's Forest Rangers Branch under the leadership of the Provincial People's Administrative Committee;

- In areas with forests: The People's Forest Rangers Station under the leadership of the District People's Administrative Committee.

In places where there are important transportation hubs (waterways, roads, railways), People's Forest Rangers Stations may be established to perform the task of supervising forest products (called Forest Product Supervision Stations). Depending on specific conditions, the Forestry General Department decides whether these stations will be directly subordinate to the Forest Rangers Bureau or the Forest Rangers Branch.

a) The People's Forest Rangers Bureau is headed by a director, assisted by one or two deputy directors. The appointment and transfer of the director and deputy directors are proposed by the General Director of the Forestry General Department and decided by the Council of Ministers.

Article 3. -

b) The People's Forest Rangers Branch is headed by a branch director, assisted by a deputy branch director. The appointment and transfer of the branch director and deputy branch director are proposed by the Provincial People's Administrative Committee and decided by the General Director of the Forestry General Department.

c) The People's Forest Rangers Station is headed by a station chief, assisted by a deputy station chief. The appointment and transfer of the station chief and deputy station chief are proposed by the Branch Director and decided by the Director of the Forest Rangers Bureau.

II. TASKS OF THE FOREST RANGERS AUTHORITIES AT DIFFERENT LEVELS

- The People's Forest Rangers Bureau has the following tasks:

Article 4. 1. - Organizing and directing the organization of the forest rangers force and the mass forest protection force;

2. - Political education and training, professional development for the forest rangers force;

3. - Managing cadres according to the分级任务的原因是确保每个部分都能被准确无误地翻译，并保持文本的连贯性和专业性。以下是直接翻译的内容，没有进行任何合并、拆分、添加或删除：

personnel management according to the division of authority of the Forestry General Department;

4. - Building material and technical infrastructure and equipping the forest rangers force;

5. - Directly commanding the Branches and Stations directly subordinate to the Bureau;

6. - Assisting the General Director of the Forestry General Department in researching, building, and directing the implementation of policies, systems, regulations on forest protection, and the rules of organization and operation of the forest rangers force.

Article 5. - The People's Forest Rangers Branch has the following tasks:

1. - Organizing the forest rangers force and guiding the organization of the mass forest protection force in the locality;

2. - Political education and professional development for the forest rangers force;

personnel management according to the division of authority of the Forestry General Department;

4. - Implementing the construction of material and technical infrastructure and equipping the forest rangers force;

5. - Directly commanding the Stations;

6. - Monitoring and inspecting the collection of forest maintenance fees at the Stations;

7. - Managing hunting and capturing of birds and wild animals.

Article 6. - The People's Forest Rangers Station has the following tasks:

1. - Closely monitoring the situation of the forest, flora, and fauna in the Station area;

2. - Patrolling the forest, controlling entry and exit of people in the forest; preventing illegal deforestation, unauthorized felling of trees, and encroachment on forest land;

3. - Organizing the implementation of forest fire prevention and firefighting, and guiding the prevention of forest pests and diseases;

4. - Inspecting the implementation of forest planning schemes, forest business design, forest harvesting techniques, forest improvement and transformation, afforestation...;

5. - Controlling the storage, purchase, and transport of forest products;

6. - Controlling hunting and capturing of birds, wild animals;

7. - Political education for staff in the Station;

8. - Directly organizing the mass forest protection force and professional development for this force;

9. - Collecting forest maintenance fees according to the state's forest product collection system;

10. - Issuing permits for the extraction of forest products for family and individual use;

11. - Arranging forest ranger stations to implement the Station's tasks down to each forest sub-district;

12. - Coordinating with armed and semi-armed forces to carry out forest protection tasks and participate in maintaining public order and security in mountainous areas.

Article 7. - The Forest Product Supervision Station, within its jurisdiction, has the following tasks:

1. - Supervising the transport of forest products on waterways, roads, and railways;

2. - Supervising the sale and storage of forest products;

3. - Inspecting and implementing the rules on hunting and capturing of birds, wild animals, and supervising the transport of such animals;

4. - Storing temporarily seized or confiscated forest products and handing over confiscated forest products to distribution agencies or forest product stores;

5. - Collecting fines and paying them into the state budget according to the state's forest product collection system.

III. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FOREST RANGERS FORCE

Article 8. -

a) All forest rangers' officers and staff, while performing patrol duties, inspecting the implementation of forest protection regulations, and supervising the storage, purchase, and transport of forest products, have the right to:

- Supervise various types of permits for tree cutting, forest exploitation, forest product transport, hunting and capturing of birds, wild animals, and other permits stipulated in forest protection regulations;

- Order the drivers of transport vehicles carrying forest products on waterways and roads to stop for inspection.

b) Specifically, the director, deputy directors, branch directors, deputy branch directors, station chiefs, deputy station chiefs, and forest rangers executing written orders from these levels have the right to search houses, railway carriages, private residences, and factories, offices, and units.

