02/28/2001 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

Weed Laws Article on Landscaping (John Marshall Law Review) Page 2 of 27 To understand this article, however, one must first understand the lexicon. Here are some important definitions: Natural Landscaping - The practice of cultivating plants which are native to the bioregion without resort to artificial methods of planting and care such as chemical fertilizer, mowing, watering other than by through natural processes (rain), with the goal of harmonizing the landscape with the larger biotic community and ecosystem of the immediate and surrounding bioregion.8 Natural Garden - A smaller version of a natural landscape. In its most simple terms, it is a garden planned and designed to work with, rather than against, Nature. "9 Exotic - A plant growing other than in its natural bioregionalien.10 Weed - "A plant considered undesirable, unattractive or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden." 11 _ Any federal, state, county and local, statute, regulation or ordinance which limits the type or size of vegetation which grows or is cultivated on land within the jurisdiction.12 Weed Law The Land Ethic, espoused by Aldo Leopold, 13 is the central tenet that must be followed if humankind is to survive. The analysis of weed laws within the rubric of the Land Ethic may initially seem to mix relatively minor legislative enactments with a grand concept. But the Land Ethic, as demonstrated below, operates on both grand and minute levels. It succeeds only when all aspects of humankind's interaction with Nature, large and small, inculcate its meaning. In this regard, the average individual, although concerned, is essentially helpless to remedy the plight of the Amazon, the destruction of the ozone liyer, oil spills off Alaska and Scotland or any of the hundreds of other assaults currently being waged against the organism that is Earth - Gaia.14 Landscaping and gardening represent, for most people, their most direct interaction with Nature. This Article thus turns to the application of the central ecological tenet, the Land Ethic, to local weed laws - not because such laws are the most ecologically pernicious laws, but rather because weed laws operate on the most basic level to affect the landowner who tries expressly or otherwise to manifest the Land Ethic. This Article seeks to advise and persuade more than the typical Law Review subscriber, lawyer, or judge. There is little in the way of published material available to city legislators to assist them in evaluting the natural landscaping movement and its effects and impact on their village. There are few published cases available to attorneys representing citizens who engage in natural landscaping and are charged with violating a weed ordinance. This Article attempts to fill this void. This Article is primarily a clarion call to policy - makers to accept and embrace the natural landscaping movement and begin to accept the Land Ethic. II. THE LAND ETHIC http: / /www.epa.gov /glnpo /greenacres /weedlaws /JMLR.html 2/22/01