Comment NOW on Indiana Terrestrial Invasive Plant Rule!

Banning Highly Invasive Plants in Indiana

Public comment period now open on proposed Indiana Terrestrial Invasive Plant Rule!

*Cut-Leaf*
*Teasel*

Cut-Leaf Teasel is just one of the plants invading Indiana that would be regulated by the proposed rule (*Photo by Emily Finch in Perry County*).

On July 17th members of the public came out in force at the meeting of the Natural Resource Commission, to support the preliminary adoption of a proposed terrestrial plant rule. This rule would ban the sale, distribution and transport of 44 invasive plants in Indiana. NOW the full public comment period is open, allowing individuals from across the state to participate in the rulemaking process and voice their opinions. SICIM supports this proposed rule and asks that everyone battling invasive plants in Indiana speak up and help push this rule through until it becomes law.

How to Comment:

Use the following link: https://www.in.gov/nrc/2377.htm to access the Indiana Natural Resources Commission's rule webpage. Then scroll to the bottom of the page to a list of rules that are open for comment.

The terrestrial invasive plant rule is listed last and you can click the link to view the full rule language. Click on the “comment on this rule” link and you will be directed to a page that allows you to input personal data in required fields (name, city, county, email address) and a section to write a comment about the proposed rule.

If your comments require more space than allowed with the electronic form, please mail your comment with the LSA document number (LSA #18-316) to the following address: Natural Resources Commission, Division of Hearings, 100 North Senate Avenue, Room N103, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2200.

Suggested Comments:
After much discussion internally and with conservation partners, SICIM agrees with the Indiana Invasive Species Council and believes it best to support the rule as currently written. That is, we feel it is most important to have this rule adopted now and focus on adding other highly invasive plants – like Callery pear and Norway maple – later. Once the rule is adopted, work will begin to amend the rule to add those species and any other assessed species that rank as highly invasive in the state.
We suggest that you include these points in your comments:

That you support the adoption of this rule;
Specifically how you are impacted by invasive plants, and why it is important to you that this rule is adopted;
That the 44 species in this rule are just the start, and that all other species that are ranked as highly invasive in Indiana should be added through amendments.

Currently, it appears that on-line comments should be entered by August 25. In addition to this internet comment period, there will be a public meeting scheduled in the future. We’ll let you know details once it has been scheduled.
Again, we encourage you to participate in the rulemaking process and to voice your opinion about the terrestrial invasive plant rule.

If you would like to receive invasive species information, which includes information about the proposed terrestrial plant rule, please email Dawn Slack at dawn.slack@tnc.org to join the email listserv for IPAC, the Invasive Plant Advisory Commitee.