Invasive Species Regulation on State and Local Levels

By Dugan Julian, SICIM Regional Specialist

For invasive species management, it is important to understand local and state regulations and how they can help to limit the use and spread of invasives. In Indiana we have the Terrestrial Plant Rule, which regulates the sale of 44 species statewide and is carried out by the DNR Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology.

Local governments (including county, city/municipality, and townships) are authorized (and in some cases mandated) to control, or order to control, a number of invasive species and/or detrimental plants within their geopolitical zones (1).  The degree of enforcement, or even existence of enforcement, varies greatly throughout the state and is typically used as more of a “stick” than a “carrot” approach.  While your locality may differ, below are the various forms that local plant management may take:

1.     County Weed Board (2): Code allows “The legislative body of a municipality or county may by ordinance require the owners of real property located within the municipality or the unincorporated area of the county to cut and remove weeds and other rank vegetation growing on the property.” Exempt from this authority are agricultural crops.

2.     County Commissioners/Legislators can establish their own list of noxious weeds and rank vegetation for their respective counties, as well as establishing various standards for when enforcement is to be done.  Many Weed Boards use the Noxious Weed List as a starting point, adding those species in their area that are most likely to disrupt agricultural production. 

3.     Township Trustees: Township Trustees are elected executives in every township of each county.  Some have designated offices while others operate out of their own homes.  No matter their location, they are mandated (3) to investigate the potential presence of detrimental plants on any real estate in the Township.  If detrimental plants are found, the Trustee is ordered to officially notify the landowner that they need to destroy the plants.  If the landowner doesn’t comply, the Trustee (or their designee, including county law enforcement) is authorized to enter the real estate in question, destroy the plants in question, and charge the landowner the cost of the equipment and/or chemicals for the removal. 

4.     Cities and municipalities can and have instituted their own plant bans, under the same authority that counties utilize. For example, South Bend has implemented a ban on the invasive Callery/Bradford Pear Tree, among other plants, in addition to the State’s Terrestrial Plant Rule. Callery Pear is no longer planted by the City of Bloomington, and it is disallowed in new developments by the City’s Unified Development Ordinance. Knox County also has an ordinance on certain invasive species. These types of local bans typically limit the sale or exchange of the specified plants.  Some start only as guidance for the city/municipality itself, but others expand to all people within the limits of those places. 

Local governments can often move faster in response to issues like invasive species than state or federal governments, and they are more likely to respond directly to the citizenry.  Like everyone else, elected officials can make the best decisions with the most information; education is paramount and engagement is extremely important, and both rely on the citizenry. 

1)    Indiana Code (IC) 15-16-8-1

2)    IC (2022) 36-7-10

3)    IC 15-16-8-4