Article 9. - Forest rangers, when performing their duties, if they discover violations of forest protection regulations, have the authority to warn or fine the violator from zero to 10 dong; if the fine is from 11 to 100 dong, it must be decided by the head or deputy head of the forest ranger station; if the fine is from 101 to 200 dong, it must be decided by the director or deputy director of the forestry inspection division.

The General Department of Forestry shall provide specific guidance on fines mentioned in this Article according to the nature and degree of harm caused by violations of forest protection regulations.

Article 10. - When seizing evidence, a record must be made.

Evidence includes illegal forest products, tools, and means directly used for committing offenses.

Article 11. - In cases where activities of agencies, enterprises, armed units, citizens, or groups of citizens pose a direct risk of causing forest fires or destroying forests, forest rangers have the right to request the cessation of such activities. If the parties do not comply with these requests, the director or deputy director of the forestry inspection division, or the head or deputy head of the forest ranger station may issue orders to stop these activities and immediately report to the superior agency of the enterprise or unit, or the People's Administrative Committee of the commune, town, or city where the activity takes place.

Article 12. - For violations of forest protection regulations, the director or deputy director of the forestry inspection division has the authority to conduct investigations, prepare files according to legal procedures to transfer them to the People's Procuracy. Forest rangers are not allowed to arbitrarily arrest individuals or issue arrest orders except in urgent situations as stipulated in Article 13 below.

Article 13. - Forest rangers are permitted to use weapons and apprehend offenders to hand over to competent authorities in urgent situations such as having to deal with individuals attempting to use weapons against them, serious criminals fleeing, if those individuals refuse to comply with the forest rangers' prohibitive orders.

Article 14. - The Director of the General Department of Forestry shall specify the procedures for carrying out the tasks mentioned in Section III of this Article in the organizational and operational regulations of the forest ranger force to ensure timely prevention and appropriate punishment of violations of forest protection regulations, while respecting the people's democratic freedoms and not hindering their normal business and living activities.

IV. EXPENSES, STAFFING, EQUIPMENT, ALLOWANCES, AND BADGES OF THE FOREST RANGER FORCE

Article 15. - The organization and operation of the forest ranger force are funded by the forest protection service expenses.

The general staffing of the forest ranger force is calculated at an average rate of one person per 1,000 hectares of forest.

Based on the general provisions of the State and within the scope of their authority, the Director of the General Department of Forestry shall uniformly manage the budget and staffing of the forest ranger force and allocate the budget and staffing of this force specifically according to the requirements of forest protection work in various localities.

Article 16. - Forest rangers are entitled to seniority allowances and food supply similar to the current regulations for the Armed Public Security Force; they are equipped with uniforms and weapons.

Article 17. -

a) The uniform of forest rangers is dark green, made in the style of the People's Police uniform.

b) The badge of forest rangers is attached to the hat, featuring a five-pointed yellow star on a red circular background with a golden border around, two leaves embracing the circle, and the four letters KLND (forest rangers) under the star.

c) The rank insignia of forest rangers is worn on the shoulder, with a green background and a smaller version of the forest ranger badge attached, featuring a silver star and gold or red stripes to indicate each rank, from the director down to forest ranger staff.

Attached to this decree is an appendix providing detailed descriptions of the badges and rank insignia of forest rangers.^(*)

V. POPULAR FORCES TO PROTECT FORESTS

Article 18. - In areas with forests, alongside the establishment of the forest ranger force, popular forces to protect forests at the grassroots level must be organized according to the guidance of the forest ranger agency.

The People's Administrative Committees of communes, towns, cities, and districts with forests must organize a Forestry Board headed by a vice chairman or a committee member, assisted by specialized staff. One of the main responsibilities of the Forestry Board is to assist the People's Administrative Committee in implementing forest protection work in the locality. The Forestry Board is responsible for organizing popular forces to protect forests in cooperatives and neighborhoods.

Heads of forest farms, agricultural farms, industrial plants, enterprises, and agencies located in or near forests are responsible for organizing popular forces to protect forests within their units.

Article 19. - These popular forces to protect forests are responsible for carrying out tasks as prescribed in Article 17 of the Ordinance on Forest Protection.

The Director of the General Department of Forestry shall specify concrete measures for organizing popular forces to protect forests at the grassroots level; together with the Minister of Finance, they shall establish equipment and policy regulations for these popular forces.

VI. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 20. - The Director of the General Department of Forestry is responsible for specifying the organizational and operational regulations of the forest ranger force at all levels; together with the heads of relevant sectors, they shall specify the equipment and weapon usage regulations, seniority allowances, food supply policies... for the forest ranger force.

Article 21. - Now abolished the provisions regarding the establishment of the Forest Protection Bureau in Decision No. 116-CP dated July 25, 1963 of the Council of Ministers.

Article 22. - The Heads of the Office of the Prime Minister's Office, the Director of the General Department of Forestry, and the Chairmen of the People's Administrative Committees of regions, provinces, and centrally-administered cities are responsible for implementing this decree.